Category Archives: Concert films

Bob Dylan, Concert films, Film, Great Concert, Music Calendar, Neil Young, The Band, Van Morrison

Nov 25: The Last Waltz with The Band and friends was recorded in 1976

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Last-Waltz

This film should be played loud!

This is a message on a title card at the beginning of the film. The greatest concert movie ever made. This post concerns the movie, the audio releases have to wait for it’s own post.

Wikipedia:

The Last Waltz was a concert by the rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The Last Waltz was advertised as the end of The Band’s illustrious touring career, and the concert saw The Band joined by more than a dozen special guests, including Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Ronnie Hawkins, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Ronnie Wood, Bobby Charles and Neil Young.

The event was filmed by director Martin Scorsese and made into a documentary of the same name, released in 1978. The film features concert performances, scenes shot on a studio soundstage and interviews by Scorsese with members of The Band. A triple-LP soundtrack recording, produced by Rob Fraboni, was issued in 1978. The film was released on DVD in 2002 as was a four-CD box set of the concert and related studio recordings.

Trailer:

I have several versions of the film, and I’ve seen many versions of it. I’ve seen it at the cinema, I’ve played it to death on video casette, I have two DVD releases , a blu-ray release and I’ve seen/heard quite a bit of bootlegs of the show.

This is a film that I’m really passionate about, and I have often wondered if there’s footage, filmed sequences, that is not in the official version. Whatever condition such film would be in was irrelevant, I wanted to see as much as possible of the legendary concert.

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Classic Concert, Concert films, Joni Mitchell

Classic concert: Joni Mitchell at the BBC 1970

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This is a real gem for Joni Mitchell fans, this is the holy grail of concert clip from the earlier part of her career , BBC In Concert  from 1970. We get an intimate performance shot in front of a quiet audience.

It was taped at the BBC Television Centre in Shepherd’s Bush, Sept 3rd. and broadcast Oct 9th.

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Joni Mitchell  is at the top of her game here, she gives a very special performance, many consider this one of her finest early performances, with her soprano in California taking my breath away. Thank God for the British Broadcasting Company that recorded all these wonderful concerts.

This is as good as it gets.

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Concert films, Live, Neil Young

September 20: Neil Young at Farm Aid in 2008 (full set, videos)

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September 20: Neil Young at Farm Aid in 2008 (full set, videos)

“Just as rock & roll is loud and proud, so is Farm Aid. Farm Aid’s greatest accomplishment, I believe, is in the spirit. It’s the fact that we represent the spirit of the good fight, to keep something good happening. It just keeps getting stronger and stronger….”
– Neil Young

Farm Aid was started by Willie Nelson, Neil Young and John Mellencamp in 1985 to keep family farmers on the land and has worked since then to make sure everyone has access to good food from family farmers.

FARM_AID-2008_LOGO

Farm Aid celebrates it’s 30-year anniversary this year, and they have had a lot of great music through the years. Today we’ve picked a very fine set from Neil Young in 2008. Enjoy!

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Classic Concert, Concert films, Jimi Hendrix

August 18: Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock 1969

Jimi_Hendrix01

August 18: Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock 1969

By 1969, Hendrix was the world’s highest-paid rock musician. In August, he headlined the Woodstock Music and Art Fair that included many of the most popular bands of the time. For the concert, he added rhythm guitarist Larry Lee and conga players Juma Sultan and Jerry Velez. The band rehearsed for less than two weeks before the performance, and according to Mitchell, they never connected musically. Before arriving at the engagement, he heard reports that the size of the audience had grown to epic proportions, which gave him cause for concern as he did not enjoy performing for large crowds. He was an important draw for the event, and although he accepted substantially less money for the appearance than his usual fee he was the festival’s highest-paid performer. As his scheduled time slot of midnight on Sunday drew closer, he indicated that he preferred to wait and close the show in the morning; the band took the stage around 8:00 a.m. on Monday.

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Beatles, Classic Concert, Concert films

August 15: The Beatles played at Shea Stadium in 1965

Redirecting to a newer version of this post….

August 15: The Beatles played at Shea Stadium in 1965

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, honoured by their country, decorated by their Queen, loved here in America, here are The Beatles!”
– Ed Sullivan

The Shea Stadium concert on 15 August was record-breaking and one of the most famous concert events of its era.  Over 55,000 people saw the concert.  “Beatlemania” was at one of its highest marks at the Shea show. Film footage taken at the concert shows many teenagers and women crying, screaming, and even fainting. The crowd noise was such that security guards can be seen covering their ears as The Beatles enter the field.

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The Beatles interview before Shea Stadium:

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