Big Pink came to the Big Apple, as The Band’s Levon Helm brought his “Midnight Ramble” to Central Park’s SummerStage. Despite an incessant drizzle, Helm, his band and the crowd all seemed to be in high spirits. It’s a rare occasion when the Arkansas rock legend leaves his Woodstock home, where he holds intimate “Midnight Ramble” shows for about one hundred lucky fans every other Saturday night, and it is certainly a reason to celebrate. The 67-year-old drummer/vocalist opened the show with the appropriate “I Don’t Want to Hang Up my Rock ‘n’ Roll Shoes,” as if to say to the audience, “Despite old age, bankruptcy and cancer, I’m still here.”

In light of his age and physical ailments, Helm miraculously summoned up a wealth of strength and passion, proving that he could still rock just as hard as anyone a third of his age, if not harder. The drummer was joined by some of the industry’s finest guitarists, including Phil Lesh and Friends and Bob Dylan alumnus Larry Campbell, as well as Tonight Show guitarist Jimmy Vivino. By having two lead guitarists, Helm was breaking free from the single-guitar, quintet format so closely associated with The Band. It was almost an assertion of his musical independence.  

Throughout the evening, Helm pounded through a slew of Band classics, including note-prefect renditions of “Ophelia” and “Rag Mama Rag,” complete with their accompanying Allen Toussaint horn arrangements. He displayed his musical versatility by playing mandolin on impassioned versions of “Man of Constant Sorrow” (a song which sounds like it was written for his distinctive Arkansas voice) and a cover of Springsteen’s “Atlantic City,” which appeared on The Band’s 1993 album, Jericho. In the middle of the show, Helm brought out blues-harmonica legend Little Sammy Davis for a couple of blues songs, hearkening back to the legendary Muddy Waters appearance with The Band at The Last Waltz. He even paid tribute to his fallen former bandmate, Richard Manuel, by doing the pianist’s trademark rocker, “The Shape I’m In.” Although Manuel and late Band bassist Rick Danko were noticeably missing, Levon didn’t neglect their musical legacy.

Helm closed the set with a string of classics from The Band’s debut album, Music From Big Pink. After recreating Garth Hudson’s famous organ prelude to “Chest Fever” (sometimes called “The Genetic Method”) on his Stratocaster, Larry Campbell handled the vocals on this hard-rocking Big Pink hit. Vivino then sang the Dylan-penned “Tears of Rage.” “The only problem I have with that song,” the Tonight Show guitarist said wryly, “is that it broke up Cream. When Eric Clapton first heard the song in 1967 or 1968, he decided that he needed to break up Cream to try to do what The Band was doing. He’s still trying to do that today,”

Helm closed the show with a crowd-pleasing, sing-along version of “The Weight.” The New York crowd was ecstatic at seeing the Woodstock legend sing one of his most beloved songs with such a renewed sense of musical fervor. After a brief break, Levon and his band returned for an encore consisting of “W.S. Walcott’s Medicine Show” and, for the first time ever, a cover of Clarence “Frogman” Henry’s “Ain’t Got No Home,” which first appeared on The Band’s cover album of rock ‘n’ roll classics, Moondog Matinee. Contrary to the song’s refrain, Helm seems to have certainly found a home for himself onstage, surrounded by his friends, his music and his enduring legacy.