British rock legends The Rolling Stones have announced they will release for the first-time ever the live recordings from a pair of secret concerts they held in Toronto in the ’70s at the historic El Mocambo.
The double CD, 4-LP vinyl album, dubbed ‘Live At The El Mocambo,’ will be released on May 13 and features the band’s full set from the legendary March 5, 1977 show, as well as three bonus tracks from the March 4 performance.
Die-hard Stones fans will likely know the history behind the famed pair of shows, which saw the band billed as the fictional group The Cockroaches — who were set to open up for the Canadian rock band, April Wine.
A radio contest was held in which lucky winners would get a ticket to see either performance at the Toronto club. On the night of the concerts, however, fans would be in for a real treat as the roles were reversed and April Wine opened up for the actual headliner: The Rolling Stones.
“Against all the odds, the band produced two nights of exhilarating music that they still talk about in Toronto, and in Rolling Stones legend, to this day,” Universal Music said in a news release published Friday.
The 300-capacity venue itself was a departure from the stadiums the band had been used to playing in the 15 years before the two-night event.
The venue still stands today thanks to eccentric local businessman Michael Wekerle, who bought the space following its potential closure in 2014.
Since then, Wekerle has reinvented the club while weathering millions of dollars worth of renovation costs and closures imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The new “El Mo” officially reopened on Oct. 31, 2021 with a headline set by Canadian alt-rockers Our Lady Peace.
Stones’ fans can preorder ‘Live At The El Mocambo’ right now and listen to two tracks from the set in support of the release here.
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