Live Peace In Toronto signaled the public debut of the freshly assembled Plastic Ono Band.
On September 12, 1969, John Lennon was invited to the Festival by promoter John Brower. Brower’s was surprised that Lennon accepted the invitation gladly, on the condition that he and his band are allowed to perform at the Festival. Brower, without hesitation, accepted the condition.
“We got this phone call on a Friday night that there was a rock’n’roll revival show in Toronto with a 100,000 audience, or whatever it was, and that Chuck was going to be there and Jerry Lee and all the great rockers that were still living, and Bo Diddley, and supposedly The Doors were top of the bill. They were inviting us as king and queen to preside over it, not play – but I didn’t hear that bit. I said, ‘Just give me time to get a band together,’ and we went the next morning.”
-John Lennon, 1969
Anthology
John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band prepared a set of six songs for the Festival: Blue Suede Shoes, Money (That’s What I Want), Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Yer Blues, Cold Turkey and Give Peace A Chance.
Keep going for the video below: