The Last Waltz 40th Anniversay Tour

Philly for me. Can't wait.

Warren Haynes Revisits The Last Waltz
http://www.jambands.com/features/2017/01/06/warren-haynes-revisits-the-last-waltz/
January 6, 2017
Warren Haynes has a new project on the horizon.
After wrapping up his Gov’t Mule’s annual New Year’s Eve dates at the Beacon Theatre, he’ll head over to Negril, Jamaica in mid-January for the sold-out 8th installment of the group’s Island Exodus (with Soulive, Nicki Bluhm, Marcus King and Ron Holloway and a bonus Warren solo set). Island Exodus runs from January 14-18 but Haynes will make a quick return to the U.S. because on Saturday, January 21, he’ll open a special series of dates with Don Was, John Medeski, Jamey Johnson, Ivan Neville and additional celebrated players.


The Last Waltz 40 Tour: A Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of The Last Waltz originated with a two-night, sold-out concert event which took place during Jazz Fest 2016 at New Orleans’ historic Saenger Theatre. Those shows, dubbed Last Waltz New Orleans: A Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of The Last Waltz, were so fun and successful that everyone is having another go at it. Haynes and producer/bassist Don Was will once again served as musical directors of the all-star ensemble which also includes Michael McDonald, Terence Higgins, Bob Margolin, Dave Malone, Mark Mullins, Medeski, Johnson and Neville along with the original horn arrangements of Allen Toussaint. After opening in Hollwood, Florida on January 21 (Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino) the tour will route up to the Northeast before dipping down to Washington D.C. for the closing night on February 4.

We recently spoke with Haynes about the tour, his frenzied schedule, upcoming Gov’t Mule album and his remarkable abilities as an unflappable multi-tasker.

How did this project come about? And how did you get involved?

I’ve done several of these tribute shows for Blackbird Presents. The first one was for Levon (Helm). Then I did one for Gregg Allman, followed by one I did one for Dr. John and one I did for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Don Was and I are friends, and I’ve become friends with Keith Workman who is the producer of the shows. Don and I were friends prior, and then I discovered he was the musical director for a lot of these shows and we started talking about doing one together. So they called me in November of 2015 and asked me about doing “The Last Waltz” concert in New Orleans. I was intrigued about the idea, so the first thing we talked about was who the singers would be. And they turned out to be myself, Mike McDonald and Jamie Johnson. Everybody loved the idea. So then we started talking about who the band might be and it all came together very quickly. We invited a lot of guests, some of whom were New Orleans staples. The whole thing was supposed to be a one off show, and then everybody started saying we ought to take this on the road and it became a bigger project.

Was it a problem trying to coordinate the time commitments? You tour a lot on your own and with your various bands. How did you manage that?

It’s definitely been a chore dealing with everybody’s schedules, but when something is worth doing it’s definitely worth trying to make it work. We just decided to pound it out and see what we came up with and I’m really glad that it worked out. I think it’s going to be a blast.

Had you mostly worked with these musicians before?

The only one I hadn’t worked with was Jamey Johnson. I’ve worked a lot with Medeski and a lot in the last few years with Don Was. Terence Higgins was the drummer in my band after I released the Man in Motion album and toured behind that. I worked with the horn guys off and on through the years. It didn’t take a ton of rehearsal. Everybody showed up prepared, we rehearsed a few days and that was that.

How familiar was everybody with the material?

In varying degrees, everybody was familiar with the songs. But everybody had plenty of time to live with the music. We decided on the song selection well in advance. We couldn’t possibly tackle the whole show because the original show was so long. When everyone showed up the first day of rehearsal everyone showed up prepared and it just clicked.

Is the majority of the repertoire Band songs?

It’s mostly Band stuff. But I did “Caravan” by Van Morrison. We did a version of “I Shall Be Released” that was similar to the Band’s but also kind of different. There were a lot of cool covers. Dave Malone did “This Wheel’s On Fire,” which is a Band song but we had a special guest vocalist doing it. We approached it differently from song to song.

What did The Last Waltz and the Band’s music mean to you as an individual? Was that an influence on you early on? Did it make a big impact on you musically?

When I was a kid, everybody had The Last Waltz triple album in their collection. They were mostly people my brother’s age, older than me because I had two older brothers. One was three years older, one was five years older. So everybody we hung out with had The Last Waltz album. So we would hear it a lot long before I ever saw the movie, and when I finally saw the movie it was so intense to have all those people in one place that were all connected to the Band’s music. I think that music is more important now to me and to a lot of people more now than it was then.

You’ve been a part of so many great bands, be it your solo material, the music you make with Gov’t Mule, and of course the ongoing role you’ve played with the Dead and the Allman Brothers Band. You could have done tributes connected with those bands and their classic albums.

This opportunity came up because it was the 40th anniversary of The Last Waltz and it was something we were all excited about doing. The one-off version exceeded our expectations and we decided to keep it going a bit longer. I’m very excited it’s going to happen, and of course I was very close to Levon the last 15 years of his life and I really loved him and loved playing music with him as much as possible. We celebrated his 70th birthday with him at Mountain Jam a few years back and we had a lot of guests join us for that. It just feels right. It just feels natural.

Speaking of which, can you give us some idea of what you have on your slate for the coming months and the new year?

We’re just wrapping up a new Govt. Mule album, which, if all goes well, we’ll have out sometime in May. So once that’s out, we’ll be touring with Govt. Mule for the next year, year and a half or so. We’ll be going to Europe and Japan and all over the world to spread the word. Of course, there’s always other projects going on, but that will be the main focus for me from that time forward.

Are you ever home?

These days it’s either work or family, and those are the two things I focus on. When I’m not working, I’m home with family and I don’t really have a lot going on beyond that.

It seems like you would have to set aside time to be with the family because you tour so much. It must be a challenge.

It’s a challenge but I’ve gotten better and better with dealing with it through the years. I have a five year old son now, and when he was born we started looking at ways to keep me home more and gradually my schedule will slow down more. But as long as things are exciting and pertinent, I really enjoy my work and I feel fortunate to be able to do it.

I've got tickets to the Westbury show can't wait !

okay so...back in the day, one of my earliest and most influential musical memories is watching THE LAST WALTZ on television late at night when my very young self shouldve been in bed. i was mesmerised. and to this day i remain mesmerised. to say THE LAST WALTZ is one of the most influential moments of my musical education would be so far from an understatement its incomprehensible . i have grown up with THE BAND... they have been the measure for ALL bands that i have discovered since i discovered them. i can not perceive the music of thanksgiving 1976 without rick danko, levon helm, richard manuel, robbie robertson and garth hudson.

when i saw the title of this thread i shuddered with so much apprehension i knew there was nothing anyone could say that would make an iota of difference... and so i say i can not conceive of any anniversary concert tour of 'THE LAST WALTZ' without rick danko, richard manuel and levon helm. NO musicians have been as influential to my musical journey as the 5 men who as far as im concerned are reprentative of the quintessential american band.

EM194007 said:

josevolution said:

I've got tickets to the Westbury show can't wait !

It was a great show, you won't be disappointed.

Set 1
01. Up On Cripple Creek
02. The Shape I'm In
03. Stagefright
04. Georgia On My Mind
05. Life Is A Carnival
06. It Makes No Difference
07. Down South In New Orleans#
08. This Wheel's On Fire# >
09. Who do You Love
10. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
11. The Night They Drove Dixie Down

Set 2
12. Ophelia >
13. Caravan
14. Helpless
15. Mystery Train #
16. Mannish Boy^
17. Caledonia ^
18. Rag Mamma Rag
19. Forever Young
20. The Weight* >
21. I Shall Be Released*
Encore
22. Don't Do It

# Dave Malone guitar and vocals
^ Bob Margolin guitar and vocals, John Medeski moves to keys and Micheal McDonald leaves stage
* Everyone back on stage

I can't wait. This looks awesome.

Up here in Canada they just announced a 4 date Last Waltz Remembered tour with Corb Lund, Matt Anderson, and Amy Helm (Levon's daughter). It'd be cool to see both shows the same year.

when i got old and saw one of my musical heroes die it took a long time to heal but i'm at the point where if i hear a cover version of any song that he did i cherish it. no matter who sings it, in whatever circumstance. no right no wrong way to grieve but moving on helped me celebrate it still. i met rick danko a long time ago, shortly after richard took his own life. i'm looking forward to this celebrationx10

The Last Waltz 40 Tour
Symphony Hall at Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta, GA
January 24, 2017
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=591034
Set I

01 Up On Cripple Creek (The Band)
02 Shape I’m In (The Band)
03 Stage Fright (The Band)
04 Georgia On My Mind (Ray Charles)
05 Life Is A Carnival (The Band)
06 It Makes No Difference (The Band)
07 South In New Orleans (Anglin, Anglin, and Wright) *
08 Wheels On Fire (The Band) *
09 Who Do You Love (Ronnie Hawkins)
10 King Harvest (The Band)
11 The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (The Band)

Set II

01 Chest Fever (The Band)
02 Ophelia (The Band) >
03 Caravan (Van Morrison)
04 Helpless (Neil Young)
05 Mystery Train (Junior Parker) *
06 Rag Mama Rag (The Band)
07 Mannish Boy (Muddy Waters) **
08 Caledonia Mission (The Band) **
09 Forever Young (Bob Dylan)
10 The Weight (The Band)
11 I Shall Be Released (Bob Dylan)
-encore-
12 Such A Night (Dr. John)
13 Don’t Do It (The Band)


Warren Haynes - guitar, vocals
Michael McDonald - keys, vocals
Jamey Johnson - guitar, vocals
John Medeski - organ, keys
Don Was - bass
Terrence Higgins - drums
and
Mark Mullins and The Levee Horns

with

Dave Malone - guitar, vocals * (s1t07-08, s2t05)
Bob Margolin - guitar, vocals ** (s2t06-07); without Michael McDonald, John Medeski on keys

i totally disagree about that michael macdonald comment but that's just a matter of personal opinion.
fact is the show is amazing+
there was enough twists and turns to make it a very unique inspired tribute and musical experience
a massive highlight for me was cyril's 1st set songs especially who do you love. WOW
we had joan osborne show up and that was a great addition. horn section blew my mind more than once.
it was cool to see don was play and jamey johnson is great. i've been a fan of terrence for 5 years and it was my time seeing him play oh and medeski was wonderful(as always)

Warren Haynes' Last Waltz (feat. Garth Hudson)
2017.02.04
MGM Grand, Oxon Hill, MD
http://bt.etree.org/details.php?id=591188
Taped and transferred by opsopcopolis
Lineage: Berliner CM33 > Tascam DR-60D > WAV > ProTools > WAV > xACT > FLAC

Set 1:
01. Theme From the Last Waltz
02. Up on Cripple Creek
03. The Shape I'm In
04. Stage Fright
05. Georgia on My Mind
06. Life Is a Carnival
07. It Makes No Difference
08. Down South in New Orleans
09. Who Do You Love?
10. This Wheel's on Fire
11. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)
12. The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down

Set 2:
13. Ophelia
14. Caravan
15. Helpless
16. Mystery Train
17. Rag Mama Rag
18. Mannish Boy
19. Kind Hearted Woman Blues
20. Farther Up the Road
21. Such a Night
22. Forever Young
23. The Weight
24. I Shall Be Released

Encore:
25. The Genetic Method
26. Chest Fever
27. Don't Do It

Notes:
Last show of the Last Waltz 40th anniversary tour.

The Last Waltz 40th Anniversary Band:
Warren Haynes - Guitar, Vocals
Don Was - Bass
Jamey Johnson - GUitar, Vocals
John Medeski - Keys
Michael McDonald - Keys, Vocals
Terrence Higgins - Drums

Guests:
Ivan Neville - Keys, Vocals
Cyril Neville - Percussion, Vocals (tracks 8, 9, 16)
Bob Margola - Guitar, Vocals (tracks 18, 19, 20, 23)
Garth Hudson - Keys (tracks 23 - 27)

helplessdancer said:

i totally disagree about that michael macdonald comment but that's just a matter of personal opinion.
fact is the show is amazing+
there was enough twists and turns to make it a very unique inspired tribute and musical experience
a massive highlight for me was cyril's 1st set songs especially who do you love. WOW
we had joan osborne show up and that was a great addition. horn section blew my mind more than once.
it was cool to see don was play and jamey johnson is great. i've been a fan of terrence for 5 years and it was my time seeing him play oh and medeski was wonderful(as always)

Guess I'm just not the biggest McDonald fan in general. Great show though. Incredible music.