Rockin' Away The SARS Blues

Fans are calling it SARSstock - a monster rock festival in Toronto Wednesday expected to attract nearly half a million people - put together in a hurry to help the Canadian city fight economic woes left behind by its recent bout with SARS.

The Rolling Stones are the headliners but Mick and the boys will be far from alone. Other acts include AC/DC, The Guess Who, Rush, Justin Timberlake, Sam Roberts, The Flaming Lips, Kathleen Edwards, The Isley Brothers, Dan Akroyd, Jim Belushi, Sass Jordan, La Chicane, and Jane Arden, who will sing the Canadian national anthem.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien hasn't said he'll be there but some organizers say he might make a surprise appearance.

The Rolling Stones arrived in Toronto on Monday night to a welcoming party of about waiting outside the Four Seasons hotel downtown.

Tuesday night, Mayor Mel Lastman presented the members of the band with keys to the city.

As well they might - tickets for the mega-concert went for just $21.50 in Canadian currency ($16 in American dollars) - promoted on a Web site selling vacations in Toronto and singing the praises of various local tourist attractions.

Net proceeds of the concert are being donated to two Toronto charities: the Healthcare Workers Fund and the Hospitality Employees Relief Fund.

Wednesday, as the clock ticked down to concert hour and police manned roadblocks on the streets around the concert site, Downsview Park, the fans just kept coming.

Hundreds of people pulled up a patch of grass along the chain link fence around the park, waiting their turn to get in.

Sitting in an impromptu tent city across from one of three gates ready to spring open at 8 a.m - four hours before the beginning of the concert - about a dozen concertgoers swilled beer, played cards and got ready for what many are describing as the concert of a lifetime.

"Immediately we bought tickets. We love the Stones and when we were heard how big it was going to be - we go to all the Woodstock reunions, we're into that kind of stuff," said Cesidio Castricone, 49, who rented a motor home and drove his cousin and two children up from Charlotte, N.C., to see the show.

From T-shirts reading "I came, I SARSED, I conquered," to barbecued chicken, hardy entrepreneurs set up shop outside the 320-hectare field, only to be sent packing by bylaw officers shortly before midnight.

A frustrated Meredith James, who, along with her family, was planning to roast chicken and corn, explained that while they had a permit to sell, it was apparently not the right one.

As concert organizers have hoped, many of the people in line were from out of town, and have spent the last day or so hanging around in Toronto and spending their money.

"I've been to Toronto a handful of times over the last ten years and never have I seen the people in Toronto be as friendly and as nice and as open as they have been today, it has been absolutely fantastic," said John Spears, 29, from Otter Lake, Que., who arrived on site at around 9 a.m. on Tuesday.

While all the fans in line were angling for front row spots, for many it's more about spending a summer day listening to music than the Rolling Stones themselves.

"It's about all the bands," said Vaughan Hansome of London, Ont. "It is the greatest thing Canada has ever done."

Despite the prohibition on bringing things like lawn chairs, beer bottles and tents into the park, several people had set up all of the above for the night planning to just abandon them at the entrance to the park in the morning.

Earlier Tuesday, Haley Rose, a 20-year-old university student who had driven to the concert venue some 260 kilometers from Kingston, Ont., with two friends, the event is much bigger than an economic recovery project for Toronto in the aftermath of a SARS outbreak that hit the city in March.

"Nothing can beat Woodstock but this will be close," Rose said. "We planned our trip the second tickets went on sale. I saw the Stones in October and they were awesome. I want to see them again."

Inside Downsview Park, a large sign emblazoned with the word Toronto in giant red letters hung over the concert stage, the middle "o" replaced with a picture of the Stones' trademark tongue logo. An enormous Canadian flag was draped across the back wall of the stage.

The Rolling Stones' production director said the band was looking forward to the show, which he promised would be monumental.

"This is a huge undertaking," Jake Berry said at a sunny outdoors news conference in front of the stage earlier in the day, where construction crews were busy with last minute details. "We're going to be the size of Woodstock."

However, Woodstock was planned in a year, he noted.

"We just call this Woodstock in a month here," he joked. "This is going to be superb. It's the biggest rock show in the world."

Further down the way, crews were busy setting up barbecue stations. Signs reading "Sticky Fingers," and "Award winning baby back ribs" adorned the section dubbed the Quarter Mile BBQ.

Chefs from as far away as Florida will be selling all Canadian beef products including things like steak on a bun.

"We're just trying to do a good job with beef," said Larry Murphy of Alabama, who will be serving beef all day Wednesday.

Nine video screens and 36 sound delay towers will ensure all attendees, including 45,000 U.S. ticket holders, can watch and hear the concert, said Berry.