Martin Scorsese, whose film of The Band’s 1976 farewell concert “The Last Waltz” is considered by many the greatest live concert film of all time, directed a similar film of Thursday evening’s all-star tribute to that group’s late leader, Robbie Robertson.
“Life Is A Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson” featured Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Bruce Hornsby, Trey Anastasio of Phish, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, Taj Mahal, Eric Church, Mavis Staples, Don Was, Daniel Lanois and numerous others.
The star-studded lineup is reminiscent of the 1976 concert at San Francisco’s Winterland Theater, which also included Clapton and Morrison, along with Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Neil Diamond and others.
Robertson, who wrote The Band’s songs and played lead guitar, struck up a lifelong friendship with Scorsese during the making of “The Last Waltz,” which was released in 1978. After The Band dissolved, Robertson embarked on a career scoring music for films, and supplied the scores for many of Scorsese’s films, including last year’s Oscar-nominated score for “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Release plans for the film of Thursday’s show were not immediately clear.
Robertson died Aug. 9, 2023, in Los Angeles from prostate cancer.