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Jimmi T said:
Anyone here ever been to a Ford Fest? They've been having this long before Rob and Doug even entered politics actually. As legend has it, the Tragically Hip once played at one of their bashes back in the early 1990s.
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Heard talk of it, but given that that talk seems to have originated with the Fords, I find it highly suspect:

a) In an article, according to the Fords' own recollection the FFs started in the summer of 1995.
b) By 1995, the Hip had already released several platinum albums in Canada—Up to Here, Fully Completely, Road Apples, Day for Night (these four albums comprise most of their most recognizable songs).
c) The Hip played on SNL in March of 1995.
d) An act that was that big at the time does not show up to play unknown, dinky backyard parties of a few hundred people at most.
e) Gord Downie is a *notoriously* militant socialist; making the likelihood of the band showing up to a Ford party any time after June 8, 1995 (the Election where neocon Doug, Sr. got his backbench seat), even more unlikely.

As this was close to being "Peak Hip", it's all so unlikely that a family with an isolated fiefdom in the suburbs of Toronto—but complete unknowns around the rest of the country—would be able to get one of the then hottest bands in the country to play their back yard.

What I think is much more likely is one of the *numerous* Hip cover bands (I suspect Wheat Kings—a TO hip cover band formed in 1994) showed up for free food and jumped on stage for a bit of self-promotion. The Fords being dense and/or likely to inflate, either believed the Hip really did play their party, or enough of the crowd thought they did that they decided to go along with it for the sake of their own self-promotion and ego.
 
zang said:
Heard talk of it, but given that that talk seems to have originated with the Fords, I find it highly suspect:

a) In an article, according to the Fords' own recollection the FFs started in the summer of 1995.
b) By 1995, the Hip had already released several platinum albums in Canada—Up to Here, Fully Completely, Road Apples, Day for Night (these four albums comprise most of their most recognizable songs).
c) The Hip played on SNL in March of 1995.
d) An act that was that big at the time does not show up to play unknown, dinky backyard parties of a few hundred people at most.
e) Gord Downie is a *notoriously* militant socialist; making the likelihood of the band showing up to a Ford party any time after June 8, 1995 (the Election where neocon Doug, Sr. got his backbench seat), even more unlikely.

As this was close to being "Peak Hip", it's all so unlikely that a family with an isolated fiefdom in the suburbs of Toronto—but complete unknowns around the rest of the country—would be able to get one of the then hottest bands in the country to play their back yard.

What I think is much more likely is one of the *numerous* Hip cover bands (I suspect Wheat Kings—a TO hip cover band formed in 1994) showed up for free food and jumped on stage for a bit of self-promotion. The Fords being dense and/or likely to inflate, either believed the Hip really did play their party, or enough of the crowd thought they did that they decided to go along with it for the sake of their own self-promotion and ego.
Click to expand...

Well Rob was friends with Raine Maida back in the day. I think the actual story was there were rumours the Hip would be making a surprise appearance as everyone I knew was talking about it and said they had to be there. But maybe they got there and it proved to be false.
 
Jimmi T said:
Well Rob was friends with Raine Maida back in the day. I think the actual story was there were rumours the Hip would be making a surprise appearance as everyone I knew was talking about it and said they had to be there. But maybe they got there and it proved to be false.
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I was friends with Adam Copeland (and by extension knew Jason Reso) back in high school, but that doesn't mean I'd have been able to get WWE's Edge and Christian Cage to come wrestle a backyard party of mine at the height of their popularity. Too many handlers, managers, etc. get in the way of things like that. ;)
 
Jimmi T said:
Well Rob was friends with Raine Maida back in the day. I think the actual story was there were rumours the Hip would be making a surprise appearance as everyone I knew was talking about it and said they had to be there. But maybe they got there and it proved to be false.
Click to expand...
It also wouldn't surprise me if the Fords also heard the rumours and conflated that into a full blown appearance. I doubt they can tell the difference between reality and hearsay anyhow.
 
Jimmi T said:
Anyone here ever been to a Ford Fest? They've been having this long before Rob and Doug even entered politics actually. As legend has it, the Tragically Hip once played at one of their bashes back in the early 1990s.
Click to expand...

Ford Nation by Vic Gedris, on Flickr
More photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/vgedris/albums/72157635709800245

Centennial Park, 2013. Thought I'd check one one. It was simultaneously bizarre and boring. Some odd people around, lots of people scrambling or lining up for freebies, and Beatlemania when Rob showed up. heh.

Kind of wish I experienced one of their backyard parties when they still did 'em there.

I was hoping to go this year again, but other stuff came up...
 
zang said:
It also wouldn't surprise me if the Fords also heard the rumours and conflated that into a full blown appearance. I doubt they can tell the difference between reality and hearsay anyhow.
Click to expand...

The legend of Doug Ford Sr swimming with Marilyn Bell is another example.
 
Jimmi T said:
Anyone here ever been to a Ford Fest? They've been having this long before Rob and Doug even entered politics actually. As legend has it, the Tragically Hip once played at one of their bashes back in the early 1990s.
Click to expand...
"Long before"? I'm not entirely sure that's true. Go back about three years - I think that was the last year the BBQ was held at Mama Ford's - and near consistently every article that mentions how long the event has been taking place says 12 years. Here's a few:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/toronto-mayor-s-ford-fest-proves-popular-1.1217338
http://www.thestar.com/news/city_ha...curity_will_keep_a_lid_on_fords_barbecue.html
http://www.citynews.ca/2012/09/07/thousands-of-toronto-residents-attend-ford-family-bbq/

That being said, I do not know where this number came from as it's only stated in the articles; there is no direct Fordquote.

Oh wait! Except this one from Doug:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...t-barbecue-set-for-a-makeover/article4525974/

For decades, the Ford family has held a yearly cookout on the grounds of the Etobicoke home of the mayor’s mother – long the site of political get togethers, including an invitation-only garden party Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended last summer.

The family’s annual Ford Fest began in the 1990s and has evolved into an open-house for the entire city. “All of #Toronto is welcome to Ford Fest. Please join us @ 15 Weston Wood Road 6 PM this Friday,” reads a recent tweet on the mayor’s account.
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Here's Doug:
“If they want to come and cause trouble – we have had it for 20 years and never had a problem, never had an incident. We welcome everyone. If they come in with placards and start protesting, they won’t be there,” he said.
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And so it begins.
Three years on and still 20 years of Ford Fest...or is it 12? (takes off shoes) No! 15! I mean 20! FordMath!!

Oh, and then there was this (also 2012): http://www.680news.com/2012/09/07/thousands-of-toronto-residents-attend-ford-family-bbq/

“I don’t know where we’re going to sit everyone, I’m a little worried,” the Mayor’s brother told 680News. “We’ll see how it goes and I think we ordered 78,000 hamburgers and hot dogs and veggie burgers, and I just hope we have enough.”
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Misquote? (7-8,000?) or more FordMath!!?
 
Rob sad and depressed that the cops shot and maybe killed an automobile.
1297749104207_ORIGINAL.jpg


Think of the little pedal-cars and motorcycles.
 
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