In 1976, The Band played its last show together at the Winterland theater in San Francisco after 16 years on the road. Filmmaker Martin Scorcese showed up to film the star-studded farewell show and somehow managed to create what many regard to be the finest rock concert film ever. Now, nearly 25 years later, The Last Waltz has been rereleased in theaters, giving moviegoers a chance to judge just how well that claim holds up. And, after viewing it, you’ll wonder whether those who glorify this film sniff as much coke as the performers did that night.
While The Band’s music was rich with various elements of American roots music, its sound was at the same time lean, without ostentation or ornament. On the best Band tracks, the twang of Robbie Robertson’s guitar melds organically with Levon Helm’s easygoing drumming and the insistent bass of Rick Danko, while keyboardists Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson provide strong, but not overpowering support. Unfortunately, in The Last Waltz, such restraint is thrown right out the window in a flurry of unremarkable guitar solos from Robertson, synthesized strings and backup singers galore. The Band sounds fat and happy in The Last Waltz, and that does not make for very compelling rock and roll.
Given, there are hints of The Band at its finest. Early in the film, a rendition of “Up on Cripple Creek” is straightforward, energetic and damn near enjoyable. Things soon get muddled, however. By the time they start into “The Weight,” their biggest hit, with backup vocals provided by the Staples Singers, it’s clear the sound has indeed been weighed down by its musical excess.
And then the guest stars hit the stage, and they are, with few exceptions, utterly unremarkable. Whether a mercifully oblivious Neil Young or a woefully out-of-place Neil Diamond, the performances range from forgettable (Young) to horrendous (Diamond). Highlights? There’s some?it’s fun to see Van Morrison in a horrid sequined outfit belt out a spirited “Caravan” before running offstage in a drug-fueled frenzy several bars before the end of the song.
But, as you might guess, these pleasures are purely ironic in nature. To be sure, The Last Waltz caught no one involved, absolutely no one, at any point remotely approaching the apex of his or her career. Admittedly, some were closer than others. Joni Mitchell, for one, gives a fine, innocuous performance. But some were at the absolute nadirs of their creative lives. Bob Dylan, who sports a scruffy beard and a ridiculous white hat complete with colored feather, is a particularly sad case.
While the concert was uninspired, the filmmaking was similarly ordinary. The camera work, while generally solid and nice to look at, is frankly boring. In another annoyance, as far as this film is concerned, the concert’s audience is a mere afterthought. At no point in the film are any audience members distinctly shown on camera, let alone interviewed. That turns out to be just fine, as Scorcese also proves to be a completely incompetent interviewer. When speaking to the band’s members about the trials of being on the road, the anecdotes he extracts are disappointingly prosaic. Once, they were so poor, they stole baloney from a supermarket! And, guess what?one time when they were in New York, they had to stay in a seedy hotel in Times Square! This isn’t exactly the most striking picture of mid-’70s rock excess.
The irony is that The Last Waltz was almost certainly just that. According to those on hand at the time, there was a proverbial “mountain of coke” backstage. It’s romantic on some level to think that all these guys were hopped up on narcotics, but this music is just too damn boring to support romanticization of any sort. So, this movie fails on yet another level: It’s not even a effective document of ‘70s-era rock hedonism.
The Last Waltz is a heavy film. It’s loaded with a lot of things, but most of all, it’s weighed heavily with self-importance, and 25 years later, it’s quite clear this is not an important film. In fact, it’s not an interesting or good film. It’s kind of a sad testament in a way. Perhaps it should be required viewing at rock star school: This is how not to end your musical career. Or as a younger Neil Young said, it’s better to burn out than fade away.
