THE SOUND OF HISTORY
Live Nation and Drake partner to bring a new state-of-the-art , mid-sized venue to Toronto
BY KEVIN YOUNG
PHOTO : SCOTT NORSWORTH
Although Toronto has a wide range of live music venues , History , a partnership between Live Nation and homegrown superstar Drake , definitely fills a void in the scene . But when it came to conceptualizing History and providing audio systems for the venue , one of the key challenges – beyond ensuring a high-end , high-value experience for audiences and artists – was to ensure the venue had a positive impact on the surrounding community .
Understandably , the announcement of a new venue prompted concerns from nearby residents along the lines of , “ How loud will it be ? And am I going to find hammered people pissing on my begonias at 3 a . m .?”
Fair to say that the folks behind the venue have done everything possible to alleviate those concerns , including addressing them directly at a neighbourhood town hall , explains History ’ s general manager , Steven Biasutti : “ We were asked if there were going to be people coming and going at all hours , and we were clear ... Most tours want to enter the city in the morning and be done by midnight , so the majority of shows will be done by 11 or 12 o ’ clock . Then the tour moves on .”
“ It ’ s for ticketed events only ,” adds David Gardner , History ’ s technical director , noting that while the venue is capable of hosting everything from concerts to galas , through private events and even film shoots – the one thing History is not is a nightclub . “ We ’ re purely an event / concert space ,” Gardner says , explaining that the whole idea behind Live Nation ’ s partnership with Drake to create the venue was about adding to the area ’ s culturally-vibrant community , and the Toronto music scene in general .
“ Toronto hasn ’ t had a 2,500-capacity concert venue ,” Gardner says . “ Rebel is sort of like that , but it doubles as a dance / nightclub . Live Nation works with venues like Velvet Underground , the Danforth [ Music Hall ], and others , but there ’ s kind of a missing piece in there before you get to , say , Echo Beach or Budweiser Stage , or even really to Massey Hall . It made sense to create a stepping-stone venue . So , if Live Nation puts an artist in the Danforth for two nights , that ’ s your 2,500 capacity – why not move them to History and free up the Danforth for another touring artist capable of selling 1,200 to 1,400 tickets ? It helps fill the gap in the city where there ’ s a void for mid-level artists .”
After officially opening in November 2021 with a sold-out inaugural concert from Bleachers , the venue closed up again until March 2022 owing to the ongoing pandemic , but going forward , plans to mount roughly 200 concerts and a variety of other arts programs annually . At the core , History is meant to provide a large-scale concert experience in a more intimate setting than the larger venues Gardner referenced – a preoccupation Drake spoke to in a press release in mid-2021 , saying : “ Some of my most memorable shows were playing smaller rooms like History . I wanted to take those memories and what I learned to create an incredible experience for both the artists and the fans .”
To that end , flexibility – in terms of the physical design , and the provision of lighting , video , and audio systems – was central to the vision for the space from the outset . “ Woodbine Entertainment owns the building ,” Gardner says . “ Live Nation took over 75 percent of the space , basically keeping the walls and roof , but gutted the rest , working with Ellis Don and Design Agency .”
The result is a space that ’ s simple and
34 PROFESSIONAL SOUND