The Last Waltz occurred on Nov. 25, 1976 and film legend Martin Scorsese made sure it was filmed from first note to final fade.
It is now considered one of the influential documentaries in music history, about one of the most influential ensembles in music history. That night The Band was the house group for a who's who of their friends, who all stopped in to perform a song or two as a fond farewell to the beloved quintet of rootsy rockers. Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Muddy Waters, Neil Diamond, Neil Young, Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton were just some of the megafriends who made that night the stuff of music mythology.
The First Waltz is set to occur Nov. 21, only days from that anniversary, on the stage of the Prince George Playhouse, where Black Spruce Bog will be the house band and a lineup of local singer-songwriter stars parade to the microphone to share the event just as The Band did 39 years ago with their pals.
No local music group has attracted more fame and celebration in the past few years than Black Spruce Bog. They were broadcast to the nation during the opening ceremony of the Canada Winter Games, they released the strong-selling album Confluence, they made the roster of almost every music festival the region had to offer this past summer, and when they headline a concert that concert sells out.
Which underscores why the buzz in Prince George was instant and impactful when they announced The First Waltz via Facebook. The five band members of Black Spruce Bog are famously humble, but band manager Fraser Hayes stepped up to say he knew fully well that The First Waltz was shaped up to be one of the most important music events in the history of Prince George, packing the same audience wallop as an incoming music star from out of town.
The chief reason was the array of guests the night was presenting. It wasn't everyone who has ever built a critically acclaimed reputation in music based out of this city, but none of these VIPs can be disputed as being a local star. Google any of them and you'll get the drift of each name's accomplishments.
The list is Murray Gable, Marcel Gagnon, Corbin Spensley, Scott Dunbar, Raghu Lokanathan, Kym Gouchie, Jeremy Stewart, Britt Meirhoffer, Naomi Kavka, and Nathan Kelly.
"We knew all along that we wanted the focus to be on songwriters, not just people who could sing well," said Hayes. "First and foremost on the list was Murray Gable. He was the list. As far as we were concerned, if he didn't do it, we wouldn't do it at all. After that, we wanted Marcel and Raghu. They have such huge national reputations as songwriters, they really are such high-calibre artists, so we were willing to go out of our way to get them, but both of them made it really easy on us. We are so grateful they said yes."
By accident, the list of guests took on the general profile of the region itself. Some are veterans of the local music industry while some are emerging talents; some are aboriginal, some classically trained compared to folkier backgrounds, there are males and females, soloists and some from ensembles, and the styles are all over the map.
That draws in Black Spruce Bog which, like The Band had to do back in their day, is authentic in their playing but flexible as well. Their blend of modern attitudes, rootsy instrumentation, acoustic and electric, bluegrass to punk stylings, and a multitude of talents from member to member makes them well paralleled with their 1970s forerunners.
"There has been some discussion about that, and not everyone sees it, but I really think there are many similarities between Black Spruce Bog and The Band," said Hayes.
It wasn't even a Black Spruce Bog idea. Spensley was the one who first uttered it, said Hayes, and Bogger Spencer Hammond loved it and gave it momentum with the rest of the band. The talk started to take shape over the course of about two years.
To test the theory, they brought the conversation to Cold Snap Festival organizers Elissa Meiklem and Sue Judge, and musical theatre producer Judy Russell and her family. The signs kept pointing to this being a fruitful idea.
More support was added when the event became a fundraiser for UNBC's campus radio station, CFUR, to help that organization's dream of doubling their wattage (they currently have 500 watts of signal power), have the means to rebroadcast into Quesnel, improve the Northern Audio Archive (there are more than 3,000 tracks already collected from the canon of northern B.C. performers of all description, from all eras), and have a better performance production studio so bands can come in and make better recordings.
The community benefits earned the show the financial support of Integris, which contributed cash to take the edge off the production costs. All the musicians will be paid for their appearances, as well as payment for the venue and production elements.
All of these initiatives stand to benefit all local musicians in the long run, so the reception was warm when they went tapping the guest artists on the shoulder for their input.
"Each of these guests will do two songs with Black Spruce Bog backing them up," Hayes said. "There will be some new content from some of the artists, and some of their old favourites, so the show will always feel fresh as it moves along. The songwriting is our mantra. It is about their material. We trust these songwriters, it is their material we're showcasing, we always want that to be forefront. Black Spruce Bog will do whatever services the song."
Tickets have already been selling quickly. The event happens Nov. 21 at the Prince George Playhouse, doors opening at 7 p.m. and concert at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance (buy online at the CFUR website) at this internet address: http://buytickets.at/cfurradiosociety/30871.
If any supplies last, tickets at the door will be $30.
