Is this the greatest rock movie of all time?

At the start of Martin Scorsese’s 1978 masterpiece The Last Waltz, the now iconic instruction THIS FILM SHOULD BE PLAYED LOUD pops up in block capitals. It’s advice well worth taking.

What follows is nearly two hours of breathtaking performances by a who’s who of legends from the era, including The Band, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters and, for the finale, Bob Dylan.

Dr John, Neil Diamond, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Rick Danko, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, and Robbie Robertson in The Last WaltzCredit:

The quality of the music, the elegance of the film itself, and its bumpy origin story make it arguably the greatest rock movie of all time.

The film, which is receiving a special showing 4k remastered showing this weekend at Cremorne’s Hayden Orpheum, chronicles the farewell performance on Thanksgiving Day, 1976, of The Band.

The group, a ragtag bunch of Canadians with a drummer from America’s Deep South, formed in the 1950s to back rockabilly wildman Ronnie Hawkins. Billed as The Hawks, for years they paid their dues in dive bars and roadhouses.

In 1966 The Hawks came to international attention as Bob Dylan’s backing combo during his notorious first electric tour. Then, after changing their name to The Band, they recorded several albums reasserting the primacy of organic American music at a time when psychedelia reigned.

Robbie Robertson and other members of The Band.Credit:

Leader and songwriter Robbie Robertson penned a dozen or more classics, including The Weight and The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. Finally, in 1976, after almost two decades on the road, they decided to go out with a bang and film their final show.

Scorsese had been one of the cameramen at Woodstock and a student of the music. The notoriously meticulous director was behind schedule and over-budget on his quixotic take on the movie musical, New York, New York, with Robert De Niro and Liza Minnelli. Despite the fact the producers were hollering at him to finish that project, Scorsese secretly began work with Robertson on The Last Waltz.

Joni Mitchell and Neil Young performing with The Band.Credit:

He did many things that had never been done before. He envisioned a rock movie shot on 35mm film, to give it unprecedented texture and gravity. He took meticulous care in pre-production, scripting the set-ups and camera shots for each song. He induced Boris Leven, the legendary Hollywood designer known for West Side Story and The Sound of Music, to stage it.

Bill Graham, the famous San Francisco promoter, went to the San Francisco Opera and borrowed the sets from La Traviata to create a simulacrum of faded elegance in San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom. (The floor of this decayed rock palace was so rickety Scorsese had to drill through it and anchor his cameras in the basement below.)

Bob Dylan finally turned up for the gig.Credit:

Meanwhile, The Band worked to create a line-up to capture both their life and the history of American rock and its promulgators. Muddy Waters was there for the blues, with Clapton on hand as well.

Van Morrison, who once travelled to The Band’s home near Woodstock, north of New York City, to ask to join the group, agreed, and so did Neil Diamond, as a nod to Tin Pan Alley and the Brill building, home to generations of the Great American Songbook.

Fellow Canadians Young and Mitchell showed up, as did the irrepressible Hawkins, their first mentor. And Dr John was there to represent New Orleans jazz.

Five more classic rock movies

These days, you can see tons of footage of any performer, any time, online. But back in the classic rock years, the films were rarer, and precious in a way that those born into the YouTube era perhaps can’t appreciate. Here are five landmark looks at the performers of the time best seen in a theatre.

1. Woodstock (1970): A slew of unrelenting performances – Sly and the Family Stone, The Who, Jimi Hendrix – take second place behind a searching look at a remarkable moment of American cohesion during a divisive time. You have to see this on a big screen once before you die.
2. Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones (1974). This is probably the least seen of the great rock documentaries. A full Rolling Stones concert, at the band’s stark, dark height. Seen in a theatre, it’s almost as dramatic and draining as being there.
3. Wattstax (1972). An enthralling account of an R&B-soul-funk super summit in a massive LA stadium in the summer of 1972. Watch out for Isaac Hayes doing Shaft, the Staple Singers doing Respect Yourself, and much more.
4. The Concert for Bangladesh (1972): George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, and Ringo Starr are in their prime at this seminal benefit concert. But even then  the show is nearly stolen by Billy Preston and Leon Russell.
5. T.A.M.I Show (1964); The Big T.N.T. Show (1965): T.A.M.I. Show and its sequel document a pair of raucous LA concerts as the 1960s roared into focus, including incendiary looks at James Brown, The Rolling Stones, Ike & Tina Turner, Bo Diddley, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, the Ronettes, and on and on.

The promoters fed the audience a Thanksgiving dinner and then the show began. However, one spectre hung over the day - would Bob Dylan show up? Turns out he did.

It’s shocking to think that 50 years have passed since what many thought then was the last gasp of a worn out ’60s generation. Many of the participants are surprisingly still around, although, with the death of Robertson in 2023, only one member of The Band, multi-instrumentalist Garth Hudson, is still with us.

But the film remains a testament to a moment when a remarkable group of artists were trying to make sense of their unforeseen roles as survivors of a momentous time.

The Last Waltz, Hayden Orpheum, February 25, 6pm