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| Sir Stonesalot |
There was too much happening, and I was too messed up for most of it to give you an acurate rundown of what happened preshow.
There was a lot of riding in the car. There was a lot of lookin at each other sayin', "I dunno, what do YOU wanna do?". We met up with some old friends(Doug, Nank)...and made some new ones(OldKR, TomL). We ate Nachos. We drank beer. Nank's Hawaiian buddy showed us how to do the hula....in our minds. When I told Doug that Nank's Hawaiian friend was coming, he said, "I don't think so...I only got tickets for he and Tom." That was pretty funny. I seem to remember a lot of walking and standing in a certain parking garage. I do actually remember lots of funny shit that happened preshow, but that is, perhaps, another post for another day.
This was not the best Dylan show I have ever seen. In fact, of the 3 shows I saw in the last 23 days(Neil Young, Bowie,Dylan)...this one was 3rd best. None of it was Bob's fault. As per usual, Bob was great. Freddy(Fuzzy) Koella got lost quite a bit. He would do pretty good for a while, and then all of a sudden it was like he forgot what song they were playing, and he started playing the wrong song. Or he started playing solos that just didn't fit. I think this threw the drummers off kilter, because they seemed a bit off at times too. But other than a few VERY noticable glitches, the band played solid. But not spectacular. Tony and Larry were both superb. But they were let down by the new guys last night.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVED the show....but it was not the greatest thing ever, y'know? I'm really glad I went...for lots of reasons. I mean, Bob is Bob. And the show he did last night was better than most anything else out there!
My erstwhile compatriots and myself delved into the teeming throng of hippies, and hipsters, and made it to about 15 yards from the stage on Bob's side. Nank & TomL didn't dig being in the pit, so they took off for less squished places. At about 8:23 the great man graced us with his presence.
Maggie's Farm (Bob on piano, George on drums)
The Times They Are A-Changin' (acoustic)
(Bob on piano and harp, Larry on cittern, George on drums)
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum (Bob on piano, George on drums)
Ring Them Bells
(Bob on piano and harp, Larry on pedal steel, Tony on standup bass, George on drums)
Down Along The Cove (Bob on piano, Richie on drums)
Ballad Of A Thin Man
(Bob on piano and harp, Larry on pedal steel, Richie on drums)
Dignity (Bob on piano, George on drums)
Ballad Of Hollis Brown (acoustic)
(Bob on piano and harp, Larry on cittern, Tony on standup bass)
Highway 61 Revisited
(Bob on piano, Freddy on slide guitar, George on drums)
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (acoustic)
(Bob on piano, Larry on cittern, Tony on standup bass, George on drums)
Bye And Bye
(Bob on piano and harp, Tony on standup bass, George on drums)
Honest With Me (Bob on piano, Larry on slide guitar, George on drums)
Standing In The Doorway (Bob on piano, George on drums)
Summer Days (Bob on piano, Richie on drums)
(1st encore)
Cat's In The Well (Bob on piano and harp, George on drums)
Like A Rolling Stone (Bob on piano, George on drums)
All Along The Watchtower (Bob on piano, George on drums)
(2nd encore)
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
(Bob on piano, Larry on slide guitar, George on drums)
I remember Maggies Farm being pretty good, and it was cool to see him do Hattie Carroll. Hard Rain Is a-Gonna Fall was real good, as was Dignity. Bye & Bye was pretty odd, I liked it quite a bit. Actually all the songs were pretty good for the most part...Fred just kinda got outta whack for a bit in some of them. It didn't really ruin anything...it just made them...I dunno...less than awe inspiring. This is certainly the hardest guitar sound that Bob has had in a while...and Bob ain't even playing guitar!
Going against the grain with what many many folks have said....I don't miss Bob on guitar at all. He does fine on the keyboards, and he seems to pay more attention to his singing.
I really liked some of what Freddy Koella played. He played some stuff that was just insane....and I liked it. I think he'll be fine. He just needs to play the kinks out.
I had a great time in DC, and when you are there to see a national treasure....like Bob Dylan....it's all good. |
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| Phog |
Nice. Glad you got to go. The only thing I miss about Bob on guitar is that he doesn't seem to be playing any of those old cover songs anymore. Duncan and Brady, Dark As A Dungeon, Somebody Touched Me, etc..... I always enjoyed it when Bob would dust off an old traditional song. That said, Bob on piano is fine by me. |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
You know, I hadn't really noticed that until you just mentioned it.
He isn't doing many covers, is he?
I have a 9 disc set of nothing but covers that Bob has done since 1988. There is some really cool shit on those discs.
Maybe he'll get around to arranging some of them for piano. |
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| Phog |
I've got that set, too. There's some crazy shit in there. How about his "Dancing In The Dark"? Funny stuff. |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
Oh yeah!
I think a lot of people get all tangled up in blue when it comes to Bob....sometimes they miss his humor.
Bob is a funny guy. |
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| Factory Girl |
How about a 3 cd set of the Dead doing "non-Bob" covers? Wicked stuff... |
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| FPM C10 |
quote:
Sir Stonesalot wrote:
There was too much happening, and I was too messed up for most of it to give you an acurate rundown of what happened preshow.
The catchphrase of the day - and, indeed, of the balance of my life from here on in: "I'm not NOT licking toads."
We left PA at 9:30 or 10, did the wake&bake, and listened to John Lee Hooker and Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros as the dull brown landscape slid by beneath the gunmetal sky. The closer to the capitol we got the bigger the flags got: in Thurmont they were merely huge, but outside DC they were enormous. Stars as big as yer head. We got to American University and saw there was already a line, but it was tiny and although the blue sky was now peeking out beneath the dispersing clouds, it was too chilly for us to envision sitting on the cold concrete for 5 hours. We asked passing college students where the nearest bar was: Hardly anyone knew! What's wrong with this country? We drove off-campus and found a tiny Mexican restaurant - although I rarely drink before a show maybe just ONE of those beers with the two red x's wouldn't hurt. What? Another? Oh, okay.
A phone call to Nanker - it was decided to meet at ANOTHER Mexican restaurant down the street, a very large one, so we went there. I'm not sure how it happened but soon there was a pitcher and frosty mugs of beer before us. Over the soundsystem the accordians wheezed and the plaintive tones of sad hispanic songs filled the air. Soon there was another pitcher, and another....then, there was Stonesdoug, and Old KR, and I'm sorry but I forget Doug's other buddy's name. Old KR and I fell into a deep conversation and I almost missed Nanker coming in with TomL. More beer.
Then way too many of us piled into the Saturn like clowns in one of those clown cars and we started the serious smoking. We threw the roach away out of paranoia as we approached campus security, but another one was lit when we parked on the fourth level of the parking building. The line which had been so small earlier had grown horribly long, and I excused myself to go queue up- I'd really partied just about enough at that point. I was LOADED. I took the elevator to the ground floor and went out to find the end of the line, which had curled up inside the parking building since we'd driven in minutes before. I started climbing the ramps, growing older and older as I went up; soon I was on the second level and the line was still going. I was heading back toward where we'd parked. I started thinking how mad I would be if I walked PAST SS and Nanker et al still finishing the last fatty before I got to the end of the line, but luckily I didn't. As I stood there unsteadily, my legs shaking and lungs aching, I likened myself to Sisyphus endlessly pushing his rock up the hill. I decided that it was necessary to undergo an ordeal before going to see Bob, and that I was a (marginally) better person than I had been. I fell into a conversation with some guys who'd been at the 9:30 Club show the night before; as often happens at Dylan shows, instant friendships blossom, and we were soon regaling each other with tales of shows we'd seen. The friendship hit a snag when they mentioned that they had ALMOST gone to Paris to see the "Doors" on Morrison's birthday. When they referred to Ian Astbury I involuntarily snickered and said "I'm not Jim Morrison but I play one on TV." They looked hurt and quit talking to me for awhile. One of them sulkily said to the other, "We SHOULD have gone to Paris."
The doors opened and the long line lurched to life (how's THAT for alliteration?)Before long we were inside, and it looked like the distance to the stage wasn't too terrible. The show had been scheduled for 7:00 (as opposed to 8:00 for most of the shows) but it soon became clear it meant the doors would open at 7. We still had to wait an hour and 20 minutes before Bob came out, all in black, with a black cowboy hat and his Vincent Price moustache. Larry looked like a southern diplomat with a Beauregard goatee, and Freddie wore a porkpie hat. Bob hunched over his piano, the band roared into "Maggie's Farm" and all of the hours of waiting faded into nothingness. The second song was "The Times They Are A Changin'" and Bob's voice started sounding like chains dragging through a gravel pit. I immediately thought "uh oh", but in other parts of the song his voice sounded fine. It seemed like he was using the gravel as an effect, or it could've been like when you have a loose tooth and know you shouldn't jiggle it, but you just HAVE to and you keep wiggling it with your tongue because it hurts so good. You know? Maybe he was trying to blow all the gravel out of his pipes early in the show. Anyway, his voice was fine the rest of the show.
Although I agree with SS that the show wasn't letter-perfect, what Dylan show IS? As always, I heard things I'd never heard before - "The Ballad of Hollis Brown" was intense and frightening, a real highlight, and when the seven new people were born after the ghastly murder the crowd cheered. "Down Along The Cove" - now there's one that means nothing to me when I see it on the setlist, but it ROCKED HARD and was a real revelation. "Dignity" was the Truth, straight no chaser; and "Ring Them Bells" was beautiful, Larry's pedal steel enveloping everything with a shimmering glaze.
I had gone into the show expecting there to be overt political statements made - the night before at the 9:30 Club he'd done "It's Alright Ma", and I couldn't wait to hear the line he'd skewered so many presidents with leveled at the one who deserves it so richly. Dylan, however, loves to confound expectations, and didn't play it. I also wanted to hear "Blind Willie McTell", and he played THAT the NEXT night at the Warner Theater. No matter - I know enough to take what I get and be grateful that I'm alive in the same time and space as Bob Dylan.
I totally agree that Bob's band sounds better with Bob on piano - it used to drive me nuts that Bob would have two great guitarists yet would insist on playing lead himself, the same three note solo in every song, electric or acoustic. Yet I disagree about Freddie (or "Fuzzy" as Bob calls him) - it seemed to me that he was Bob's surrogate guitarist, and the places where he "got lost" was where he was playing just like Bob, probably under strict orders to do so from the maestro. And he always took those two or three notes and turned them into something. He reminded me of Smoky Hormel or Marc Ribot - definitely playing outside the box. And when it worked, like the fantastic slide he played in "Highway 61 Revisited", it took the whole shebang up to a higher plane. Larry's playing was a perfect counterpoint, a bit more conventional, and many of the songs featured solos by both.
What a fantastically versatile band - they can rock with the best of them, then do "Bye and Bye" and sound like Les Paul and Mary Ford. The only thing I miss from the last version of the band is the vocal harmonies they used to use - which allowed them to cover the Stanley Brothers so well. I guess Charlie Sexton must've had a lot to do with that.
The highlight of the show for me was "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" - I've heard it several times over the course of a dozen or so shows, but it's always touching. The version at AU started slow, but by the time he got to the last verse, and stood on the ocean until he started sinking, it was just incredible and I was in tears. But my reaction was my own - it's impossible to be objective about a Dylan show. So much of it is a ritual which is fulfilled by Bob simply showing up. After the band did "Summer Days" (which swung like MAD) the band assumed The Formation and stared us down - like the rest of the show, I only caught glimpses of it when the heads in front of me parted. The encore was predictable, same as every night of the tour - which didn't make it any less marvelous. "Cat's in the Well" dovetailed directly into "Like A Rolling Stone", which the audience TRIED to sing along with despite Bob's eccentric phrasing. Then "All Along The Watchtower" - I've heard it a million times, but it's always different. Bob repeated the first verse to finish the song and we started for the door. At the back of the floor I looked back and saw Bob's cowboy hat silhouetted on stage - we were getting a second encore! It was "Rainy Day Women 12 & 35", a bit perfunctory but still wonderful. As soon as it was done we slipped out the door, and all of us were soon back in the parking garage comparing notes and smoking one for the road.
I've often said going to see Bob Dylan was a bit like going to see Mark Twain; it's also a little like going to see Mt. Rushmore.
Mt. Rushmore rocked Saturday night.
[Edited by FPM C10] |
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| TomL |
Just a short burst, Fri was the bottom line, Sat Dylan, Sun NYC, Mon Philly so I am a bit dazed.
Was so nice to meet Sir S, FPM and friends. Aloha boys and girls. Thanks to Don Ho(Nanky) for the tour.
It was a great show and was tons of fun. Just remember in the words of the great Bob Dylan...........Everybody Must Get Stoned. |
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| stonedinaustralia |
thanx for the reviews Sir S and FPM - great work - 'tho i've come to expect nothing less
did bob drop any memorable one-liners or work any gags into his stage patter??
cheers |
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| mac_daddy |
sounds like good times. y'all let me know if you ever come out west...
I haven't seen any of the shows this tour, but I like what I hear... I agree - the guitar sound has a bit of a harder edge to it, and it sounds good. I have been taken by the low end of things - his bassist is great, and the drums sound good, too.
But boy, do I miss the slide guitar...
[Edited by mac_daddy] |
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| FPM C10 |
quote:
stonedinaustralia wrote:
did bob drop any memorable one-liners or work any gags into his stage patter??
cheers
He's like Keith with his "It's good to be ANYWHERE" line. He tells the same jokes every night. He didn't say anything at all until the band introductions, before "Cats In The Well". He told the joke about George Recile hurting his foot - so they were waiting for the TOE truck. (I guess that's why they had two drummers - the other one was Ritchie Hayward from Little Feat. Both are MONSTERS.) It was funny because he was center stage for the first time, with a handheld mike - he looked like he was working the Borscht Belt. And he called Freddy Koella "Fuzzy".
One thing I forgot to mention - he played a LOT of harmonica Saturday, and it was all good. Even though the image of Dylan with a guitar is iconographic, I think his switching to piano is the best thing that's happened to Dylan's live show since his motorcycle wreck. He uses the piano like Count Basie did - as part of the rhythm section. It drives a lot of the songs.
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| FPM C10 |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
I haven't seen any of the shows this tour, but I like what I hear... I agree - the guitar sound has a bit of a harder edge to it, and it sounds good. I have been taken by the low end of things - his bassist is great, and the drums sound good, too.
But boy, do I miss the slide guitar...
[Edited by mac_daddy]
We listened to a boot of the tour opener from Tulsa on the way home - the show was almost entirely different from the one we heard, except for the last four songs. The arrangement he's doing of "It's Alright Ma" is FEROCIOUS.
Tony Garnier is indeed a master on both electric and upright bass, and the one constant in Bob's band since '88 or before. BOTH of his drummers kicked ass - btw I guess George Recile is also on "Them Shoes", the long-awaited Hubert Sumlin album.
I don't know what you mean by missing the slide guitar - both Freddy and Larry play GREAT slide, with very different styles, and Larry also plays pedal steel (AND a mean cittern to boot!) There was plenty of slide to go around. There's just not as many meandering, repetitive three note solos.
[Edited by FPM C10] |
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| mac_daddy |
quote:
FPM C10 wrote:
I don't know what you mean by missing the slide guitar - both Freddy and Larry play GREAT slide, with very different styles, and Larry also plays pedal steel (AND a mean cittern to boot!) There was plenty of slide to go around. There's just not as many meandering, repetitive three note solos.
didn't phrase it correctly - pedal steel is what I was referring to, and the guy was Bucky Baxter, right? I just dug that sound...
Having said that, I think some of these shows sound as good as any he has done on this never-ending tour. |
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| FPM C10 |
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
didn't phrase it correctly - pedal steel is what I was referring to, and the guy was Bucky Baxter, right? I just dug that sound...
Having said that, I think some of these shows sound as good as any he has done on this never-ending tour.
Bucky Baxter was (and I'm sure still is) a fantastic player. I saw Dylan with Bucky many times, and he did indeed include the pedal steel in his arsenal.
Bob with Bucky in 1997
But Larry Campbell plays pedal steel too - he used it to great effect in "Ring Them Bells" and "Ballad of a Thin Man".
[Edited by FPM C10] |
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| TheSavageYoungXyzzy |
SS -
Agree totally about Koella. 3/24 in Boston he was on fire all the time... 3/26 he had a couple songs where he just seemed... off. Like, half a measure behind the music. But it's a great contrast. When he and Larry played solos off each other on "Summer Days" it was like the roof was about to collapse. If he sticks around another year or so I think he's gonna really come into his own and give Bob a much more consistent hard guitar sound.
-tSYX --- Go away from my window... |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
Hey Flea!
I got some of those iron on transfers for the PC. I think we should have "I'm not NOT licking toads!" t-shirts.
Think Fox would sue us? |
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| FPM C10 |
quote:
Sir Stonesalot wrote:
Hey Flea!
I got some of those iron on transfers for the PC. I think we should have "I'm not NOT licking toads!" t-shirts.
Think Fox would sue us?
FOX? Nah - they're fair and balanced.
This one looks like it's hallucinogenic.
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| nankerphelge |
Tiny bubbles...... |
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| Martha |
"One thing I forgot to mention - he played a LOT of harmonica Saturday, and it was all good. Even though the image of Dylan with a guitar is iconographic, I think his switching to piano is the best thing that's happened to Dylan's live show since his motorcycle wreck. He uses the piano like Count Basie did - as part of the rhythm section. It drives a lot of the songs."
I couldn't agree with you more FPM. I think Bob is so much more relaxed now that he's playin' the keysl He seems to be in his element and a lot happier. He gets those scrawny little legs in pretty outrageously stretched-apart positions when he's gettin' into a groove. I love how he bounces his body all over those black and whites.
I think Freddie is smokin' hot. He and Larry are very different and very complimentary as a result. I know what you mean that Freddie plays like Bob, I think that too! Freddie can take it down though...very nicely!
Thanks for the in-depth reviews SS and FPM. Sounds like you were all a bit fucked-up though! I am such a light weight I'd never made it inside the place had I tried hanging with you all! LOL |
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| nankerphelge |
Oh you'd hang with us just fine -- not everyone fries up the cells like the C10, but we love all company just the same!!!
Thanks again for the Dylan "Cliff's Notes"!!! |
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| jb |
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| Sir Stonesalot |
Agreed Nank.
Martha would have done just fine....although she would still be slapping us.
And here's another T-shirt waiting to happen:
"No one burns brain cells like the C10!"
Oh, and one last thing....welcome to the party TomL "C10A"! |
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| jb |
I should have been made an honorary member a long tome ago...but you c10's have got a serious attitude problem.
[Edited by jb] |
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| nankerphelge |
Fuck you! |
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| jb |
quote:
nankerphelge wrote:
Fuck you!
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| nankerphelge |
LOL!!! |
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| Nasty Habits |
Once again, Mr. Flea, you're engaging in some mighty Monkey-driven hyperbole when you do that there Piano/Bike Wreck math -- Maybe the switch to piano is the most exciting innovation since the heart infection (but, oh, wait, that'd be new songs) but even as a Dylan Piano adherent I think this is going a little over the top. I do love the sound of that crazy pound, though . . .
And judging from the recording of Down Along the Cove that's on bobdylan.com right now, FPM, I am 100% with you on the current arrangement of that number. Wow.
Y'alls reviews however have really geared up for this Friday night.
What's your schedule, Martha?
Still comin' to town or did you decide to give it a skip?
[Edited by Nasty Habits] |
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| Joey |
" I should have been made an honorary member a long tome ago...but you c10's have got a serious attitude problem. "
You make Joey very sad !
 
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| Joey |
A MASTERPIECE ...................................
( A Review by The Joey : Dateline April 6th , 2004 )
Fleabit's Manifesto : More than a post , its a battle cry , and a hammer of heartbeats -- for this latest effort by Jon is a true Masterpiece -- sap flowing from the roots of his very creation .
FPM's pen is his conductor's baton and general's staff . It shouts and cajoles and drenches us in sheets of sound -- and sometimes it has a touching , ethereal quality that is far , far removed from the tumult of a " Mods " vs. " Rockers " confrontation .
This recent posting demonstrates the kind of project that progressive American Rock is all about -- all the facilities , imagination and talent have always been there but rarely has one succeeded in distilling its essence and embracing a motif as convincingly as Fleabit on this most prodigious of message boards . Like Wagner's " Ring " cycle , it is exhausting , but richly rewarding .
I Thank You All For Your Time
The Joey , Established 1999 !
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