Sunday, April 29, 2018

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2017Father John Mistyreleases his video for "Total Entertainment Forever," which stars Macaulay Culkin as a crucified Kurt Cobain.More
2013X marks the spot for the Ohio-born Twenty One Pilots, who pledge their devotion to their hometown fans by getting "X" tattoos midway through a performance at the Lifestyles Community Pavilion in Columbus. Frontman Tyler Joseph tells the crowd: "This X is dedicated to you guys. Columbus, Ohio is where we're from and it will always be where we are from. Whenever someone asks what that X means, I am going to say this is for all of you."
2011Folk singer-songwriter Phoebe Snow dies at age 60 after being in a coma for three months due to a cerebral hemorrhage.
2006Country singer Kellie Pickler gets voted off Season Five of American Idol.
2005Amerie releases "Touch."
2005Bruce Springsteen releases Devils & Dust.
2003David Cassidy guests on the CBS show The Agency.
1999English post-punk rocker Adrian Borland (The Sound, The Outsiders) commits suicide at age 41 by throwing himself under a train at London's Wimbledon Station.
1984Count Basie, famed jazz pianist and orchestra leader, dies of pancreatic cancer at age 79.
1982Rod Stewart is mugged on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard.
1978Ringo Starr's TV special Ringo airs on NBC.
1976Jose Pasillas (drummer for Incubus) is born in Calabasas, California.
1975John Lennon's cover of "Stand By Me" reaches #20 in the US.
1975Heavy metal drummer Nathan "Joey" Jordison (Slipknot) is born in Des Moines, Iowa.
1975B.J. Thomas' "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" goes to #1 in America.
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The Last Waltz Opens In Theaters

1978
The Last Waltz, director Martin Scorsese's acclaimed documentary of The Band's star-studded last concert, opens in theaters. The film features performances by Neil YoungEric ClaptonJoni MtchellVan MorrisonNeil DiamondThe Staple Singers and Dr. John.
The Last Waltz is shot in 35-millimeter film rather than the customary 16, a risky proposition because the 35-millimeter cameras have never run continuously for very long, and many fear they'll burn out. Scorsese, however, is adamant that only 35 millimeter can do the concert justice. He goes ahead with the plan and the cameras mercifully hold up. The cinematographers operating the cameras are among the best in the business, with Raging Bull's Michael Chapman, Close Encounters of the Third Kind's Vilmos Zsigmond, and Easy Rider's László Kovács. 

The farewell concert depicted in the film takes place in San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom. A set from a San Francisco Opera production of La traviata appears as the stage backdrop. Crystal chandeliers hang over the stage.

The film captures several giants of the music world performing along with the Band. Bob DylanNeil YoungNeil DiamondJoni Mitchell, and many others are there. Stephen Stills and some poets doing spoken-word pieces don't make the cut, and also deleted from the film is a smudge of cocaine under Neil Young's nose.

All overt signs of cocaine use are hidden in the film, in fact, but observers can see the drug's presence in some of the wired-up performances - particularly Young's. Cocaine had been present at the show in large quantities, all part of the celebratory atmosphere cultivated for the event.

The film receives lavish critical praise, instantly touted as one of the great concert films ever made, with only a couple prominent detractors issuing negative reviews. One of those detractors, however, is the Band's Levon Helm, who feels the movie is made to look as if Robbie Robertson was the only member who really mattered. He calls it "The biggest f--kin' rip off that ever happened to The Band."

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