I'm on the list.

In 2002, I discovered The Last Waltz. It changed my life. The Band's music was instantly recognizable, but mystic and somewhat impenetrable at the same time. I would later discover that whatever mystery they had lay in the fact that their musicianship was deceptively brilliant, and more or less unparalleled. My young ears simply couldn't understand what was going on. I couldn't understand how a song like Stage Fright resonated with me, becuase I certainly had never heard anything like it on the radio. I couldn't undrestand how I felt such a connection to a band without a clear leader, because hero worship was something I was very into at the time (see: Eddie Vedder, Jimmy Page, Bob Dylan). The Band's music was instinctively mature - something I was not, but something I needed to become (or at least try).

But, just as the Band's music was steeped in integrity, so too was their decision call it quits. The Last Waltz was the finale. They are one of the few bands that has never fully reformed, despite the obvious payday that would follow. However unfortunate this is for the fans, I think the absence of a reunion has kept their legacy in tact. Nobody will have to watch Robbie lose his speed, and nobody will have to see Garth miss a few notes in Tears of Rage. We're all better off this way. Suffice it to say, I never had dreams of an authentic live Band experience. I was content with the reality that live Band would only exist in my heart, my ears, and my mind. It would never be truly tangible.

Today, only three original members remain - Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, and Levon Helm. There is no way that these men will play together, and even if they did, their sound would be a shadow of what it was while Richard Manuel and Rick Danko were around. However, Band fanatics still have one last opportunity to taste the energy these five men once created - and that lies with Levon.

Several years ago, Helm decided to open his barn studio to the public for a series of intimate concerts. These shows - called Midnight Rambles, after the travelling minstrels Helm saw as a boy in rural Arkansas - propsered, and brought Helm's heavenly gifts back to the fore. The price of admission is not cheap, but again, this is the closest a Band fanatic can get to the real thing, and I think any of us will tell you that there's nary a price we wouldn't pay to have that. Midnight Rambles don't issue tickets. You are immediately added to a list after dropping the bills. I'm proud to say that, as of last night, I am on that list.

September 5th... Woodstock, NY... me... profoundly loving my life.


- Levon.

- the opening of a Midnight Ramble (I'm not sure what's going on with the kids).