Martin Scorsese's classic The Last Waltz has been quite the muse for many, many, many a film-minded musician-artist-type person. Ever since this 35mm beauty debuted back in 1978.

The universal appeal of this flick is not just in the music and musicians it showcases (Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Clapton, Dylan), but in the fact that it is a documentary of what was (and sorta still is) rumored to be the last performance of The Band.

Well, at least that particular incarnation of The Band.

For those in know, The Band was something of a universal back-up group for just about everyone (mainly Dylan, really, but many others as well) in the mid seventies. They were the go-to group for touring stars who needed competent musicians who could set aside massive egos to make way for the headlining name. These dudes made everyone else sound brilliant on stage, live. They filled in the gaps. They carried the weight.

They built the heroes sung of in today's rock anthems.

And those heroes came out for the late 70s San Francisco farewell show, including the imaculate filmworking mind of Scorsese, to give the event an extra layer of polish. A deeper bow to the crowd. An extra bump of go-powder at 5am.

And this coming Sunday night at Club Deville, members of many beloved Austin bands (Black Angels, Til We're Blue Or Destroy, Moonlight Towers, What Made Milwauke Famous, and on and on and on) will be on stage playing along. We're pretty sure this means that they will be playing along as the documentary unfolds, or that they'll be turning off the movie sound altogether and just mic the stage.

Whichever it is, it should be live movie magic! Food by FRANK!

Filed in Arts & Entertainment and tagged deville, frankhotdogs, jonimitchell, muddywaters, scorsese, Thelastwaltz

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