<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3sJ6ow_0wFT93Qp00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3sJ6ow_0wFT93Qp00" width="1200" height="675" ></figure>The Martin Scorsese-led Robbie Robertson tribute, The Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson, took place at Los Angeles' Kia Forum on October 17 – and it was a veritable who's who of the music industry paying tribute to The Band legend.The roughly five-hour concert, which included performances by the likes of Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, Trey Anastasio, Mike Campbell, Lucinda Williams, Bob Weir, and Warren Haynes, was clearly meant to evoke Scorsese's 1978 classic The Last Waltz, which documented The Band's farewell concert appearance at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving Day 1976.Fast forward to 2024, and the all-star blowout paying homage to Robertson, also set to be released as a concert movie, made its mark on music history.“We’ve had four days to learn these songs,” announced Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Mike Campbell, setting the tone for the event, “and we’re gonna play every single one of them tonight.”<img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1JMD94_0wFT93Qp00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1JMD94_0wFT93Qp00" width="1280" height="720" >Heavyweights Van Morrison and Eric Clapton, who both appeared in The Last Waltz, put their own spin on some bona fide classics, with the former delivering back-to-back performances of Tupelo Honey (from his 1971 album Tupelo Honey), Days Like This (from his 1995 album of the same name), and Wonderful Remark – which has a clear Robertson link in that it was part of Scorsese’s 1983 film The King of Comedy, whose soundtrack The Band guitarist oversaw.Clapton, who recently revealed why he’s not particularly proud of his Last Waltz performance, gave a Strat-laden performance of The Band's The Shape I'm In (from the 1970 album Stage Fright), Chest Fever (from 1968's Music from Big Pink), Forbidden Fruit (from 1975's Northern Lights – Southern Cross), and Out of the Blue (from 1978's The Last Waltz), plus Bobby Bland's Further On Up The Road, which he also performed in The Last Waltz.Anastasio, who, together with Mavis Staples and Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, gave a heartfelt rendition of The Weight, the Robertson-penned 1968 hit that served as the first single under the moniker The Band, told Rolling Stone right before the show, “In the style of music that I play, the Band is the foundation – I grew up listening to this music and it’s the high water mark. So being able to take part in a couple of the songs from this huge legacy of masterpieces that were left behind by Robbie and the Band it just means so much.”<h2>Get The Pick Newsletter</h2>All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!Brandishing one of his trusty Languedoc guitars, he also performed The Unfaithful Servant (from the 1969 album The Band) and Look Out Cleveland (from that same album).While the setlist was unabashedly The Band-heavy, pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph and record producer Daniel Lanois – who produced Robertson’s first solo album – chose songs from Robertson's post-Band career, delivering Straight Down The Line (from 2011's How to Become Clairvoyant) and Broken Arrow (from 1987's Robbie Robertson) respectively.“It’s a song that’s very dear to me,” Lanois told Variety, “and brings up a lot of memories of us huddled up in the little studio at the Village, working up these arrangements. It was a great honor for a Canadian kid, because as a guitar player, Robbie was always a hero for me. And so there I was working with one of my heroes, and we had a nice exchange because he loves imaginative thinking. The wildest idea, he would really accept.”The evening’s full setlist is below [as reported by Variety]:Set 1Peyote Healing – Verdell PrimeauxUp on Cripple Creek – Eric ChurchOphelia – Ryan BinghamThe Best of Everything – Mike CampbellEvangeline – Margo PriceAcadian Driftwood – Allison Russell, Julian Taylor, and Logan StaatsStraight Down the Line – Robert RandolphWho Do You Love – Taj MahalDown South in New Orleans – Dave Malone and Cyril NevilleGo Back to Your Woods – Bruce HornsbyKing Harvest – Bruce HornsbyThe Night They Drove Old Dixie Down – Jamey JohnsonSet 2Broken Arrow – Daniel LanoisLife Is a Carnival – Warren HaynesWhispering Pines – Lucinda WilliamsTwilight – Nathaniel RateliffAcross the Great Divide – Nathaniel RateliffRag Mama Rag – Jamey JohnsonDon’t Do It – Nathaniel Rateliff with Margo PriceTupelo Honey – Van MorrisonDays Like This – Van MorrisonWonderful Remark – Van MorrisonSet 3The Shape I’m In – Eric ClaptonOut of the Blue – Eric ClaptonForbidden Fruit – Eric ClaptonChest Fever – Eric ClaptonFurther on Up the Road – Eric ClaptonSet 4Forever Young – Ryan BinghamIt Makes No Difference – Jim JamesStage Fright – Warren HaynesCaravan – Warren HaynesWhen I Paint My Masterpiece – Bob WeirThe Unfaithful Servant – Trey AnastasioLook Out Cleveland – Trey AnastasioThe Weight – Mavis Staples with Trey Anastasio and Bob WeirI Shall Be Released – Jamey Johnson, Jim James, Allison Russell, and full company</div></body>

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“We’ve had four days to learn these songs and we’re gonna play every single one of them tonight”: Eric Clapton, Trey Anastasio, Bob Weir, Van Morrison, Mike Campbell, Lucinda Williams celebrate Robbie Robertson at epic Martin Scorsese-curated tribute

The Martin Scorsese-led Robbie Robertson tribute, The Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson, took place at Los Angeles' Kia Forum on October 17 – and it was a veritable who's who of the music industry paying tribute to The Band legend. The roughly five-hour concert,...