CONCERT REVIEW
No last waltz for The Band
by Seth Rogovoy(PITTSFIELD, Mass., Dec. 15, 1996) -- In "Twilight," one of the last songs the Band released before calling it quits at "The Last Waltz" -- the star-studded farewell concert that took place 20 years ago last month -- Rick Danko sang in his plaintively yearning voice, "Don't put me in a frame upon the mantle/Where memories turn dusty, old and gray/Don't leave me alone in the twilight/'Cause twilight is the loneliest time of day."
In hindsight, that song should have indicated that in spite of guitarist/nominal Band-leader Robbie Robertson's professions to the contrary, the Band was not really ready to close the book on one of the greatest chapters in the history of American rock music.
And indeed, judging from the group's show at the Studio in the former England Brothers department store on Saturday night, the three remaining members of the influential quintet have no intention of laying down their instruments and becoming a dusty legend, living out their remaining days in some lonely retirement home for washed- up musicians. And in case anyone didn't pick up on this message implicit in their performance, they made the sentiment explicit when they encored with the old Chuck Willis chestnut, "(I Don't Want To) Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes."
Rick Danko, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson -- the core members of today's group calling itself the Band -- have been playing together since 1961, when they met as members of the Hawks backing rockabilly pioneer Ronnie Hawkins. This may very well make them the oldest continuing band in rock.
It would be a lie to say the years have not taken their toll on the musicians, who are only in their mid-50s. But when the band kicked in with "W.S. Walcott Medicine Show" and a cover of Muddy Waters' "Stuff You Gotta Watch," they sounded nearly as young and nimble as ever. Danko's haunted tenor vocals and fat bass licks danced with Helm's Arkanas twang and thumping backbeats, while Hudson's eerie keyboards floated in and out of the mix, providing the glue that kept it all together.
Before what appeared to be the largest crowd yet at the Studio, the Band mixed a set of classic tunes such as "Rag Mama Rag," "Long Black Veil," "The Weight" and "The Shape I'm In" with tunes from its more recent albums, including "Blind Willie McTell," "Stuff You Gotta Watch" and "Back to Memphis."
The three stars were ably assisted by newer members Randy Ciarlante on drums, Jim Weider on guitar and Richard Bell on piano (Bell was in a later version of Hawkins' Hawks). In classic Band style, there was some juggling around of instruments, with Helm playing mandolin on a few tunes while Ciarlante covered for him on drums, and with Danko playing acoustic guitar while Helm and Ciarlante filled in on bass. Hudson, as always, was a one-man band, playing a variety of keyboards, horns and accordion.
The Band's set was preceded by a birthday ceremony for City Council President Gerald S. Doyle Jr. Later, after dedicating "Crazy Mama" to him, Danko, apparently having been briefed on the intricacies of local politics, said of the birthday boy in a line that could have been taken right out of one the Band's snatches of Americana, "He's gonna own this town, I hear."
Local band Lord Hill warmed up the crowed with a set of its mostly original, neo-hippie jam rock, with several cuts from its recent CD, "Consciousness," hinting at the group's roots in mid-'80s hard rock. Frontmen Tim Sears and Jason Webster were a dynamic duo both vocally and instrumentally; you don't get much better than Lord Hill and remain a local phenomenon for long.
[This review originally appeared in the Berkshire Eagle on Dec. 16, 1996. Copyright Seth Rogovoy 1996. All rights reserved.]
Seth Rogovoy
rogovoy@berkshire.net
music news, interviews, reviews, et al.
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