RESTAURANT In Troy Only TV DAY tilLifl view with music journalist Ben Fong- Torres at the spring 2002 SXSW (South By Southwest Convention), an annual music-industry confab and new-talent showcase in Austin, Texas. "So just thinking we'll stop that and we'll enter a new phase of creativity, that was the idea behind it ... to shuf- fle the deck and do something that fires you up again." With band member Manuel's severe alcoholism "a real concern to every- body in the group," making the deci- sion to stop touring was a protective move, as well as one of survival, Robertson said. And, true to Robertson's concern, in 1986, 40-year- old Manuel hanged himself in a Florida hotel. Passing The Baton Today, Robertson, 58, is a creative executive with DreamWorks, the mul- tifaceted entertainment company founded by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. In revisiting The Last Waltz„ The Band's former guitarist became motivated to make the film more than an epitaph for a lost era. "I'm not one who sits around remi- niscing that much, but The Last Waltz was a particular situation where I wanted to pass the baton on to younger generations," he said. "I'm saying, 'Here's a good example of what was going on then. This is something I'm very proud of.' "I felt a responsibility to really do it right and bring it up to these times." Film director Martin Scorcese also returned, to oversee the re-editing of The Last Waltz, which he had original- ly scripted and shot on wide-screen 35mm film. Both the movie and a three-LP Warner Bros. soundtrack were first released in 1978. That The Last Waltz even danced to the screen was, interestingly, hinged to a mitzvah-like gesture that concert impresario Bill Graham (Jewish-born Wolfgang Grajonca) did on The Band's behalf. From the start, Graham took a deep personal interest in creating the right atmosphere for Robertson's intended concert. He ornately transformed the Winterland (where The Band had played their first professional gig in 1969) with a Viennese opera house motif, draping walls in velvet, hanging crystal chandeliers and trucking in Roman columns. He even prevailed upon Robertson to let him serve a Thanksgiving buffet dinner, charging 5,400 rock fans only $25 each for what he envisioned as rock 'n' roll's last supper. Beforehand, however, Bob Dylan had agreed only to perform and not be filmed. He cited conflicting overexpo- sure with his own concert movie, Renaldo and Clara. Yet, unknown to Dylan, he had been offered as guaranteed collateral in exchange for the $1.5 million that Warner Bros. Records had given Robertson to bankroll The Last Waltz. No Dylan, no financing. As Dylan waited to go onstage, Graham ran into the dressing room and hurriedly negotiated, landsman to landsman, to allow two songs for the film. When cameras began rolling, Graham quickly did a switcheroo, yelling and commandeering Scorcese's crew to shoot Dylan's entire set, single- handedly salvaging the project from a Chernobyl-like meltdown. • So why is Graham unseen and not interviewed in the updated movie? Up until his death in a helicopter crash in 1991, he expressed bitterness that • Robertson never thanked him for his good deed, or for the $2,000 cash handouts that he gave each member of The Band after the show. Robertson respectfully disagrees, blaming Graham's propensity to edit his own memory. But despite the fallout, Robertson is still proud to hoist an umbrella above the concert's sharps and flats. "Something like The Last Waltz shows the culmination of a generation's period of inspiration," he says. "It makes me think about what was in the air, what was in the water, at that time. "You hear a lot of people complain- ing that, in these times we're living in, it seems like the entertainment indus- try is aiming everything at the lowest common denominator. The Last Waltz represented the flavors and influences of The Band's music, and it showed an incredible array of artists who were really raising the bar." ❑ The Last Waltz, currently playing. at selected theaters, will air on VH1 at midnight Saturday, May 11. Check your local listings. Rhino Records' four-CD boxed set ($59.98 suggested retail), including 24 previously unreleased tracks, and Special Edition DVD ($24.98 suggested retail), featuring new performances as well as new interviews with Robbie Robertson and Martin Scorsese, are available for purchase in stores or through vvvvw rh in o . co m 1030 am - 3pm Dinner Served 5:OOpm - Close Adults IV Kids 8 & under 7" In Detroit MOT a !'\4) D)I\Y "L Voted #1 Italian Restaurant in Detroit by the Detroit News Detroit • 4222 2nd Ave. 313.832.1616 Troy • 1477 John R. 248.588.6000 li.ertrkd 6Z-e ) Featuring Black Angus Beef, Rack of Lamb, King Crab Legs, and Pastas... all in a comfortable atmosphere. ALL DINNERS ARE 5-COURSE AND THEY INCLUDE: Soup, Salad, Sorbet, Entree, Choice of Starch & Desserts! DINNER AS LOW AS $9.95 Mention this ad & receive Lunch: $5 OFF Monday - Friday • 11:30 a.m. - 2 p.m. Dinner: Tuesday - Thursday • 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. Friday - Saturday • 5pm - 10pm your total food bill (must have 2 or more in you party) Reservations Encouraged (248) 7063430 1302 W. Huron Rd., Waterford, MI 48327 PEA EODY5 t z4,,e 04)4 q, 11 we/ A Birmingham Tradition For 25 Years Entertainment Friday & Saturday Nights One Lunch Or One Dinner Entry 71vo Hours Free Parking In The Structure Directly Behind Peabody's 50% OFF! When You Buy A Lunch Or Dinner Of Equal Or Greater Value Valid Mon.-Thurs. • With Coupon •'Ewires May 30, 2002 248.644.5222 :34965 Woodward ♦ Just South Of Maple Reservations taken for S or more a 5/ 10 As - 2002 99