Elvis Costello, Allison Russell and Hamilton’s Daniel Lanois are among the musicians set to celebrate Robbie Robertson’s legacy at a concert supported by his friend Martin Scorsese.
They include Eric Clapton, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples, who all appeared in the 1978 concert documentary “The Last Waltz,” which centred on Robertson’s legendary rock act the Band and was directed by Scorsese.
Relative newcomers Noah Kahan, Nathaniel Rateliff and Margo Price are also on the bill, while Hamilton-based Lanois and Montreal-raised Russell will bring a Canadian perspective.
Robertson died last August after what his publicist described at the time as “a long illness.” He was born in Toronto and a member of Six Nations, the First Nations community where his mother was born, just southwest of Hamilton. “I might be one of the most acclaimed native sons proudly from the hood on the bush,” Robertson wrote in an email to friend Tim Johnson back in 2017. Locals know the reserve as ‘the bush.’
Tickets go on sale to the general public through Ticketmaster on Friday at 10 a.m. PT.
Before Robertson’s death, he finished scoring Scorsese’s most recent film “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which earned him posthumous nominations for best original score at the Oscars and Golden Globes.
Scorsese is listed as an executive producer of the tribute show alongside names that include Robertson’s longtime manager Jared Levine.
Others set to appear at the show include Lucinda Williams, Bobby Weir, Taj Mahal, Bruce Hornsby, Don Was and Robert Randolph.