“Don’t stop til’ you get enough” seems to be the theme song to the last week plus, given the seemingly endless outpouring of love and respect shown in the wake of Michael Jackson’s untimely passing. With the blogesphere on fire and everyone from local DJs to radio and TV personalities, and even the BET Awards, pushing aside scripts in order to get just a few more words in about the landmark artist and apparent fallen hero to everyone’s inner child, it seems only fitting that Toronto’s Manifesto crew would take over the largest chunk of concrete in the downtown core to pay the man his proper respects as only they could.

With DJs Starting From Scratch, Son of S.O.U.L., Mensa, Sean Sax, and Jason Palma on-hand to ensure a non-stop break in the MJ love, the Manifesto party train rolled on for 3 hours straight in front of a Dundas Square packed to the H&M change rooms. Through both rain and shine, young kids and grown folk alike got their collective groove on to Jackson gems from all periods and phases, with the love-in broken only by the short interlude given to local dance unit Rated X, who turned out a special, spot-on routine in tribute over a collage of hits as evening pushed into night. It was no doubt one of the liveliest Canada Day events in the city, though all the little disposable flags in the world never quite nudged it into the realm of being a celebration of Canada Day, but that’s another conversation for another time. For those who made it out, though, count that as a warm-up for what will surely be a long summer of special moments dedicated to the original smooth criminal himself.