Wow. A restored video of the concert. I gather the show is sometimes referred to as THE NEXT TO LAST WALTZ.
And trust me, the music, playing and singing is 100 times better than anything in The True Last Waltz. They could have (should still) have released this authentic show rather than Scorseses’ hyped drug fest.
27 July 2022 | James Porteous | Clipper Media News
July 20 1976
Rick Danko – Bass, Vocals
Richard Manuel – Piano, Würlitzer, Vocals
Levon Helm – Drums, Vocals
Garth Hudson – Keyboards, Saxes
Robbie Robertson – Guitar
0:00 – setup/soundcheck
– The Shape I’m In 10:12
– It Makes No Difference 17:12
– The Weight 22:00
– King Harvest (Has Surely Come) 25:32
– Twilight 29:19 – Ophelia 33:00
– Tears of Rage 38:38
– Forbidden Fruit 44:53
– This Wheel’s On Fire 48:51
– The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down 52:48
– The Genetic Method 57:05
– Chest Fever 1:01:47
– Stage Fright 1:06:26
– Up On Cripple Creek 1:12:04
– WS Walcott Medicine Show 1:15:57
– Life is a Carnival
THE NEXT TO LAST WALTZ: THE BAND LIVE IN ASBURY PARK, NJ, 1976
When The Band were taped in concert at Asbury Park’s Casino Arena on July 20, 1976 plans were already afoot for their final appearance that fall in San Francisco that would be filmed for Martin Scorsese’s documentary, The Last Waltz. Knowing that this show would be among their final onstage outings together as a band, The Band are in fine form here, the energy is high and, as always, the musicianship is as good as it gets.
Recently, I posted about the full “Last Waltz” concert as it was recorded via Winterlands house video feed which is fascinating on so many levels, but not the least of which is hearing The Band without all of the studio fussing and overdubs that Robbie Robertson is famous (infamous?) for.
Here, as with that (truly incredible) “Alternate Last Waltz” video, what we have is The Band, a group fabled for their near-telepathic communication as musicians as they actually sounded in the raw… damned good! (And unlike in The Last Waltz, you get to see the other band members besides Robbie Robertson. At least you can see the top of Garth Hudson’s head from time to time!)
The version of “The W.S. Walcott Medicine Show” at 1:12:00 is a must listen—it might be my top favorite song by The Band—and the final encore of “Life Is A Carnival” that follows it is a thing of great beauty also.
Until or unless a full show from The Band taped after this one turns up, I guess you could call this one the “next to last waltz.”
