Originally Posted by
R. Mark Desjardins
Marv2, I don't usually watch the Rick Mercer show, but I am 100% certain, that his CBC show taped in Toronto would have Rick walking in a back alley that runs parallel to Younge Street in the downtown core.
Franjoy56, as you may know, Eric Pressman went on to open one of Montreal's most iconic and hip records shops, "Phantasmagoria." In the early 1980's he opened a branch in Vancouver, but fierce cut throat competition from chains record stores proved to be too much for him to stay open.
Eric now resides in Toronto with his wife and our friendship has endured over the decades. We saw Diana Ross during the early dates of her North American Tour back in May, 2011 some 47 [[!!!) years after the Expo '67 performances we saw. Diana was as stunning as ever.
The Roy Thompson Hall where she performed was sold out. The venue has a stage that juts out, so does not have a proper curtain. For the Ross show, a makeshift curtain hung on a steel wire was set up, so instead of being lifted up, it fell down and, and was dragged off the stage.
Eric scored two seats on an upper balcony, which was somehow located behind this makeshift curtain. So from our vantage point, we were able to see the musicians and background singers setting up on stage. There was the stage set with the stair case, and from my vantage point, I could see what appeared to be kind of an elevator shaft.
As the band tuned up, I could see movement at the bottom of this elevator shaft, and I saw Diana's hand frantically fluffing up her iconic hairdo before being hoisted up to the top of the set , then the curtain fell, the graphics screen behind her lit up, and she strutted down the stairs.
During that visit, to Toronto, I checked out the infamous wall mural/graffiti site that runs for what seemed like a mile of downtown alleys to me. Some of the graphics are simply stunning, and some even had imagery of Michael Jackson.
So, there you have it!
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