Shine a Light Issue No. 2

Massey HALL Revitalization

SHINE A LIGHT Issue No. 2

Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall acknowledge that the land on which these buildings now stand are the treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the New Credit.

We also acknowledge the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples who also share these lands.

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Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

A message from

DEANE CAMERON O

n behalf of Massey Hall, I want to extend a sincere thanks to the overwhelming response that we have received since we published our first installment of Shine A Light last spring.

Our goal, as stewards of Massey Hall is to keep the original inspiration of Hart Massey alive: to operate this revered landmark as a gift for the people of Toronto, and continue to be a flourishing cultural hub for everyone to enjoy.

We endeavour to do this with the help of this country’s leading experts on all aspects of the planning, from heritage and restoration advisors to internationally renowned cuttingedge technical consultants.

When this project is complete, Massey Hall will encompass everything that we know and love about the building, but improved with 21st century standards so that it can operate more efficiently and remain culturally relevant for another 125 years.

As we draw closer to the commencement of the second phase of the Massey Hall Revitalization, I am pleased to share some exciting new plans for this iconic, historical institution in the pages that follow.

Please enjoy this update and I can’t wait to reveal more in the new year.

Sincerely,

We graciously acknowledge the support we have received from individual donors, our corporate and foundation partners and all orders of government in helping us with the Massey Hall Revitalization.

DEANE CAMERON C.M. President & Chief Executive Officer The Corporation of Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall

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In this ISSUE 05

The Great Leap Forward

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Old venues and new ideas get space to grow

By Stuart Berman

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The connection is real

By Helen Spitzer

Echoes of history, pure sound for the future By Paul Comeau

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What’s original and what came later?

It’s never an ordinary night

By Helen Spitzer

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Sam Roberts

Windows to the Sky Massey Hall’s stained glass windows

By Shawn Micallef

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Don’t Dream It, Build It

Massey Hall gets accessible — and more comfortable

By Carla Gillis

Massey Hall Myths

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Acoustically Speaking

Melissa McClelland

Music History Comes to Life Reaching back to Massey Hall’s community spirit

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Sharing Massey Hall’s history-making moments as they happen

Artists share their Massey Hall memories

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Capturing The Future

Tanya Tagag and July Talk Embrace and electrify the live connection

By Ian Steaman

Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

What This Stage Has Seen

A Link in the Chain

By Tony Dekker

THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD Massey Hall’s New Amenities

By Carla Gillis

assey Hall is about to diversify — in some compelling ways. For 123 years, it has been a space for people from all walks of life to experience live performances in an elegant, historic setting. This year alone has seen a wide range, from Wilco to Blue Rodeo’s double-date with the Sadies, from rock goddess PJ Harvey to comedian Ricky Gervais.

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The Great Leap Forward: Massey Hall’s New Amenities

Breathing Room: Massey Hall’s new passerelles will allow for audiences to mingle, and access to additional washroom facilities

While roots to pop to comedy are wellrepresented on the calendar, livelier dance and hip hop acts and the heavy end of rock ‘n’ roll present unique challenges for the hallowed hall and its audiences: most notably, the fixed nature of the orchestra seating.

Enter the game-changer of the revitalization project: a state-of-the-art deployable seating system.

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ACCESSIBILITY WILL BE MASSIVELY IMPROVED; IT’s A TOTAL STEP CHANGe

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Clemeth L. Abercrombie

“The ability to transform the orchestra level into a standing room audience means a whole new category of acts will be attracted to Massey Hall,” explains Clemeth L. Abercrombie, senior consultant at Charcoalblue, the theatre consultant company behind the renovation. For general admission shows where dancing is irresistible, the ground-floor seats will come out. For concerts better suited to attentive listening, the seats return.

These deployable seats mimic the current design: classic upholstered, tip-up theatrestyle seats but wider, more thickly padded, and mounted on bars that traverse the room in an arc. The bars connect to a mechanism on rails in the floor, allowing the chairs to be pushed toward the stage, and neatly stacked beneath when not in use. “From a patron standpoint, you get a seating layout that respects the heritage of Massey Hall but uses a higher-quality seat and a system with 6

more flexibility,” says Abercrombie. “And when you’re in the standing room, it’s an open floor with space all around.”

These enhancements of patron experience aren’t limited to the main hall either. Seating will be updated and increased in the balcony, and the existing gallery seating will be entirely refurbished. And for anyone who has made that mad dash from the basement to the upper levels at the end of intermission, the inclusion of additional washrooms, bars and lobbies on every floor is welcome news.

Another welcome innovation is the installation of a parterre, a raised stagefacing seating area around the perimeter of the hall. It will not only provide patrons with a seated option during general admission shows but, due to its height several hundred millimetres higher than the orchestra-level floor, patrons will be “floating” closer to stage level, enhancing their connection to what’s happening onstage.

Most striking is the addition of a passerelle — a highly visible glassed-in extension running around the venue’s perimeter — that will be hung from the existing masonry walls to allow for patrons’ increased circulation through the space. Designed by architects KPMB and GBCA, the passerelle preserves the structure of the heritage building while allowing patrons to move from one end of the hall to the other with ease.

“Accessibility will be massively improved; it’s a total step change,” says Abercrombie, adding that the plans go well beyond the minimum Ontario building code requiring three per cent of venue capacity be reserved

Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

The Great Leap Forward: Massey Hall’s New Amenities

for wheelchair positions. Currently the hall can accommodate patrons in wheelchairs or those who use walkers or scooters via its advance seating service, but this has been limited to a handful of seats at the rear of the orchestra level only.

“I enjoy Massey Hall because I know that if I get a seat on the main level, I will have a good time,” he says. But if seated anywhere else in the hall at the present time, especially the steep balcony and gallery, he risks falling or being unable to see the stage.

“Now [wheelchair users] will have the option of the front row of the parterre,” says Abercrombie, “and the new passerelle will have elevator access to the balcony and gallery levels. The passerelle will make getting to your seats and in and out of the room much easier for everybody, mobilitychallenged or not.”

He says Massey Hall is one of the few music venues in Toronto he patronizes, and that’s due to the guarantee of seats. But the current location of the washrooms and bar in the basement, down flights of stairs that get crowded during intermissions, makes an experience he adores challenging.

While some patrons do enjoy the novelty of quirky ground-floor chairs that tilt backwards when you do, these almost 70 year old seats are among the aspects of Massey Hall that currently don’t work so well for everybody. Avid concertgoer Jeff Harris, who has been attending shows at the venue since the 1980s, uses crutches as a result of a paralyzed left leg, and also suffers from chronic pain.

enhancements of the patron experience include: • A state-of-the-art deployable seating system • Seating will be updated and increased in the balcony • Existing original gallery seating will be entirely refurbished • Inclusion of a bar, plentiful washrooms and lobbies on every floor • Installation of a parterre, a raised stage-facing seating area around the perimeter of the hall • Addition of a passerelle, a glassed-in extension running around the building’s perimeter

Like Harris, Massey Hall patron Maria Mete is excited about the music institution’s big reveal. In her experience, almost no venues in the city offer a comfortable setting for a person of size to take in live music. When attending shows at Massey Hall, she does her best to get aisle seats so that she can stand or take a walk if she has a flare-up due to chronic pain.

General admission performances, free of orchestra-level seating but with the parterre seating option, will give Mete the one-of-akind seating flexibility she’s been desperately in search of. “If you’re a person of size, you might fit in the seats or you might not,” she says. “You might end up encroaching on your neighbour’s space, or sitting with your arms crossed, trying to make yourself as small as possible. There are so many elements to consider.”

Mete is encouraged to see a well-established heritage venue keep the issue top of mind within its revision plans. “I feel like the accessibility conversation has started, and I’m especially seeing change within more do-it-yourself-type and larger, corporate spaces with the means,” Mete says.

Harris agrees. “I’ll be going to go to Massey Hall shows regardless because I love it as an institution — and it’s a beautiful building.

It will be crazy-exciting when it opens up again after the renovation, with all of these essential improvements in place.”

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MEMORABLE MASSEY MOMENTS

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“ The most emotional Massey Hall ticket I have is Sigur Rós, the week after 9/11, making it seem that life would in fact go on. I cried. A lot.”

Liisa Ladouceur

“ It’s *really* hard to pick just one, but this was the first time I saw Wilco and it was incredible!”

CHRIS

“ The Rheostatics 'final' show in 2007 was the first time I'd flown across the country solely for a concert. I have loads of great memories from time spent inside Massey Hall but any mention of that one always makes me smile.”

SEAN

“ I’ve danced and laughed at the best venue in Toronto.”

MELISSA

“ This was by far my most favourite concert ever. He sang for almost three hours and set the bar for what a concert should be like. He said the acoustics in the building were amazing. I totally agree.”

RHONDA

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Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

By Helen Spitzer am Roberts Band learned about forging a meaningful connection very early in their history; three of them are friends from high school, and for the 17 years that they’ve been a band, they’ve managed not only to get along but to genuinely enjoy each other’s company.

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Catching Up with Sam Roberts

Their connection to the songwriting tradition in this country was similarly inescapable during their first visit to headline Massey Hall: hours before the show they noticed that Neil Young had played a two-night stand that same month, and Gordon Lightfoot had wrapped up a four-night stint the week before.

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What’s it like to be aware that you are literally standing in the same place?

You are inevitably influenced by the weight the venue itself carries — just even the sight of the marquee. I did catch myself several times during the set, when I’m supposed to be letting go of conscious thought, thinking instead, “I can’t believe I’m at Massey Hall.”

The second time I enjoyed myself more.

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Why is feeling a connection to the audience important for an artist?

The whole idea, in my mind anyway, is that you break down as much of the barrier as possible between yourselves, as the band, and the audience. I’m not saying I want to invite everyone up to shake a tambourine.

But the thing is to create this feeling of communal experience, that you are all in it with a sense of common purpose, and emotionally connected. It’s what we look for — and when it doesn’t happen automatically, it’s what we work for over the course of a show. You want them to feel as much a part of it as the people onstage. Some venues make that goal easier to achieve than others.

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Standing onstage at Massey Hall, it’s surprising how close the very back rows feel. What difference does physical proximity make?

Sightlines are important — and not just from the audience. Obviously you want everybody to be able to see, but you need to be able to see everybody from the stage as well. And there’s so many venues where you don’t see anything past row 40. You’re just assuming everybody’s having a good time, but there’s no certainty. To have a venue like Massey Hall, where the performer can look up and know they can connect with the entire audience, that’s important.

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If the audience is right there, does it pull the band even closer together?

There’s no question that when things sound good, the confidence the band has to push themselves goes to another level. When things sound bad, you can’t pull it off. It’s hard to describe this as a job sometimes, but part of the job is to learn how to cope with your technical issues and make it as seamless as possible, without losing your cool, and without it affecting the audience’s ability to enjoy it. It can take a long time to learn to be comfortable when things go wrong. But when things go right, when the room feels very natural and you feel an immediate connection, you can really deliver the kind of show you want to play.

Certain rooms make that easy to do.

You become very in tune with a room, whether or not its sound is helping you connect. The room always works with you or against you, and I definitely felt it working with us

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Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

Massey Hall Myths

MASSEY HALL MYTHS Perhaps because of the Hall’s warm tone, it’s often believed the stage itself is the original. In fact, the stage has seen many adjustments over the years: During a 1948 renovation, the main floor of Massey Hall was entirely replaced: the oak flooring had become worn, and was very likely creaky; fire concerns about an all-timber building were also top of mind. A new stage was installed, mounted upon sleepers — wood blocks randomly distributed to reduce resonance that causes feedback — between the stage surface and the new pouredconcrete base.

THE RED AND BLACK MOTIF that we tend to associate with Massey Hall was actually introduced during renovations in 1933; the original exterior would have been dour and unadorned, much like a church building of the time. Many Torontonians may feel an attachment to the fire escapes along the Victoria Street side of the building, but they are also not original — they were added in 1911.

Massey Hall’s exterior pictured on the right: before and after the addition of the fire escapes

During renovations in 1933, six rows of seats were removed to create a smoking lounge (now the upper bar). Rows of seats at the back of the main floor were also removed to allow for the remodelling of the front lobby. The 1948 renovation was large-scale: Some design changes and further painting was imposed to better blend the hall’s original Moorish aesthetic with Art Deco elements added in the 1930s, which is when solid wood seating was first replaced. The current seats on the main floor and balcony were introduced in 1948 — the sliding mechanism was typical of movie theatre seating of that time.

It’s commonly believed the lobby and the basement bar’s Art Deco flourishes, and red, black and gold colour scheme is original. But heritage paint experts have recently examined the hall’s interior, and made some interesting discoveries. After carefully scraping away and documenting several paint layers, they’ve concluded the earliest colour scheme included shades of terracotta, salmon pink, saffron yellow and a shade of blue-green. None of the woodwork was painted. Even the famous Massey ceiling wasn’t white: it was was originally salmon pink like the walls, adorned with stencils in terracotta, saffron and green, consistent with the original Moorish design.

Pictured below: Massey Hall’s interior before and after 1933 renovations

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WINDOWS TO THE SKY The Return of Massey Hall’s Stained Glass

By Shawn Micallef

hen the stained glass windows were uncovered it was really exciting,” says Sharon Vattay. “The colours were remarkable, and the light was unreal.” Vattay is an architectural historian with GBCA (Goldsmith Borgal & Company Ltd. Architects) a Toronto-based firm specializing in the restoration, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of heritage buildings. They, along with renowned Toronto architecture firm KPMB, are overseeing the careful restoration and renovation of Massey Hall, including 100 stained glass windows that have been hidden behind plywood for decades.

“W

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Windows to the Sky: The Return of the Massey Stained Glass

“Looking through archival photos, they were already covered over by the 1950s,” says Vattay. “It was likely to block out the light and the noise.” Indeed four floors of windows, beautiful as they may be, can present a real challenge to a music hall. Not only can light drastically alter the desired visual effect of a particular performance, the thin stained glass windows allow outside sound to permeate inside.

When Massey opened in 1894, the quaint clip clop of horse and carriage may initially have been tolerable, but as they gave way to the dull roar of automobiles, and the surrounding city grew denser and nosier, the sound bleed became too much. In 1911 the installation of exterior fire escapes meant some of the windows were altered or removed entirely, and in 1933 more were removed where Juliet balconies along the Shuter St. façade are now, part of a renovation that allowed smokers access to a balcony that once hung above the front doors.

Describing the windows in a detailed 1993 article, “The Hidden Glass Treasures of Massey Hall,” York University art historian and Canadian stained glass expert Shirley Ann Brown described some of the windows as art nouveau in style, while twelve on the main level of the auditorium “include life-sized portraits of famous composers — Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, Rossini, Chopin, Wagner, Gounod, Schubert,

Weber, Handel, and Haydn — surrounded by art nouveau frames and bands. Eight of these survive in place, sandwiched between their protective boards. Four others, which were removed long ago to make way for the emergency exits, survive in partial states.”

Some of the windows under the roofline were originally backlit by gas lamps as well.

Brown also found evidence that suggests the windows were designed by the Cooks Brothers of Cleveland (where the Masseys had briefly lived) but likely manufactured by Faircloth Brothers of Toronto. Vattay points out that the bricks came from the Don Valley Brickworks, so Massey Hall is very much a made-in-Toronto building — with international connection and inspiration. It all sounds very much a contemporary Toronto story.

Vattay explains that, even though seemingly protected behind the wood, considerable damage occurred to the windows over the years. Moisture can build in the enclosed spaces, and birds made nests there as well.

“Bird guano is deadly for any material,” she says. “We retained a stained glass conservator, and after a full assessment determined the windows should be removed right away.” That removal and rehabilitation process is a delicate enterprise — and an expensive one.

John Wilcox was one of the experts charged

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Windows to the Sky: The Return of the Massey Stained Glass

with overseeing that process. He and his Vitreous Glassworks company have been working in stained glass glazing for thirty years, including conservation work on other Massey family projects around Toronto including their mausoleum in Mt. Pleasant cemetery, and Hart Massey’s home, now the Keg Mansion, on Jarvis.

At Massey Hall the windows were first gently removed, documented, tagged and labelled.

Transported as gently as possible, they are nevertheless protected in specially designed crates that could withstand quite a bashing.

Those crates are also ventilated, to prevent moisture or humidity from causing rot or algae blooms.

Once at the shop and removed from the crates, each window is extracted from its wooden sash, placed on a bench and an exact pattern of the window is made with carbon paper as the lead between the glass is raised. Then they get a gentle sponge bath so no glass paint is rubbed off. Wilcox says medieval European stained glass windows have problems with decaying glass but in

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Once reinstalled, the windows will have a renewed LIFE. the restoration team will determine an innovative method of covering the windows for evening performances North America the glass is strong, though fading paint can be an issue.

Lead that is decayed, thin, or fatigued will be cut away and replaced, and each piece of glass along with the putty will be cleaned and placed back on the paper pattern. Soft metal will be placed around each piece and soldered before the panel is flipped over and the same is done to the other side. The process, says Wilcox, hasn’t changed much in 1,000 years.

A challenge at Massey Hall will be finding matching glass for the windows that were removed and lost.

Once reinstalled, the windows will have a renewed, long life. The acoustician and lighting designer on the restoration team will determine an innovative method of covering the windows for evening performances. The result of this thoughtful process, says Vattay, will allow the stained glass and the renowned performance space to coexist, and Toronto to enjoy an 1894 public treasure that’s been hidden from view for a century.

Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

CAPTURING THE FUTURE

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magine a week in the life of the revitalized and expanded Massey Hall. Multiple venues, with ample space to spark connection. A modern, digitally equipped facility to capture and share riveting performances. Rehearsal spaces and music outreach events that are truly accessible.

Performances in the main auditorium by Blue Rodeo or jazz crossover artist Esperanza Spalding. Pre-show events in the lobby spaces, with opportunities for meet-andgreets. Visiting artists collaborating with high school students, and later presenting new songs in the new performance space.

New artists launching their first album on Centuries’ stage. A digital content hub to capture performances from all three stages, to be shared later — or even streamed live.

The reinvigoration of Massey Hall and the central role it played in Toronto’s public life from its very founding.

A multi-use facility and centralized hub for video capture of live performance (as well as artist interviews, workshops and collaborations) will also build a digital archive of the countless Massey moments described in these pages. This hub will enhance Massey’s already crucial role in artist development, and be a buzzworthy source of new music content.

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Having live performance video is so useful. This content is crucial for developing artists; to create opportunity

But don’t take only our word for it. The Constantines’ Steve Lambke — a songwriter who runs an independent record label (You’ve Changed Records) and programs Sappyfest in Sackville, N.B. — responded with excitement. “I can’t stress it enough to artists: having that video is so important. We work almost exclusively with up-and-coming bands, and the first thing I tell them is: ‘Do a session — wherever and whenever possible.’”

It’s true that often the most talked-about live bands in this city have yet to record any of their music. A session is the most efficient way to find their audience.

Massey has an important role to play in the lives of artists and performers: for those who are ready to fill Massey Hall, and those who aspire to. Massey Hall will continue to be a music venue of the highest calibre, keeping everything we cherish about the building, yet enhancing the experience with technology that wasn’t available last century — and not possible to incorporate, until now.

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Steve Lambke (Constantines)

A digitally equipped flexible-use facility is an essential resource for artists in this country, providing excellent quality content — captured live, on site — to help reach an audience hungry for new music. If you enjoyed the Live at Massey Hall series, you already know the potential. It has been taken a step further with the Ghost Light Sessions, employing the ambience of Massey Hall as a stunning setting for Mappe Of ’s expansive soundscapes, or Donovan Woods’s finelyhewed classic songcraft.

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&

TANYA TAGAQ

Rewiring the Liv

By Ian Steaman

n first blush, it might be hard to see what Tanya Tagaq and July Talk have in common, though the love between the charismatic experimental vocalist and theatrical radio-ready rockers is evident the moment they connect by phone. “So good to hear your voices. I can’t wait to hug you and hang out with you again,” she tells July Talk’s co-vocalists Peter Dreimanis and Leah Fay, and they delve into a discussion of their relationship to each other, and to their respective audiences.

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The three singers became close after meeting at the 2014 JUNO Awards in Winnipeg, Manitoba. “I remember looking up the stairs at them and thinking, Oh, they’re my people,” Tagaq recalls. “I didn’t even know them yet, but every once in a while you meet people who you immediately know you want to be around.”

The outcome was their collaboration on the uptempo, glam rock-esque thumper “Beck + Call” from the group’s sophomore full-length, Touch, which went on to win a JUNO Award for Alternative Album of the Year in 2017.

“The first incarnation of the song was very different than what it ended up becoming,” Leah Fay recalls. “We deconstructed it in the studio into something far more stripped down and minimal. You could feel the song in your pulse, and in your hips, and it was like, 16

‘Oh my God! You know who can make this five hundred times better?’”

“Tanya!” Dreimanis chimes in, laughing.

“It allowed us to step away from the song, and let Tanya’s voice be all the textures and soundscapes.” The group didn’t even feel it necessary to brief Tagaq on what they were looking for, letting her add her own unique spin. “It just made sense,” she says. “Not to simplify anything but it was a very easy job.”

There are future plans to collaborate in the works. “I think ‘Beck + Call’ was just scratching the surface of what we could ultimately do together,” Dreimanis says.

“We need to do more,” Tagaq adds. “I would like to actually spend a few weeks, eating and making something together. I love our song, but we were apart when we recorded it.”

Surprisingly, the two acts have yet to share a stage, though they have been to each other’s shows. Seeing July Talk for the first time at the famous Austin, Texas venue and BBQ joint Stubb’s, Tagaq recalls, “It seemed so natural but it was also very tight. There was this intense, vibrating, giant energy they were giving out, and how the audience was reacting. The energy was being generated and spit back, over and over again. It was just glorious to watch. You guys have a way of riling up an audience that’s incredible.”

Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

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JULY TALK

e Connection

One of the most memorable Tagaq shows for Dreimanis and Fay was seeing her Massey Hall debut for the Live at Massey Hall series in December 2015. “It was Owen Pallett with Tanya closing, backed by an improvisational choir [Christine Duncan’s 60-person Elements Choir] who are actually pretty close to the neighborhood where we live in Toronto,” recalls Dreimanis. “It’s always pretty mind-flattening how she gets into an audience’s subconscious, but particularly in that show. It definitely rewrote the book for us.”

Levon Helm to Ryan Adams — as well growing up on the Neil Young live album. It just affects the way you play because you’re contributing to an ongoing journal. Like Tanya said, it’s a milestone, and we are still a relatively young band.”

Tagaq’s recollection of that night at Massey is more modest. “There was an excitement, and it was very audience driven. Peter and Leah know what it is to be so audiencedependent, and [dependent on] the energy that people are giving off. It’s kind of like a big rock balancing on a domino. I definitely remember, not a reverence, but an added excitement because it’s such an iconic venue.

It’s a milestone in a performer’s career to be in that space.”

“We’re really looking forward to creating a special three nights to finish this year,” he continues. “We’ve had a community of artists around Toronto who have been a part of the band for so long: we’re looking forward to what we can create together with people like Tanya, and everyone else we work with. 2017 was not an amazing year for the world, so I’m excited to play around Winter Solstice, and feel a bit of closure to the year. Sometimes closure can present an opportunity for rebirth.”

July Talk haven’t yet played Massey Hall, but are set to make their debut with a threenight stand, beginning December 21st. “To play hometown shows, like the series we’re doing at Massey Hall, is pretty special,” says Dreimanis. “I’ve seen so many of my heroes on that stage, from Lucinda Williams and

There are future plans to collaborate, both in the studio and on stage

“I can’t wait to perform with you guys,” adds Tagaq. “I feel like it’s going to be like the tide sucking out when a tsunami is coming.”

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Don’t dream it, BUILD IT

By Stuart Berman

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Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

Don’t Dream It, Build It

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ure, Toronto may have bigger venues, but there’s a prestige to the Massey Hall and the Allan Slaight Stage that no arena can match. A date with Massey is a benediction of sorts — the moment where rising stars graduate from club-level phenoms to big-stage luminaries. Performing there may be the first time they’re greeted with the roar of thousands of appreciative, attentive fans. Massey Hall is the place where dreams turn real.

But these days, Toronto is running out of places where fledgling musicians can deign to dream. In the first half of 2017 alone, our city lost nine notable music venues, and the lights went out in a handful of others the previous year.

While the circumstances of each shutdown are unique, they speak to the intense financial pressures of running a live-music venue in Toronto, be they rising rents and tax bills, properties sold for redevelopment, or owners of existing clubs relaunching with a different focus.

“The systemic issue that Toronto is facing is the city’s success,” says Ward 15 Councillor Josh Colle, who also chairs Toronto’s Music Industry Advisory Council. “Because so many people want to live here, and there are more developments, and rents are going up, it does put pressure on every independent business.” This success imposes an ironic twist: “Music venues face an added element: neighbourhoods that weren’t heavily populated are now becoming home to lots of condos and lots of new residents who might be more sensitive to what they perceive as noise.”

As an historic landmark that’s located in a commercial district and operates as a not-for-profit charitable organization, Massey Hall is mostly immune from the hardships faced by small venues. But when you cut out the bottom link in the live-music food chain, the effects ripple up through the ecosystem. masseyhall.com

A major-league baseball team can’t thrive without a well-managed farm-team system feeding it fresh talent year over year.

And big CONCERT HALLS such as Massey Hall ultimately rely on smaller venues to groom tomorrow’s Canadian icons today Every artist who’s headlined Massey Hall has put in countless hours on tiny stages, given the opportunity to flail and fail as they developed into the powerhouse performers they are today. On December 5, Emily Haines will return to the Massey stage that her band Metric first graced in 2009 for two sold-out nights. But 15 years ago, you could find her at a weekly music residency at the shoebox-sized Art Bar, initiating Metric’s transformation from downtempo synth-pop swingers to disco-punk provocateurs.

“In many ways, it is harder to play for a small crowd than a big one,” Haines says of those character-building days.

“It’s up to you to somehow transform a small space — whether it is charming and intimate, or crappy and primarily dedicated to selling beer — into a mystical realm where your music is transporting people. It’s not unlike turning a pumpkin into a chariot. Later on, if you are fortunate, you have the benefit of lighting, staging, and powerful amplification. But even at the biggest shows in front of thousands of people, at the core I am still playing to that smallest room and somehow mustering the courage to get up there and bare my soul again.”

A major-league baseball team can’t thrive without a well-managed farm-

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Don’t Dream It, Build It

team system feeding it fresh talent year over year. And as Haines’s experience illustrates, big concert halls such as Massey ultimately rely on Toronto’s small venues to groom tomorrow’s Canadian icons today, particularly in an era where downsizing record labels are chasing viral hits instead of facilitating long-term artist development.

In light of all these pressures, both local and industry-wide, Massey Hall is taking matters into its own hands: it’s building its own farm team.

“We’ve been presenting in other venues throughout the city for most of that time, always with an aim to cultivating artists’ careers and their audiences, with the goal of having them grow and one day be able to perform at Massey Hall,” says Kumagai. “Our

When Massey Hall’s redevelopment is completed in the fall of 2020, Canada’s most hallowed soft-seater will no longer be the only venue on Shuter Street. The main hall

We’re building it with flexibility in mind — we want audiences and artists to feel at home in the new venue, regardless of the kind of music

will become the crown jewel of a three-venue network that includes the addition of a small stage to the Centuries bar in the basement, and another brand new live-music room — to be located on the fourth floor of Massey’s addition — with a scalable capacity ranging from 250 to 500 people.

The Centuries stage, as well as hosting preand post-show events, will also function as an intimate stand-alone venue. The new as-yet-unnamed performance venue will also function independently, showcasing artists who have the potential to one day play Massey’s main stage. As Massey’s Director of Programming, Jesse Kumagai, explains, the new venues represent the culmination of a 10-year strategy to make Massey Hall less of an institution available only to big-ticket performers, and more of a communityoriented organization that nurtures artists on all rungs of the ladder.

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Rendering of the Allan Slaight Stage

time in those other venues was very much a pilot project, and in the back of our minds we knew we were testing the concept that would eventually become a major piece of the Massey Hall project. So the combination of our aspirations to help artists, combined with so many small venues under threat, made

Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

Don’t Dream It, Build It

us think about what this venue would look like. We learned a lot about what we wanted, and what was needed in the city — incredible sound, modern recording facilities, great character, and a really broad and diverse programming mandate.”

however, “gives us a chance to take a little artistic risk, and work with artists and communities who we haven’t had much of a relationship with in the past. We’re building it with flexibility in mind — equally suited for a full-blown rock concert, a hip hop show, or an intimate solo singer-songwriter set. Just like Massey Hall, we want audiences and artists to feel at home in the new venue, regardless of the kind of music.”

And though the new venue will be tucked up on the fourth storey, it will have grand windows overlooking the streets on both sides of the building—a visual connection to the city below. Councillor Colle anticipates Massey’s new space will yield benefits extending beyond the immediate music community. Despite its rich history as a breeding ground for rock legends from The Band to Rush, the Yonge Street strip today is noticeably bereft of night-time entertainment — once the offices and shops close, Canada’s longest, busiest street can feel like its most deserted. Massey’s new room will provide a crucial — and hopefully contagious — sign of life.

“I think most major cities around the world are finding that you want economic activity happening pretty much 24-7,” Colle says. “It makes a main street healthier and safer to have activity at different hours, and not just shut down. It’s fitting that Massey would be the catalyst to make Yonge Street relevant again for music, because they’ve been there through everything. Hopefully, it will lead to more, and reverse a couple decades’ trend of not seeing any nightlife on Yonge.”

Kumagai is especially excited by that last aspect. “Massey Hall is a big room,” he says, “and presenting a show there means an artist has to have an audience to match.”

As a result, the programming leans toward established career artists. The new room,

So consider what’s happening near the corner of Yonge and Shuter not a mere renovation, but a sound investment: in the careers of young artists, in the revitalization of a legendary venue, and in the long-term health of our city.

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MASSEY MEMORIES TRAGICALLY HIP (1988)

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t was onstage at Massey Hall that the Tragically Hip first drew international attention. Though only scheduled to play two songs at the 1988 Toronto Music Awards, their performance was seen by MCA’s Bruce Dickinson, who flew up from New York City to see six glorious minutes of The Hip. British journalist Chris Roberts of the Melody Maker, in town to see Mary Margaret O’Hara pronounced them “the discovery of the night.”

The hype was justified: only four years later the Globe and Mail’s Elizabeth Renzetti witnessed one of their two soldout nights at Massey Hall, and had this to say: “Downie said little to the crowd, but he didn’t have to — every eye in the house was trained on him. Every rock ‘n’ roll band should have such a lead singer,” she added. “People who love the Tragically Hip cannot understand why anyone with their faculties intact would not.”

Patti Smith (1972) Her very first big show outside New York City took place in Toronto at Massey Hall in 1972.

Critics’ responses ranged from grudging admiration to outright dismissal. “It is not fair to suggest Miss Smith is insincere,” wrote one reviewer tersely. Patti Smith’s triumphant return to a rapt crowd 41 years later, saw her in fine voice. She reminisced that it was the first time she’d been back on the Massey stage since and felt great reverence standing where her idol Maria Callas once stood.

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Patti Smith

Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

Massey Memories

Johnny Cash (1996)

Fleet Foxes (2011)

The Man in Black’s final Toronto appearance took place alongside June Carter Cash and family, shortly after the release of Unchained, where he covered everyone from grunge icons Soundgarden to Canadian country legend Hank Snow (“I’ve Been Everywhere”). “The last time I was here was 40 years ago,” he told the crowd. “I felt a lot older then!”

“If there was ever a venue made for Fleet Foxes, it is Massey Hall,” raved the National Post about the band’s second appearance.

They were subject to good-natured heckling nonetheless — prompting drummer Josh Tillman to step forward and deliver a rambling lecture on the fall of civilization. Months later he was garnering widespread acclaim as the combative, self-deprecating Father John Misty.

HEART (2013)

J. COLE (2013)

It should not have surprised HEART to drive through blizzards all the way from Winnipeg. Guitarist Nancy Wilson enthused that it was “one of my all-time favourite shows” in their 35 years as a band, citing the acoustics and ambience of the room “and the way the audience brought energy into it.”

Hip-hop shows at Massey Hall haven’t been as common, though with the coming retractable seating, we can look forward to more. When a stadium-sized show by the likes of J. Cole squeezed into the venerable venue for two nights, it was a miracle the roof didn’t lift right off. Needless to say, no one sat down the entire night.

Heart

J. Cole

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acoustically speaking

By Paul Comeau

assey Hall — if you’ve played there, you’ve arrived. If you’ve attended a concert there, you’ve felt it reverberate with the echoes of history. What you may be unaware of as a listener, however, is the way Massey’s magical acoustics reverberate — and not in a sublime way — for the mixing professionals who must find ways around the venerated hall’s many quirks.

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Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

Acoustically Speaking

Hallowed ground for musicians of all stripes, and built within three years of Carnegie Hall, the Massey auditorium brings audience and performers together in warm, living room-like intimacy. It’s a remarkable feat, given its size. Built well before the advent of electronic amplification, and long before amplified performance became widespread in the 1950s, Massey Hall was designed with one thing in mind: to transmit sound beautifully. Every surface of the room, from the floor to the walls to the ceiling, has an impact.

Indeed a quiet murmur from the stage can be heard from the last of the uppermost rows. “But it can be a difficult room for louder acts to play,” explains Doug McKendrick, Director of Production at Massey Hall. The hall’s acoustic restoration requires taking care to treat all surfaces that reflect sound, particularly what is emanating from the speakers. “We do have difficulties with musicians hearing themselves well, and that’s due to the shape of the dome above the stage.”

Further complicating things is the ‘flutter echo’ that bounces from side to side, generating 13 discrete repeats. But the main culprit that muddies sound and disorients artists is ‘slapback.’ The rear and stage walls face each other at a 90 degree angle, and when a high-pressure stream of sound exits the speakers, it literally slaps back toward the stage, almost

The coming acoustic tweaks and innovations will bring amplified sound to new levels of excellence, while retaining what the hall is most known for: its warmth

masseyhall.com

at full amplitude, and collides with the outgoing stream of sound from the PA system.

The solution to this involves some considered, but complicated, tweaks.

“It’s a careful balance between making it better for electrified music, and not changing a thing,” says McKendrick.

“You want to be selective.”

This is why Massey Hall has brought in Bob Essert, a renowned acoustician whose magic touch has been applied to many beloved venues, locally and internationally. “Taking the amplified sound to a new level of excellence is the primary driver” of the fine-tuning work Essert is overseeing at Massey. Some of the very attributes that make the hall such an architectural gem also present the greatest challenges.

“Clearly the hall works beautifully well already, but enhancing amplified sound for the majority of productions is the way forward. The gold-domed stage ceiling is an essential architectural element, and there’s little room to change much. The plan is to design and install a more open array of acoustic surfaces over the stage ceiling,” which will scatter and absorb the echoes.

The hall’s elaborate centre ceiling is also surfaced with hard plaster, and first showed signs of wear in 1955.

Though not entirely visible to the eye during a concert, it is covered entirely with wire mesh, installed in 1968 after bits of plaster began to deteriorate and fall. The architects and conservationists have been consulting with specialists who can reinforce the plaster and lathe from the attic side, strengthening it and securing its bond to the wooden lathe. The mesh will come down and, amazingly, the original plaster will remain intact: the same ceiling, but lasting well into the future.

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Acoustically Speaking

‘‘

I love the earthy simplicity of the wood in Massey Hall. It sings warmly back to you, carrying all the voices that have ever sung there before

The stage-facing sides of the scallops and the rafters that span the ceiling will also receive surface treatments, along with the wall and ceiling surfaces in the top galleries.

And finally, new upholstered seating will replace the current 1948 movie theatre style reclining seating, as well as the wooden gallery seating whose acoustic reflectivity has caused such headaches. In addition to being vastly more comfortable, upholstered seats throughout will assist audio engineers in better spanning the gulf between mixing to an empty hall at soundcheck and the transformation that takes place when the house fills with people.

The coming acoustic innovations will bring the amplified sound to new levels of excellence, while retaining what the hall is most known for: its warmth. The restoration also opens up possibilities for a wider array of musical styles and

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‘‘

FEIST

genres, enabling a broader palette of music to sound as richly-toned and gorgeous as Massey Hall itself.

While this only skims the surface of a many-layered restoration and acoustic revitalization, it is clear that the skilled teams involved prioritize retaining and enhancing the Massey auditorium’s signature warmth and historic character, safeguarding its legacy for future generations of music lovers. “The project really is unique,” says McKendrick, “in that it is part painstaking restoration and part new construction.”

He gestures across the expanse of the hall, from the stage to the exit doors. “And they both meet here at the back wall.”

Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

IT’s NEVER AN ORDINARY NIGHT elissa McClelland has been a regular at Massey Hall since she was eight years old, brought regularly by her parents to see the likes of Gordon Lightfoot and Paul Simon perform, and later gracing the stage herself as a guitarist and vocalist with everyone from Blue Rodeo to Sarah McLachlan.

These days she’s most known for her band Whitehorse, and riveting performances with her partner in music and life, Luke Doucet.

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Q

Q

By Helen Spitzer

What does it give you as a musician to have that connection?

It’s kind of everything. You write these songs in a solitary way. You can lose perspective because you’re so involved in your own workings. It is always a great release to put them in front of an audience, where they can change every night, and you can alter songs on the fly. It is this give and take. You know — the audience has a responsibility too, they are part of the performance. Everyone who steps into that building is thinking, “Something special is going to happen tonight.” It’s never an ordinary night.

I’m curious about your early memories of Massey.

Thinking back, my impression is that the artists there always felt close. My parents were big Lightfoot fans, so I saw him live several times. There was something so warm and inviting about that space: the feeling we were sharing something, as opposed to being merely spectators.

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So what was it like to be on the other side?

The first time I played Massey Hall I was opening for Jesse Cook, a solo performance.

It was obviously intimidating, but the room made it easy to overcome. That space — it is an inspiring place to sing, because your voice just soars. I definitely took note. A couple of years later I played in Luke’s band, opening for Blue Rodeo, and we’ve both played there with Sarah McLachlan. I love that our experience with Massey has been this great Canadian community experience — we’ve had so many legendary artists take us under their wing, and help put us on that stage. masseyhall.com

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Unforgettable Massey Memories

MUSIC HISTORY COMES TO LIFE ‘‘

“ Attending concerts at Massey Hall with my grandparents, and then taking them once I was financially able — it’s a multigenerational event site.”

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ducation and Outreach programming run

by Massey Hall provides ways for people of all ages — and levels of music knowledge — to engage with music in a group setting. Programs are designed for audiences at various stages of life, from grade school students to community elders, and provide different points of access. It’s just one way Massey helps instill a deep love for live music with every generation, not limiting it to, as Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo so memorably put it, “just old codgers like me bringing my kids here saying ‘you should love this place.’”

Focusing on the power of music to enrich lives, Massey Hall’s outreach activities are created in partnership with others who share this vision, and strive to be accessible, inclusive and above all, innovative.

When we speak with our audiences, we often hear:

‘‘

“ Music to me feeds the soul. It doesn’t need words to pull emotions, bring back memories, or make your body move.” “ Music is its own language that taps into something emotional and primal. It’s an alternative form of storytelling.” “ When asked ‘If you could have any wish, what would it be?’ my answer has often been: ‘that my entire life be music.”

‘‘

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“ Sneaking in the back doors long ago to watch a concert when I was a teenager. Since then I have paid for, and enjoyed, many more concerts there.”

Long Time Massey Hall Audience Member

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“ Nothing ever less than a gratifying musical experience.”

Massey Hall has such history and presence; the expansion and new spaces allow us to reach back to our founding spirit as a community hall, and bring it back to the forefront. With additional performance space we can run more outreach events, and we’ll be able to share more of Massey’s incredible music history. More events mean more connections made between musicians and music fans alike, and lets more people into the stories behind the music.

Building upon Massey’s communityrooted history, and making it come alive for participants, these outreach activities help cement Massey’s role in the future. Having newer technologies available in new, accessible spaces extends those initiatives well beyond the walls of this old hall, and does the vital work of ensuring Massey’s continued presence and relevance, decades into the future.

Artist quotes

WHAT THIS STAGE HAS SEEN “ Massey Hall has played a major role in my life — as a teenager when I saw the bands I loved like Cream, Jeff Beck and Genesis. And as a member of Rush where we recorded our very first live album there, All The World’s A Stage. For Torontonians in particular, it remains Canada’s classic music hall.”

GEDDY LEE

“ Massey Hall has been a top-shelf goal not just for musicians, but also for audience members.

I hear people say, all the time, ‘Oh you’re playing Massey Hall, I love that place!’”

JIM CUDDY

“ This place, I first sang on its stage when I was 13 years old. It’s very important to me.

Whenever we play at Massey Hall we feel like we’re the home team.”

GORDON LIGHTFOOT

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A LINK IN THE CHAIN

By Tony Dekker

assey Hall occupies an almost mythical place in the minds of musicians, especially Canadian musicians. Beyond an aspiration, it’s more like a dream. The intangible thing that makes a music venue special — different, electric, spiritual, fabled, maybe even sacred — this place has it. It’s the thing you can’t quite put your finger on, the swirling spirits of the great performers who, over the course of more than a hundred years, have graced its stage.

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Great Lake Swimmers headlined there for the first time in July 2014 as part of the Live At Massey Hall series, and we rehearsed for weeks. I expected to be overwhelmed by the prospect of playing to a full house, but what happened was the opposite. I’ve described it to others as slipping into a warm bath. The acoustics were otherworldly, and seemed tailored to our music. It was also one of the few shows where I can say with full confidence that I made no noticeable mistakes. We were firing on all cylinders, and the feeling was euphoric. The room was working with us. It was another member of the band.

Collectively we’ve played every theatre, bar and room in the city, but playing at Massey Hall we all felt connected to some deeper history, a link in an important cultural chain. I’ll never forget it.

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Earlier this year I saw Nick Cave play one of his sold out shows, and there was something powerful happening with his band, The Bad Seeds, that night. Our fourth-row tickets quickly became front-of-stage spots, and mine was one of hundreds of undulating arms gathered around the charismatic front man as he implored, “feel my heart!” I looked him square in the eyes as he said it, and I knew instinctively that this was no stage show: the howl was real. I couldn’t help but think the hall was somehow conducive to what was happening on stage, and that this particular performance couldn’t have happened anywhere else.

Shine a Light | Issue No. 2

credits cover

Exterior, Massey Hall Rendering

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Interior, Massey Hall Rendering

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Deane Cameron. Photo Credit: Jaime Hogge

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Massey Hall Renderings

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Exterior of passerelle, Massey Hall Rendering

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Interior of passerelle, Massey Hall Rendering

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Sigur Rรณs ticket stub. Photo Credit: Liisa Ladouceur; Wilco ticket stub. Photo Credit: Chris; Rheostatics ticket stub. Photo Credit: Sean; Various ticket stubs. Photo Credit: Melissa; Chris Cornell ticket stub. Photo Credit: Rhonda

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Sam Roberts Band, 2015. Photo Credit: Malcolm Cook

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Exterior view, Massey Hall. Media Source: Toronto Reference Library, c. 1890s-early 1900s; Exterior view with fire escapes, Massey Hall 1914.

Media Source: Toronto Public Library; Massey Hall Interior with chandelier, view from stage with piano, 1894. Media Source: National Archives of Canada; Massey Hall Interior, 1955. Photo Credit: Kan Van Velzer

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Stained glass windows, Massey Hall Rendering

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Stained glass windows, Massey Hall 2017. Photo Credit: Jag Gundu Interior, Massey Hall Rendering

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Filming of Donovan Woods Ghost Light Sessions, Massey Hall 2017.

Photo Credit: Jag Gundu

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Live at Massey Hall: Tanya Tagaq, 2015. Photo Credit: Malcolm Cook

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July Talk. Photo Credit: Mitch Brown

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Close up of Exterior, Massey Hall Rendering

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Interior view of auditorium from stage, Massey Hall Rendering

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Gord Downie, Dream Serenade, 2016. Photo Credit: Jag Gundu Patti Smith, 2013. Photo Credit: Malcolm Cook

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Johnny Cash ticket stub. Photo Credit: Clark; Fleet Foxes ticket stub.

Photo Credit: Frank; Heart, 2013. Photo Credit: Malcolm Cook; J. Cole, 2013. Photo Credit: Malcolm Cook

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Interior, Massey Hall during Choir Choir Choir! Prince tribute, 2016.

Photo Credit: Joseph Fuda

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Feist, 2014. Photo Credit: Malcolm Cook

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Melissa McClelland, 2017. Photo Credit: Jag Gundu

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Education and Outreach event. Photo Credit: Jag Gundu; SHSM Education and Outreach Event with Peter Katz, 2017. Photo Credit: Jag Gundu; Share the Music workshop, 2016. Photo Credit: Malcolm Cook

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Geddy Lee, Massey Hall Revitalization Phase 1 Press Conference, 2015.

Photo Credit: Jag Gundu; Jim Cuddy, Blue Rodeo, 2016. Photo Credit: Malcolm Cook; Gordon Lightfoot, 2013. Photo Credit: Malcolm Cook

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Live at Massey Hall: Great Lake Swimmers, 2014. Photo Credit: Mitch Fillion

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Buddy Guy, 2015. Photo Credit: Malcolm Cook

Editor & senior writer: Helen Spitzer

masseyhall.com

Contributing writers: Stuart Berman, Paul Comeau, Tony Dekker, Carla Gillis, Shawn Micallef, Ian Steaman

Buddy Guy

Massey Hall Renderings

by KPMB Architects, 2017

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The Corporation of Massey Hall & Roy Thomson Hall

60 Simcoe St. Toronto, ON M5J 2H5 | 416-593-4822 | contactus@mh-rth.com masseyhall.com | roythomsonhall.com | liveatmasseyhall.com