Some of the most iconic names in rock—and beyond—are set to pay tribute to Robbie Robertson in a special concert at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles on October 17. The event, titled “Life Is a Carnival: A Musical Celebration of Robbie Robertson,” will be executive produced by the musician’s longtime friend and collaborator, Martin Scorsese.
The star-studded lineup includes contemporaries of Robertson who rose to fame alongside him in the ’60s, such as Bobby Weir, Taj Mahal, and three artists featured in Scorsese’s legendary 1978 concert film The Last Waltz: Eric Clapton, Van Morrison, and Mavis Staples. The tribute also brings together newer talents who have made a significant impact in recent years, like Eric Church, Allison Russell, Nathaniel Rateliff, Margo Price, and chart-topping artist Noah Kahan.
The concert will mostly feature veteran musicians who came up in the generations following Robertson, many of whom were deeply influenced by The Band. The impressive roster also includes Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, Trey Anastasio, Daniel Lanois, Jim James, Warren Haynes, Bruce Hornsby, Don Was, Robert Randolph, Ryan Bingham, and Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers. Tickets for the event go on general sale this Friday at 10 a.m. PT via Ticketmaster, with a presale for Citi cardholders running from Tuesday to Thursday this week.
The show is being produced by Blackbird Presents, known for organizing top-tier tribute events in recent years, and promoted by Live Nation. Blackbird Presents and Live Nation are also behind the ongoing Willie Nelson/Bob Dylan-led Outlaw Music Festival tour, as well as the Willie Nelson 90th birthday tribute concerts held at the Hollywood Bowl last year, which were filmed for a theatrical and streaming release.
Scorsese’s connection to Robertson began with his direction of The Last Waltz in 1976, and he later collaborated with Robertson as a scorer or music supervisor on films ranging from The King of Comedy to 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon. Alongside Scorsese, Jared Levine, Keith Wortman, and Scooter Weintraub will also serve as executive producers for the tribute concert.
Robertson passed away on August 9, 2023, at the age of 80, shortly after completing his work on Killers of the Flower Moon. His score for the film earned him posthumous nominations from the Oscars, Golden Globes, and BAFTA. The concert will likely feature songs from Robertson’s solo career, which began in 1987, as well as classic tracks from The Band’s catalog, which spanned from 1968’s Music From Big Pink to 1977’s Islands. (The Band’s remaining members reunited without Robertson in the 1990s.)
Attendees can expect to hear tributes to Robertson’s most beloved compositions, including “The Weight,” “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” “Ophelia,” and “The Shape I’m In.”
