Well, it's been almost a decade since anyone's brought the rock to Maple Leaf Gardens, but come Monday, September 8th, the Gardens plays host to a veritable pantheon of superstar talent in support of ONEXONE, a charity dedicated to enriching the lives of children in Canada and around the world.

The evening's ambassador will be Matt Damon, who will be joined onstage by a boatload of musicians like Grammy-winners Wyclef Jean and John Legend, as well as the Canadian Tenors, 13 year old jazz prodigy Nikki Yanofsky and the African Children's Choir (I'll bet you dollars to donuts Jean will be joining the choir for a tear jerking run through of "Million Voices" from the Hotel Rwanda soundtrack).

Also expect appearances by Canadian comedian Russell Peters as well as Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs (at least one of these two should prove to be very funny).

Is this the end of the moratorium on music at the Gardens? Well, time will tell. The building's former owners, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., originally refused to sell the building to anyone who wanted to use it as an arena that could compete against the Air Canada Centre, but the new owner, Loblaw Companies, has yet to do any significant construction on the building since acquiring it in 2004, possibly due to the fact that the interior seating actually supports the exterior walls. So who knows? With any luck, a whole new generation of Torontonians will grow up with fond memories of loud music, bright lights, nose bleed seats and scalpers (okay, maybe not all the memories are that fond).

Complete details about ONEXONE and their Toronto 2008 gala can be found at: http://www.onexonecampaign.com/toronto2008.htm

Tickets are available through TicketMaster.

Photo from www.onexonecampaign.com