‘Spirit of MuchMusic’ still alive at doc premiere with former VJs in attendance

Filmmaker Sean Menard spent six years making "299 Queen Street West," even mortgaging his house to finance the project. He's now taking the documentary on a national tour.

While the party died years ago at MuchMusic’s broadcast centre on the corner of Queen and John streets in Toronto, the screening of a new documentary on Friday proved nostalgia for the nation’s music station is still very much alive.

Thousands of people filed into Roy Thomson Hall, only a few blocks away from Much’s former headquarters, to catch the Canadian premiere of 299 Queen Street West, a feature-length look at the legacy of the TV channel.

Joining the crowd were some of Much’s most famous video jockeys, better known as VJs, including Rick Campanelli, Erica Ehm, Sook-Yin Lee and Electric Circus host Monika Deol.

Many of them were stunned by the enthusiasm around their reunion.

“This is surreal,” Campanelli, known to viewers as “Rick the Temp,” said from the red carpet as he surveyed the crowd outside the venue.

“I didn’t expect it to be like this, but in the back of my mind, I sort of was hoping,” he added.

Bill Welychka, who worked as a VJ on the station throughout much of the 1990s, found himself at a loss for words as he reflected on his former job.

“I had no idea the fascination with Much was still there after all these years,” he admitted.