The Last Waltz New Orleans
11/23/25 Civic Theater New Orleans, LA
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A host of New Orleans musicians came together on the Sunday Night before Thanksgiving to celebrate one of the most legendary concerts of all time, The Last Waltz. The gorgeous Civic Theater in the Central Business District hosted the concert as fans of all ages filtered in to sing, dance, and enjoy the well-loved songs by The Band and beyond.
A ton of musicians took to the Civics stage including, but not limited to, Adam Kelly, Al Small, Basch Jernigan, Billy Iuso, Blake Quick, Dave Jordan, Dennis Aoun, Eric Johanson, Evan Oberla. George Gekas, Jake Eckert, James Hausman, Jon Cleary, John Gros, Max Sanders, Mike Doussan, , River Eckert, Robbie Smith, Rurik Nunan, Sari Abolafia, Steve Staples, The Lost Bayou Ramblers, Will Murry, Zach Edwards, and Zack Feinberg.
At times, knowing who was onstage was a bit confusing as, like the original concert, it was a communal coming together as musicians strolled on and off stage, playing and singing with freedom. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling and the light show by and Unfortunately, these sort of events can suffer from stage management and technical issues and while those were present all night, the good vibes and warm feelings won the day.
Murry from the New Orleans based band The Iceman Special, mostly played the role of Robbie Robertson on this night, with the house band and guests shifting around him. After the theme from the original event played over the speakers the band got loose with "Up on Cripple Creek" as Jake Eckert took over lead vocals and started things with high energy.
Sound issues plagued the stage, especially early on, as the songs "The Shape I'm In", "Who Do You Love?", and "Mystery Train" all could have used a do over with working microphones and better sonic levels. There were a few early high points though as Gros delivered the ballad "Long Black Veil" wonderfully, Cleary mentioned it was a pleasure to step into Dr. John's shoes for "Such A Night", the brothers Eckert and blazing horns bounced around for a lively rendition of "Don't Do It" (which received huge cheers after the piano solo) and Bob Dylan's "Baby Let Me Follow You Down" made an early appearance stomping all over the Civic Theater stage.
The highlight of the first set was the Iuso led "Stage Fright". For this performance the sound was perfect, the horn section blared with power, River Eckert helped on keys and things flowed wonderfully. After a short set break the early entrance of Dylan tunes continued with "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" that featured great sax work and hard drums.
Three songs not in the film adaption were well delivered, mixing things up in a positive way. The Rick Danko solo effort "Sip The Wine" had added flute work, a fun rendition of "Atlantic City" received a huge cheer as it mixed in well with the older tunes, and Bobby Charles "Down South In New Orleans" was a blast as it shouted out the hometown.
Abolafia played the role of Joni Mitchell onstage supporting Jordan vocally on "Helpless" (which featured a host of back up singers) before running through a strong version of "Coyote" while "Ophelia" had a kick ass trombone solo. "Life Is A Carnival" was an out and out scorcher that featured an energetic Small coming to the front of the stage on bass and some more excellent horn work in hard rocking fashion.
The unexpected highlight of the whole night was Johanson's cover of Neil Diamonds "Dry Your Eyes" as the tune soared with top notch singing and guitar playing from Johanson that shined just as bright as his rhinestone jacket, stealing the show.
Unfortunately I had to leave while the night was still in motion, walking out during the blues rendition of Muddy Waters "Mannish Boy", but the party kept rolling on. Few towns are as well equipped to deliver a show like this one and here is hoping that The Last Waltz New Orleans becomes a yearly event.
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