Massey Hall. Other Images. Massey Hall view from the stage - Tag this record. Winston Churchill. Anna Eva Fay. In , the hall was used for a week to shoot a film about Bob Dylan that was never released. The celebrations culminated with three nights of Gordon Lightfoot concerts leading up to 2 July, when the venue closed for two years for renovations.
The first major structural changes to Massey Hall were undertaken in Seating was reduced to the current 2, by enlarging the lobby and adding the balcony lounge. Also in , the building was officially recognized by its popular name, Massey Hall. A second renovation, undertaken in , lowered the stage and replaced the wooden floors of the stage, basement, and orchestra with reinforced concrete.
In , after a large chunk of plaster fell from the ceiling while the Hall was empty, the entire ceiling was re-plastered and reinforced with a strong wire mesh. The interior was refurbished in the early s, and the hall was air-conditioned in in preparation for a seven-month run of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats.
Adjacent to the south of Massey Hall, this seven-storey, 4, sq. To fully restore and update the venue, the hall will be closed for two years as of 2 July Seats will be replaced, leg-room will be increased and some sightlines will be improved though the pillars will remain.
The centre section of seats on the main floor will be made to retract under the stage to create a general admission space. The light-coloured stage, installed in , will be replaced with darker wood.
The attic will be redesigned to accommodate special lighting and effects equipment, thus diversifying the types of shows the hall can host. Acoustics will be improved by adding sound treatments to the wall and arches opposite the stage and to the dome overhead, and the bottoms of seat cushions will be perforated to absorb sound. The second and third floors of the hall will connect to the seven-storey tower via glass corridors constructed on the outside of the building.
When the Barenaked Ladies first played Massey Hall in , they did a four-night run, breaking the record for consecutive shows by a rock band that had previously been held by Rush. The band was ecstatic when they found a gift in the dressing room from their rock heroes — a celebratory bottle of champagne. This is from Rush! Numerous live records have been recorded at Massey Hall, some of them with a revered place in music history.
The promoters were convinced that word of mouth would be enough, but it wasn't. The gig was poorly attended. It didn't help that the date coincided with a boxing prize-fight between Rocky Marciano and Jersey Joe Walcott.
The Jazz Society lost money on the show, and wasn't able to pay the performers. However, a recording of that night has become legendary in jazz circles. It was the last recorded meeting between Gillespie and Parker, and the only time these five performers played together. Neil Young's Massey Hall recording is another standout in the history of the building. Young played solo, treating the audience to songs that would later be released on the album Harvest. The recording circulated as a bootleg for many years and was officially released on CD in , becoming an instant classic.
In , Rush was a young band just starting to break through into the United States, and they returned to their hometown to record All The World's a Stage. It was the hall that we always dreamed of playing," says Geddy Lee, standing on the empty stage and reminiscing.
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