The Last Pogo was an instantly iconic concert vaunted as the “final” show for Toronto’s 70s punk scene, held at the Horseshoe Tavern in 1978, which was eventually shut down by undercover cops who objected to the perceived lawlessness of the festivities. It was made into a short film/documentary by producer and filmmaker, Colin Brunton, and for years was only available through bootlegs, until it received a timely reissue earlier.
The documentary was a major cultural touchstone for many young Canadian punk bands, and, to that end, 34 years after the event, CBC Music has launched a webseries that serves as a history lesson and homage to the glorious punk performance space. The series sees Toronto punk ambassadors, Fucked Up, take to the Horseshoe stage to cover songs from each of the bands who performed on the Last Pogo show that night.
There are currently four videos available online, the first one being Fucked Up’s cover of this Teenage Head song. View the cover and municipal music lesson below.
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Jordan Sowunmi is a writer and editor at the Toronto Standard. He is on Twitter: @jordanisjoso
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