“WHEN YOUR BACKING SINGERS ARE NEIL YOUNG, JONI MITCHELL AND DR. JOHN — YOU KNOW IT’S INSANE.” The cameras were rolling. Then Scorsese did something nobody expected. He reached into the front crowd and pulled out two men — Ronnie Wood and Ringo Starr. They hadn’t come to play. They’d come to stand with the audience and just feel it. But for the final song, Scorsese wanted them up there. So they climbed onto the stage. No plan. No rehearsal. Just instinct. Behind Bob Dylan, the voices began to rise — Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Dr. John. One legend leaning into the mic after another. What almost no one in that room knew: minutes earlier, Dylan had nearly refused to go on at all. Someone had to stop him backstage. It was The Band’s last night. Sixteen years on the road, all of it folding into one song — “I Shall Be Released.” People who were there still swear nothing has ever sounded that good again.
When Your Backing Singers Are Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Dr. John: The Night Everything Changed Sometimes a concert becomes…