A Bob Dylan and the Band Tribute at Bay Street

The intertwined musical history of Bob Dylan and the Band will be explored on Saturday when the Complete Unknowns, a group that performs the music of Mr. Dylan, and the HooDoo Loungers, a group known for its funky, New Orleans style, pay tribute to the legendary artists at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Mr. Dylan committing what to some of the folk purists who revered him was sacrilege: With a backing band that included members of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, he “plugged in” and performed with electric instruments at the Newport Folk Festival. He subsequently toured with the equally electrified Hawks, a group of mostly Canadian musicians who later renamed themselves the Band.

“They had a reputation as a really rough-and-tumble band,” Michael Weis­kopf, who leads the Complete Unknowns, said of the Hawks. Mr. Dylan’s manager, the late Albert Grossman, “hired them when Dylan went on that tour in 1965, when he went electric and everybody booed them in England and France,” he said.

That turning point, Mr. Weiskopf said, will be a theme for his group in 2015. “In my opinion, that’s what changed everything in rock ’n’ roll,” he said of Mr. Dylan’s “sacrilegious” act. “It redefined the whole thing.”

Following Mr. Dylan’s 1966 motorcycle accident, the artists reconvened in and around Woodstock, N.Y., where extensive sessions yielded defining recordings including “The Basement Tapes,” a 138-track anthology of which was released in November, and “Music From Big Pink,” the Band’s debut album, which included songs written by Mr. Dylan.

Mr. Weiskopf is fascinated by the artists’ cross-pollination and the creativity it yielded. “They went through that rough period in Europe,” he said of the Band, “and then hung out with him when he was redefining himself.” The influence of the Band’s Rick Danko and Richard Manuel on Mr. Dylan’s vocal style, he said, is clear from the recordings they made together. “It was a really good time,” he said. The artists toured together again in 1974.

As the Complete Unknowns conclude a four-month hiatus, the group will acknowledge Mr. Dylan’s 1965 about-face on Saturday and in its other performances this year. “It’s exciting to get back together and start working on some new stuff,” Mr. Weiskopf said. “We’re not necessarily going to do the set he did” at the Newport Folk Festival, “but that’s what we’re working toward this summer.” 

“It’s going to be a really special night celebrating two of the great icons of American music,” Joe Lauro, who plays in the HooDoo Loungers, said of Saturday’s tribute.

“It should be a really good show,” Mr. Weiskopf echoed, “because the Hoo­Doo Loungers are great. It should be a really good night of music.”

“Bob Dylan and the Band: A Tribute” begins at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets cost $25.