In the early 2000s, when guitarist and vocalist Kris Gloer was playing small jam-band shows with his group Hound Dog at venues such as Fuzzy’s Place, the Highlander, Blind Willie’s and Blues Harbor, he wasn’t sure if they’d ever transcend the local blues scene.
“We never got a ton of traction beyond just our little home crowd in Marietta and Atlanta,” he remembers.
But then Gloer had an idea. His band was already playing a handful of Bob Dylan and the Band covers to fill their sets between Hound Dog’s original tracks. What if they did a tribute to the Last Waltz — the legendary, one-night only farewell concert for the Band held on Thanksgiving 1976?
The result was the Last Waltz Ensemble, which will headline a free outdoor concert April 26 at the soon-to-be-demolished Decatur Bandstand as part of this year’s Amplify Decatur Music Festival.
Credit: Courtesy of The Last Waltz Ensemble
Credit: Courtesy of The Last Waltz Ensemble
The Last Waltz was produced by Billy Graham at the storied Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco and gathered some of the era’s most iconic musicians, including Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters and Neil Young.
Martin Scorsese produced a documentary by the same name that was hailed by Rolling Stone magazine as the “greatest concert movie of all time.”
When Gloer had the idea, he set out to see how original it was. With the limited internet he had back then, he could only find one Last Waltz tribute performed as an acoustic set at a folk school in Chicago. Tribute shows — by the likes of Grateful Dead cover band Dark Star Orchestra and Pink Floyd tribute band Blue Floyd — were rare back then. Maybe he was on to something.
He pitched the idea to Bryan Cole, then the booking agent for Fuzzy’s, a now-closed blues and funk venue on North Druid Hills Road in Atlanta. Cole liked the idea. He gave Gloer and the Hound Dogs two slots, fittingly, over Thanksgiving weekend. Both sold out.
“It was nuts. It was oversold both nights,” Gloer remembers. “People were standing in the parking lot trying to get in … We had a big old time.”
That spring, the band revived the show several times. All sold out.
Credit: Kelly Thompson Photography
Credit: Kelly Thompson Photography
Gloer planned a six-city tour to test the national market. It worked. In Charlotte, the show got picked up by a booking agency. Renamed the Last Waltz Ensemble, the band played roughly 100 shows a year all across the country for six years.
The show has never been a complete copycat of the original. Gloer, who has been a Grateful Dead fan since “the tender age of 15,” and his jam collective applied some improvisational flair to the tracks.
“We’re not like a wax museum,” he said. “We jam on the songs.”
For listeners who might not be as keen on the jam-band style of the Dead, Gloer said the familiar hooks and riffs of a classic Dylan or the Band track provide an opening to appreciation.
Along the way, the Last Waltz Ensemble picked up a long list of notable guest performers during their sets, including Susan Tedeschi, Col. Bruce Hampton, Rick Richards of the Georgia Satellites and Oliver Wood of the Wood Brothers. They’ve played gigs alongside Dave Matthews Band, Hootie and the Blowfish and Zac Brown Band.
By 2012, some of the band members started to have children, and the pace of their touring slowed. These days, the Last Waltz Ensemble reunites for about three to five shows a year.
Most recently, the band played a Searchlight Pictures party at Eddie’s Attic in conjunction with a screening of “A Complete Unknown,” the Bob Dylan biopic.
Credit: Kelly Thompson Photography
Credit: Kelly Thompson Photography
The band’s Amplify concert may very well be a last waltz of its own for the Decatur Bandstand, which is set to be demolished as part of Decatur Square transformation projects.
The show is the first time the Amplify headliner will play for free.
Festivalgoers can bring lawn chairs and picnic blankets to listen. Pop-up stages surrounding the square will also have free live music throughout the day at venues including Marlay House, Brick Store Pub, Trackside Tavern, O’Sullivan’s Irish Pub and the Reading Room.
The festival has partnered with area restaurants, including Raging Burrito and Mother’s Best Fried Chicken, to provide food discounts to showgoers.
“The idea is you go grab something from them, come back and watch the show,” said festival director Christine Mahin, who produces the concert with co-organizers Mike Killeen and Drew Robinson.
Said Mahin, “We’re excited to have a last stand at the bandstand with our Last Waltz performance.”
If you go
Amplify Decatur Music Festival
The Last Waltz Ensemble headlines the event. The evening also features performances by Hope for Agoldensummer, Andrew Holley, Eric Toledo of Quiet Hounds and Polly Holliday. 5-11 p.m. April 26. Free. amplifydecatur.org
Additional Amplify performances
The Core and Buffalo. 7:30 p.m. Friday. $25-$30. Avon Theater, 106 N. Avondale Road, Avondale Estates. amplifydecatur.org.
The Bad Bitches of Country with Kate Coleman, Amber Humphries, Robin Shakedown and Tracy Dunlap. Davi Crimmins hosts. 8 p.m. Sunday. $20. Eddie’s Attic, 515-B N. McDonough St., Decatur. eddiesattic.com.
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