New York to Colorado….

The most well-known farewell concert in classic rock history took place on Thanksgiving night in 1976 when The Band played their final show together at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Forever known as The Last Waltz, the Martin Scorsese helmed documentary of the star-studded event may not be beloved by the majority of the film’s subjects but it has become the benchmark for any final musical soiree. One of the most notable aspects of the evening was the inclusion of the wide swath of musicians that The Band touched, both personally and professionally. In that respect, The Last Waltz indirectly captured a facet of the music business that while well-known, often evades explicit discussion. Namely, that over the course of any musician’s career, they are formed by and help form dozens of other musicians along the way.

[Photo by Robert Bloom]

David Lott, a guitarist most likely known to Hidden Track’s readership from his time with Licorice and The Whitewalls as well as his recent solo work that includes the marvelous EP, The Gates Of Brooklyn, will be moving his base of operations from the hip environs of Brooklyn to the spacious mountains of Colorado. In leaving the Tri-State area with one final hurrah, Lott served as the focal point for the whimsically titled Lott’s Waltz, which gathered nearly every musician he’s worked with over the past decade for one last show. Never maudlin, Lott’s farewell soiree was one of the more musically satisfying, emotionally uplifting shows of the summer.

In addition to bassist Matt Epstein and drummer Josh Bloom, current members of The Whitewalls, the band into which Licorice evolved, musicians from all periods of Lott’s career appeared at the Bowery Electric. Licorice’s keyboardist Chad Dinzes and Josh Kessler, the producer of Licorice’s sole EP, sat in on an extended versions of A Million Grains Of Sand and Freeze. Singer Rebecca Hart, whom Lott, Epstein and drummer Dan Barman backed for many years as The Sexy Children, revisited covers of Miss Ohio and Whipping Post. Upright bassist Adam Roberts, lap steel guitarist Riley McMahon and guitarist Thomas Bryan Eaton, frequent collaborators on Lott’s solo material, periodically eased on to the stage to leave their distinctive mark on Lott originals and Eric Silverman (Silvertone) and Rob Ward (Food Will Win The War) enlivened covers of Breakdown, Million Dollar Bill and a medley of Where Is The Time and Say It Ain’t So.

[Photo by Robert Bloom]

Outside of a small circle of friends, the guests that appeared with Lott in the East Village may not be familiar names. Nonetheless, in the breadth of worlds from which they came and the seamless manner in which various combinations of musicians played together, Lott’s Waltz was just as satisfying an evening as its philosophical forbearer. Far from a melancholy affair, Lott seemed to be enjoying himself immensely, his enthusiasm coming through his guitar work, which shone brightly in its inspiration and energy.

At the close of the show, Lott borrowed a page from The Black Crowes, bringing everyone back onto the stage for a romp through The Rolling Stones’ The Last Time, letting the question of whether the song serves as ironic comment or prophecy go unanswered

CLICK TO WATCH SOME VIDEO HERE:

Dave Lott & Friends // “The Last Time” from David Huppert on Vimeo.