Home Share Tweet
Next Story The acts you oughta know from Freakout Festival 2021
Indie Rock News

Seattle’s seventh Tribute to The Last Waltz raises $5200 for Northwest Harvest

Every year Seattle’s tribute teams up with STG to put on a locally star-studded show in which all ticket sales benefit Northwest Harvest, Washington state’s leading hunger relief organization.

Dan Ray December 7, 2021
Share Tweet
Seattle’s seventh Tribute to The Last Waltz raises $5200 for Northwest Harvest December 7, 2021

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).

The artists of Seattle’s Tribute to The Last Waltz gather on stage at the end of the night. // Photo by Dan Ray

On Friday, November 26, the Neptune Theatre hosted Seattle’s Tribute to The Last Waltz, now in its seventh year. A recreation of The Band’s final concert, every year Seattle’s tribute — organized by Jasen Samford, Michael Rognlie, Joe Michiels, Leif Dalan, and Bill Nordwall — teams up with STG to put on a locally star-studded show in which all ticket sales benefit Northwest Harvest, Washington state’s leading hunger relief organization.

Originally held on Thanksgiving Day in 1976 at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom, The Last Waltz featured some of the biggest musicians of the time (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Muddy Waters all made appearances) performing in front of a crowd served turkey dinners. The 1978 Martin Scorsese documentary of the same name is hailed to be one of the best concert films of all time, and in 2019 it was chosen to be preserved in the Library of Congress.

The Neptune is GA for Seattle’s tribute. // Photo by Dan Ray

Seattle’s tribute stays true to the original (minus the turkey dinner). A three hour affair, the show rotates through guest appearances from a “who’s who” list of local musicians. This year’s concert saw a lot of familiar faces: King Youngblood’s Cameron Lavi-Jones, Kim West and Ryan Devlin of Smokey Brights, The Ramblin’ Years’s Katie Sweeney and Sean Clavere, RX, and Eric Blu Martin of Fast Nasties, among others. There was a newcomer in Jules Esquire. And a few missing faces, like Cloud Person’s Pete Jordan, who wasn’t able to make it, and Stephanie Anne Johnson, who sang “Georgia on My Mind” at both the 2019 and 2018 performances. Lavi-Jones filled her slot this year with a soulful and vocally gymnastic performance that earned him a standing ovation.

Annie Janzter performs Joni Mitchell’s “Coyote.” // Photo by Dan Ray

Held annually the day after Thanksgiving, Seattle’s Tribute to The Last Waltz feels less like a performance than a family of musicians rejoicing in being together again in front of a rapt audience. Samford and company held down the stage while guest artists rotated joyously around them: During their song, Sweeney and Clavere swung back and forth in ballroom dance. Danny Oleson smashed his violin on stage. Simon Kornelis opened his performance by explaining his excitement that fanny packs are now back in style, albeit worn across the chest instead of on the waist. During Kye Alfred Hillig’s raucous performance of “Baby Let Me Follow You Down,” he took off his cardigan to reveal another long-sleeve shirt underneath, to which Sweeney joked about a long-sleeve striptease.

Other standout performances came from producer Jason Lackie, who played harmonica alongside an exceptionally groovy Martin; Annie Jantzer, who did Joni Mitchell proud with her performance of “Coyote;” Janelle Pfeifer, who made her Waltz debut on accordion, and Ivan Molton, who gave a bari sax solo that was captivating to watch even though his mic wasn’t on for the first half.

Cameron Lavi-Jones holds out the mic to the audience. // Photo by Dan Ray

At the end of the show (about 11:15 p.m., a far cry from the original’s 2:15 a.m. sign off), all of the artists from the night came on stage to sing “I Shall Be Released,” headed up by Lavi-Jones’s effervescence. As the artists sang on stage behind him, Lavi-Jones held the mic out to the audience in front of him. Drummer Samford closed out the night with a big thank you to everyone for attending and donating to Northwest Harvest. This year’s tribute raised $5229.52 for the nonprofit.

See the full list of performers on the official website for Seattle’s Tribute to The Last Waltz.

To donate to Northwest Harvest, see their website.

Enjoy this content? Consider becoming a monthly Patron.

Comments

Raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Detroit, Dan discovered an early passion for singing, songwriting, and the arts as a whole. She got her BA in English and music at the University of Michigan, where she reported for the school’s paper, The Michigan Daily. She worked as a Senior News Reporter on the government beat, transitioned to arts writing, and eventually became the managing editor of the social media department. She moved to Seattle in 2017. After losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic and discouraged about the lack of press surrounding Seattle’s music scene, Dan made the decision to turn Dan’s Tunes, a fully fledged music journalism website focused on showcasing the Seattle area’s musicians, into its own startup. There’s so much music happening in the city that spawned Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and Jimi Hendrix — among others — and Dan’s Tunes is determined to find and expose those outstanding acts. The goal is to have satellites in every major US city, uplifting diverse and compelling voices and helping music communities thrive. In 2020, Dan was featured in the Seattle Times’s year-end music critic poll. Other than her musical endeavors (singing, playing ukulele, and auditioning for American Idol four times before the age of 24) Ray is passionate about food and education around the American food system, and she’s also a large proponent of eliminating the stigma around mental health. Ray loves cats, especially her own, who is named Macaulay Culkin (but she’s a lady).