THE FLYER VAULT
The Flyer Vault project began with the discovery of a trunk of several thousand flyers that I saved during my time as a music-crazed teenager and young adult. These pieces of ephemera were destined for the landfill but represented a tangible piece of culture that I could hold onto and cherish. They had value. They represented memories of great moments with people I had never met who left their differences at home, and bonded under the strobe lights and speaker stacks of a live concert or all-night rave.
As I started posting these old flyers to social media, people took notice. From promoters to venue owners, artists to fans, everyone waxed nostalgic about past shows that left an imprint on their life. With time, the account got more popular and became a community of rockers, hip-hoppers, metalheads, ravers, and everyone in between.
Since then, the project has grown to include assisting with historical exhibits, providing consulting and curation services, and the release of the Amazon best-selling book, “The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History,” co-written with Grammy-winning writer Rob Bowman, released by Dundurn Press in 2019.
This endeavor is about celebrating the rich history and incredible people who’ve made Toronto the great music city it is today.
-Daniel Tate
The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History
The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History
The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History
The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History
The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History
The Flyer Vault: 150 Years of Toronto Concert History
DESIGN PROJECTS
We’ve had the opportunity to work with a wide range of clients on projects both big & small, to bring their ideas to life. Explore our recent work and if you think we could be a good fit for a project of yours, feel free to get in touch. Below are just a few of the clients we’ve worked with.
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👉🏻 The legacy of The Band lives on – as Chest Fever, the official revival - brings their live act to Massey Hall for a spectacular celebration. The Last Waltz is Chest Fever’s tribute to The Band and their incredible catalogue. Join us for a night of Band classics with an ensemble cast of guest performers including Devin Cuddy, Colin Linden, Albert Lee and many more. The show is November 18th, and you can get your tickets now at www.chestfeverofficial.com/thelastwaltz 🎸
In honour of the Blue Birds clinching today, here’s a little mashup of the Jays and Rush from their opening game in 1977 ⚾️
On this day in 1967, Ravi Shankar made his Toronto debut at Massey Hall, 3 months after being introduced to western audiences at the Monterey pop festival. His classical Indian sitar would have a major influence on several artists of the generation including the Beatles.
👉🏻 Imagine for a moment a west Ontario Place that DID NOT include Toronto’s 350th spa, a swath of pavement with surveillance cameras and private security, a 2,000-car parking garage, or a 95-year lease.
Imagine a public park that could be built at a fraction of the cost of the current plan. Imagine a public park that was FREE for all regardless of socio-economic status. Imagine a park that had a bit of infrastructure so people could go to the bathroom or buy a pineapple spritzer or a Montreal bagel. Imagine a park that could accommodate the occasional special event: think Mariposa or Wavelength or Electric Island. No noise complaints, just sunsets. Imagine those gorgeous sunsets. Imagine having a public park for rest. For nature. For music. For community. A place with trees, trails, and grass. A place to hear that guy play Wonderwall on his acoustic guitar for the 2000th time LOL.
It is time to say NO to Ford’s plan to destroy west island and it’s 850 trees. It’s time to say NO to $200 massages at @thermecanada We need a thoughtful master plan and environmental study just like they did in Montreal with the beautiful Parc Jean-Drapeau. Let’s not squander this opportunity. For more info follow @ontarioplace4all 🌳 🌳
Two weeks ago we released our first mixtape, NORTH STARS CLASSICS VOL I, a love letter to the ‘90s underground. Inspired by Power Move, and a tribute to all the MC’s who helped build the city. If you haven’t given it a listen, do yourself a favour and click the link in our bio. Here’s the illustrious track list with some of our country’s most legendary artists. Co-curated by @sethandmax and mixed by @djkmatic look out for volume II soon! 🔥 🎧
👉🏻 The Real Jerk deserves its rightful place in Toronto music history. Standard playbook was to go there for dinner 2-3 hours before an Opera House show, and you’d likely be eating oxtail and rice beside whoever was playing that night. I remember eating at a table right beside The Roots before one of their shows. And of course, the Gerrard restaurant was the location of the “Work” video, which as of this writing has 1.3B views [Poster from their grand opening in 1988] 🇯🇲
Looking back to the Bud Stage summer season, here’s the setlist for the QoTSA show nicked by my pal @dave_mcfarlane_ Interestingly the band deviated from the set list when you compare it to setlist.fm. A few people have told me this was the Bud Stage show of the year. Anybody know what the C and E indicate? Who was there? ⚡️
#OTD in 1987, Pink Floyd performed the second of two shows at Exhibition Stadium for the “Momentary Lapse of Reason” tour 🎸
Another incredible summer season in the books at Budweiser Stage. We were fortunate enough to see 6 shows: Alexisonfire, Wiz & Snoop, 50 Cent, Rufus, Smashing Pumpkins, and Alice Cooper/Rob Zombie. Hands down the best live music venue in the city. Hats off to Adrian, Alex, Lianne and the entire team who served 850K fans at an astounding 65 shows 🤯 See you next year 🤘🏻 What shows did you attend?
Congrats to winner @rhys.lp
🚨 TICKET GIVEAWAY 🚨
The fine folks at Embrace have gifted us with a pair of tickets to see Norwegian electronic duo Röyksopp in their long-awaited return to Toronto on September 30th at HISTORY.
I remember buying Melody AM at Metropolis back in the day, and have been a fan ever since. It’ll be a journey through light and sound 🔊⚡️
To enter simply:
👉🏻 Follow @theflyervault & @embracepresents
👉🏻 Tag a friend you’ll take to the show
We’ll pick the winner on Monday night. No entry limits. Winner will be contacted by @theflyervault ONLY. Good luck 💥
👉🏻 Have you gotten your tickets to see the world premiere of “299 Queen Street West” the new MuchMusic documentary? It all goes down this Friday at Roy Thomson Hall. Fun fact: As this ad from 1985 shows, the original home of MuchMusic was 99 Queen Street East, which today is the location of Carbon Bar #themoreyouknow💫
👉🏻 Stormy Mondays is back! Classic sounds for the contemporary world. Tune in tonight at 10pm on OVO channel 42 on SXM 🎸⛈️ #CousinDennis #DannyMarks
Congrats to winners @nopineapplesonpizza & @life.is.loud 🎉
🚨 EPIC TICKET GIVEAWAY 🚨
Acclaimed film director Sean Menard has been gracious enough to bless us with TWO pairs of tickets to the world premiere of “299 Queen Street West,” the long-awaited MuchMusic documentary which is taking placing September 22nd @ Roy Thomson Hall.
Some incredible never-before-seen archival footage is featured in the film including interviews with all the legendary VJ’s. This is the station that raised us!
We will pick TWO winners this Wednesday evening. To enter, simply:
👉🏻 Pop a comment with your favourite VJ and tag a friend you’ll take to the film
Fine print:
No entry limits. Only @theflyervault will be contacting the winners, beware spam accounts. Good luck 🤩
Enough with the foreshadowing *NSYNC, the time for a reunion tour is now!!! Here’s a glorious throwback to the 2001 tour, where Chris gives props to “Bill Melychka” and JT waxes poetic about his love of Toronto. Let’s gooo! Video courtesy of @rick_campanelli 🔥
👉🏻 Life works in mysterious ways. One minute you’re at U of T doing Aerosmith research – the next minute you’re going down a Toronto blues / Dennis Graham rabbit hole.
You see, I was losing myself in the NOW archives trying to find old concert reviews of Aerosmith, when I couldn’t help but notice all the ads for blues and r&b jams. Places like Albert’s Hall, Silver Dollar, Grossman’s, Bluenote. And one name popped up a few times: Dennis Graham. Drake’s dad.
So I end up veering left and going down the OG Toronto blues rabbit hole, and learning about all these musicians and promoters who were putting in work for the love of music. One email to Gary Kendall opened several doors. And as I walked through each door, some new piece of information was revealed. Finally, I ended up in High Park watching a VHS tape that hadn’t seen the light of day for 32 years. And I knew there was one person who needed this video.
And that’s the story of how I accidentally helped usher in the release date for the 6 God’s new album: For All The Dogs. I guess it needed to happen so that we don’t forget to pay respect to the older Dogs, the older Gods. The ones who did it before us. The ones who were a stepping stone to where we are today.
The irony is that my own father used hang out at these same blues clubs, and last week remarked, “I remember Dennis Graham. I remember Danny Marks. He’s a guitar virtuoso.” Full circle shit. Salute to all the musicians in this awesome video: Dennis, Gordie Skinner, Mark Potvin, Alec Fraser Jr., Danny Marks, Wayne Mills, and Johnnie Katz.
The Flyer Vault is a rabbit hole of rabbit holes. A labyrinth of history that continues to surprise us. Hold on to your old tapes, videos, and other mementos. One day the future will be calling to see them again 👊🏻
Who was at the Mr. Bungle show last night at History? How was it? Here’s a beauty of a poster from @maplefudge73 from 1995 🤘🏻
I love that this April 1992 ad says “Who is Mr. Bungle” on the bottom right. Who went last night at History? Also I wonder what became of that “Pearl Jam” band. What a weird name!
Happy birthday to good ol’ St. Catharines boy and the GREATEST DRUMMER IN THE HISTORY OF PLANET EARTH, Neil Peart. He would’ve turned 71 today. The world misses him. Here he is in GOD MODE at R40, June 19, 2015 at the Air Canada Centre. Hope he’s jamming with Buddy and Charlie up in the sky 🥁
Very bummed out that Aerosmith had to postpone tomorrow’s show. We had something special for them, but Steve suffered vocal chord damage. Heal up @iamstevent we’ll see you in February!
So let’s throw it back to 1979 and marvel at one of my all-time favourite concert photographs taken at the “Canadian World Music Festival.” No photo illuminates the essence of what it was like to be a rocker in 1970s Toronto like this one. These fans did not fuck around. And they were so dedicated to Ted Nugent and Aerosmith’s sound that they threw shit at the Ramones. The late 1970s rock divide was real!
If you look closely at the fourth photo you can see Johnny Ramone giving the crowd the finger. Legendary! 😂
Exhibition Stadium circa 1999 just before demolition. What concert did you see here?
P.S. wouldn’t the west island of Ontario Place which greets us in the background of this pic look lovely as a PUBLIC PARK and NOT a spa and parking garage?! 🤔
