This Thanksgiving marked the 40th anniversary of the farewell show to end them all. After more than a decade traveling and touring, The Band pulled out the stops with one final star-studded concert at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, alongside Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, the Staple Singers, Neil Young, Emmylou Harris and others. Thirty-five-year-old Martin Scorsese was hired to oversee filming of the event, which two years later resulted in what many consider the greatest concert film of all time. It’s clear that band members knew it was something special. Throughout the marathon four-hour show, there’s feeling of utter joy, of going out on their own terms, and an elation with sharing the experience with others. It’s an amazing display of the power of music. And unlike others who simply can’t relinquish the spotlight, once it was over, it was over. That was the last time the original line-up ever played together. Indeed, it was “The Last Waltz.”
November 28 — THE SHAPE I’M IN (LIVE), The Band (1976)
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