Rock shows at the Verdun Auditorium

Jean-François Parenteau: Well, the shows at the Auditorium, in fact, it’s… there’s something mythical in an Auditorium show. It’s that space. Today, we see  the Bell Centre a lot, all that; it’s a much bigger scale. A show at the Auditorium, regardless of what it is, will always be a show at the Auditorium. Me, I remember, among others, a The Cure show, where the atmosphere was much more intimate, but there was such an atmosphere. You have three, four thousand fans who were truly fans, who were there, who bought their tickets. And a relationship between the artist and the crowd is close, because it can do that, an auditorium.

So even today, in the 2000s, some groups are even looking to do tours in auditoriums, because it’s not at all the same thing as performing in big stadiums or at… So me, I remember shows like that, the moment you walked in, and… you weren’t yet at… the show. Your show was actually starting as you were leaving home. You were leaving your house and going to the show. Often, well, you were dressed up according to the show. You arrived here, it went on. And then, often, at the Verdun Auditorium, there were of course lots of people from High School who were there, so, the next day, the show went on at school because you were still in the atmosphere of the show.