An all-star lineup of musicians is coming together to perform music from the night of The Band’s 1976 last concert, which featured a cast of some of the biggest names in music.
The lineup includes legendary Grammy-winning producer and go-to collaboration guy Don Was, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers members Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, Grammy and Oscar-winning singer-songwriter Ryan Bingham, celebrated classic country throwback singer-songwriter Jamey Johnson and many more.
On Nov. 25, 1976, friends and collaborators such as Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Ringo Starr and Muddy Waters, to name a few, celebrated The Band’s varied and influential career during their last show, aptly called The Last Waltz.
The concert was filmed by famed director Martin Scorsese, who managed to capture the electricity of the performances and the humanity of the performers, documenting a monumental night in music that Scorsese was able to bottle up into one of the best displays of rock and roll on film to date, released in 1978 as The Last Waltz.
The tour will pay homage to some of the great performances from the film and includes an extensive cast to pull it off. In addition to those previously listed, the tour also includes performances by guitarist/vocalist of New Orleans funk-infused rock and roll band The Radiators, Dave Malone; Cyril Neville of the legendary Neville Brothers vocal group; John Medeski, avant-garde jazz pianist and keyboard player and member of Medeski Martin & Wood; New Orleans percussionist Terence Higgins and Mark Mullins and Levee Horns.
The limited tour picks up following the celebration of The Band co-founder Robbie Robertson’s life at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on Oct. 17 and will continue through early November.
“Life is a Carnival: The Last Waltz Tour ‘24” stops at Andrew J Brady Music Center on Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. More info: bradymusiccenter.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s Oct. 30 print edition.
This article appears in Oct 16-29, 2024.