'The best of all albums I've ever heard': John and Yoko's Plastic Ono Band at 50
Klaus Voormann remembers taking the stage with John Lennon and Yoko Ono's conceptual Plastic Ono Band for their first gig at the Toronto Rock 'n' Roll Revival festival in September 1969. When Ono, wrapped in a bed sheet, let out one of her signature, guttural wails, the once-enthusiastic crowd was confounded.
"Standing on stage, you could see the way the people react, whispering to each other. Not disinterested but just, 'Christ, what's happening up there?'" the 82-year-old recalls.
"[Ono] was wanting the people to know there were people dying [in Vietnam]. She had us imagine tanks are coming, bombs are coming, dead people on the road. When you're standing behind her, you realise what she's trying to do. But it was too strong for the crowd. They came to see John Lennon the ex-Beatle, you know? They didn't want to think about death and war.
Source: Robert Moran/smh.com.au
