Most everybody knows that Martin Scorsese’s classic movie The Last Waltz is one of the greatest concert films of all time, a fantastic documentary of The Band’s farewell performance at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco that took place one magical night way back in 1976. It was no ordinary evening indeed, not only because of all the legendary musicians that took part in the proceedings (like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell,
Muddy Waters, and Neil Young, to name a few), but also because it happened to take place on Thanksgiving. Fittingly, the 5,000 or so lucky audience members in attendance that evening were served turkey dinners during the show! It’s all part of the reason why The Last Waltz feels like essential viewing/listening this time of the year, the perfect soundtrack for a festive and warm Thanksgiving gathering. The entire film is fantastic, chock-full of classic performances like this one from the late great Dr. John that sounds like 100% pure gold. “Such A Night” indeed.
