Love for Levon: A Benefit to Save the Barn

This two-disc set captures a New Jersey concert held in tribute to the late Levon Helm, drummer and singer for The Band. If no one sounds like the distinctive-voiced Helm, this 2012 engagement from the Izod Center in the Meadowlands Sports Complex does feature a wide variety of R&B, country, and roots artists who perform a 27-song set list drawn from tunes either written or inspired by Helm, such as Marc Cohn's "Listening to Levon" (Jakob Dylan's version of Clarence "Frogman" Henry's "Ain't Got No Home," which the Band covered, makes less sense, but is still a good tune). Although more formal in nature, the show recalls the Midnight Rambles that Helm used to host in Woodstock, and the performers here receive backing from his band, including his singing daughter, Amy (the concert profits went towards renovating Helm's Barn to keep the rambles going). The Band's keyboard player Garth Hudson even shows up to accompany Dierks Bentley on "Chest Fever" and John Prine on "When I Paint My Masterpiece." Gregg Allman proves to be a fine choice for "Long Black Veil," accompanied by guitarist Warren Haynes. Other highlights include My Morning Jacket's heartfelt renditions of "Ophelia" and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," along with Roger Waters and singer-pianist Allen Toussaint's swampy version of "Life Is a Carnival.” For the most part, the lower-key performances work best, even if the crowd goes wild for the slick, Nashville stylings of Eric Church, who performs "Get Up Jake." The second disc features interviews with the key performers, like Toussaint, who says of Helm, "He never got glossy. Of course, gloss isn't bad—it's good for donuts." Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 on DVD, and Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo on Blu-ray, this is recommended. (K. Fennessy)