Fans of 1970s folk-rock and blues recognize The Band’s farewell album, The Last Waltz, as a wellspring of musical starpower, featuring guest performances by Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Ringo Starr, Muddy Waters, Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Dr. John, and many, many more. The triple album features two and a half vinyls’ worth of their final concert. The last B-side being “The Last Waltz Suite”, which The Band performed on an MGM soundstage. But the first five sides are the triple album’s real bread and butter, though.

The magic about that fateful concert at Bill Graham’s Winterland Ballroom on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, wasn’t just that it was The Band’s last show. Interesting set choices, backstage bickering, and, yes, the holiday of it all have made this one of the more unique moments in 1970s rock ‘n’ roll history. In honor of the 49th anniversary of this star-studded event, here are five oddball facts about The Last Waltz.

1. The Set Was From a Local Production of a Verdi Opera

While some rock ‘n’ roll shows of the late 1970s were decorated with psychedelic color washes and pyrotechnics, The Band went operatic for the set design of The Last Waltz performance. Director Martin Scorsese and the rest of the production team opted to use a leftover set from the San Francisco Opera Festival’s performance of La Traviata, a Verdi opera which premiered in Venice in 1853. “We had these big, wooden pillars and chandeliers, so there was very little room on stage,” Scorsese recalled, per TCM.

2. Every Lighting Cue Meant Something

With so many people to light, Martin Scorsese tried to keep the lighting cues as simple as possible. Most of the creative expression lay in the color choice, although he said that didn’t come without some conflict. “I wanted to use violet and yellow for the song, ‘The Weight’,” Scorsese told TCM. “[Cinematographer Michael Chapman] said, ‘Those two colors are Catholic colors, and this is a Protestant song. I’m not going to let you do that.’ He loved The Band’s music so much. It was great to have that kind of enthusiasm.”

3. There Was Controversy Over Whose Mic Was (And Wasn’t) On

Levon Helm later wrote in his book, This Wheel’s on Fire, that Robbie Robertson’s mic was turned off during The Last Waltz performance. Whether that’s true has been a point of mild controversy. Garth Hudson later said, “That involved military connectors and 120-foot cables and multi-pin connectors and recording in trucks and more than 24 tracks. Two 24-track machines in sync, all done by [recording engineer] Elliot Mazer. Only he would know whether it was on or off, and knowing Elliot, he won’t tell you.”

4. Some Artists Almost Got the Boot

When the production crew realized The Last Waltz was running too long, they started considering which artists of the stacked lineup might be dropped to make up for lost time. After Levon Helm heard they might cut Muddy Waters, he recalled, “I was in a mood. I snarled, ‘Go tell [Robbie] Robertson to tell Neil Diamond we don’t even know who the f*** he is.’” Production members pushed back and told Helm to tell Waters he was off the bill. Helm threatened to drop out of the show entirely. Waters stayed on after all.

5. ‘The Last Waltz’ Was Also a Massive Thanksgiving Feast

The Band’s The Last Waltz was more than just a concert. It was also a massive Thanksgiving feast. Five thousand people paid $25 to sit at long banquet tables and dine on over 200 turkeys, 300 pounds of salmon, 1,000 pounds of potatoes, 90 gallons of gravy, 500 pounds of cranberry sauce, 400 gallons of cider, and 400 pounds of pumpkin pie. The impressive menu was a source of great pride for concert promoter Bill Graham, and frankly, if we managed to round up that much food successfully, we’d be proud of ourselves, too.

Photo by Michael Montfort/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images