New documentary looks at 1969’s Rock N Roll Revival music festival

Greenwich Entertainment

A new documentary will give music fans a behind-the-scenes look at Toronto’s 1969 Rock N Roll Revival music festival, which featured John Lennon’s first time performing outside The Beatles.

The documentary, Revival69: The Concert That Rocked The World, details how promoters John Brower and Kenny Walker were able to book Lennon for the show and how his appearance almost didn’t happen. In the end he took the stage for a debut performance of The Plastic Ono Band, which featured Yoko Ono, Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann and Alan White.

The documentary also features footage from the festival’s other performers — Little Richard, Bo Diddley, Jerry Lee Lewis and The Doors. It includes interviews from The Doors’ Robby Kreiger, Voormann and White, Alice Cooper and Rush’s Geddy Lee, who attended the festival. 

The film features archival footage from the late director D. A. Pennebaker, who shot the festival for the 1969 documentary Sweet Toronto.

Revival69: The Concert That Rocked The World will be released in theaters and digitally on June 28.

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