| BOB DYLAN!!! |
(encore)
Almost exactly a year after my second Bob show, which was in Seattle, I found myself back in
the same city, heading to the same arena. I woke up early to finish editing a History paper and a
Philosophy paper (both due the day I was leaving), dropped them off with my neighbour who kindly
offered to hand it in for me, ate breakfast, and got ready to travel. I was outside by 7:50 AM,
waiting to be picked up by Renee (clara, at the Dylanpool site) and Wendy (monkey dances), the latter
of whom I had not met prior to this trip.
From Victoria, we were taking a rental minivan to the ferry. After the ferry docked, we
were going to finish the drive down to Seattle. Because we wanted to ensure getting on the 9:00
AM sailing, I paid $15 extra to reserve a spot. The conditions were that we had to be there no
later than 8:30. Well, the time rolled by and my ride had not yet showed up. It was becoming
rather stressful. Finally, they showed up around 8:30 (yikes!). I quickly met Wendy and we were
on the road to the ferry.
We got there right around 9:00 AM and the ferry was loading. We drove up and were praying
that we would get on the boat. If we missed it, there wouldn't be another until 11:00 which would
be such a pain. Luckily, we were maybe the second-to-last vehicle to get on the boat! Phew!
After an hour and a half ferry ride, through which Renee, Wendy and I chatted about various
things, we drove from the Tsawwassen ferry terminal to Seattle. We didn't listen to any Bob because
I was on Day 30 of my Bobfast, so we listened to other artists. Now you're probably wondering:
what's a Bobfast?
A Bobfast is when one doesn't listen to any Bob Dylan. It can obviously be defined by
whomever's partaking in the exercise, but I didn't listen to Bob singing and tried to avoid most
cover songs. The reasons for doing so are: First, to expand my musical tastes and find out more
about other artists. Second, to try to recapture that "new" feeling one feels when one first hears
Bob. Third, to see if I could do it; to make sure I wasn't completely addicted/dependent on Bob.
During this Bobfast, I had become quite a big Van Morrison fan, and had also listened to many other
artists (Emmylou Harris, B.B. King, Michael Bloomfield, Grateful Dead, etc.).
Anyway, we got to the Key Arena maybe around 1 PM (?). I forget exactly what time it was.
We were all very excited and rushed to the GA line which was already forming. In this line, there
were some people I recognized, with whom I had traveled before: Lewis (on the Texas trip, I saw him
a few times as part of my UK/Ohio trip, and on the Newport trip), Jane (on the Newport trip), a few
others whom I recognized from last year's Seattle show, and Kait. I traveled with Kait on the Texas,
UK/Ohio, and Newport trips. When I had left her house after the Augusta show, in August, we weren't
on very good terms. Happily, things turned out very good in the GA line.
Other people started to join the line: Arthur (arlo) and Kiri (girlfromthenorthcountry),
Donna (deej) and Stuart, Ed (picnicspirit) and Mary, Drew (drew), Stephen Scobie, Roger, and others.
Most of these people are from the area I live: either Vancouver-area or Victoria/Vancouver Island-
area. I had some very interesting and entertaining conversations with most of these people at one
time or another.
At one point, I went up to Renee and told her we should go check for a soundcheck. I have
a fun story about Renee, myself, and soundchecks from last year's Corvallis show. That is one of
the reasons I asked her to check it out with me. We walked around the building and then could hear
some music. We pressed our ears up to some thick glass to hear the sound. It was a bit hard to
hear so we eventually moved to some doors which, because of the cracks, increased the listening
experience. This is what we heard:
- unidentified instrumental
- unidentified instrumental (bluesy - most likely Viola Lee Blues)
- Tombstone Blues (with Bob's vocals - this ended my Bobfast!)
- Accidentally Like A Martyr (song by Warren Zevon - with Bob's vocals and band harmonies)
- Solid Rock (with Bob's vocals)
- Accidentally Like A Martyr (song by Warren Zevon - with Bob's vocals and band harmonies)
It was a very bizarre experience as something sounded very different. We were trying to
figure out what it could be... Was a guitarist different? That didn't really sound like Charlie
Sexton did it? Was Dave Alvin now in the band? At one point, Renee said (and I had been thinking
the same thing), "That isn't a piano is it? Nah...couldn't be." The songs had a very different
feel from anything we'd heard before.
The ending of the Bobfast was also strange because it didn't feel all that new and it didn't
really revive anything; it felt like I had heard Bob the day before. The voice is probably ingrained
in my mind somehow. This isn't really a bad or a good thing, but it's just the way it is I guess.
I say the second instrumental song is most likely Viola Lee Blues because Renee and I
memorized the tune and it took me until I returned home a few days later to put on Bathed In A Stream
Of Pure Heat and hear what we had heard in Viola Lee Blues. Another note to make is that we didn't
know it was Accidentally Like A Martyr when we heard it. I was viciously scribbling down lines we
could catch so we could identify it later if need be (turned out he played this song, as well as most
of these others, in the show anyway and someone recognized it).
The soundcheck ended around 6:30 or a bit later, so we headed back to the line. Last year,
they had us at the top of the stairs leading to the main door. There are then stairs inside going
down to the floor. This year, they tried to control it better. But it turned into a crazed running
frenzy just like the year before and I, who was near the front of the line, ended up 3rd or 4th row
on the floor. The run is just insane, as we leap down stairs, rush around corners, stop briefly for
staff checking tickets. Once we got inside, we sat down so to get some rest and keep some space
before the show: the show wasn't to start for another hour.
Arthur was standing up staring at the stage in amazement. He asked me if I had seen it yet.
As I had not, I stood up. In the middle of the stage, slanted in Larry's direction, was a keyboard!
Next to it, slanted towards Charlie was the steel guitar. The pedal steel was on the right where Larry
stands and a mic over where Charlie would stand. But wait a minute...was Bob going to play keyboards?
It was amazing to think of and most all of the people I was with were in an ecstatic mood just
thinking about it.
After waiting inside, Al Santos gave the long "poet laureate" introduction and Bob came on with
no hat on. Out walked the rest of the band, and it was the same band as the previous tour. They then
launched into the first song. One note I'll make here is that Bob's voice has a lot less grit than it
did a few tours ago, be that good or bad.
Solid Rock: This opener was a huge surprise. Not only did Bob walk over to the keyboards and start
pounding away, but it was an electric opener and a song he wrote (as opposed to the 'usual' traditional
acoustic song). This song almost bursted from the stage like an explosion of energy; it was very playful.
The intro jams were superb. The only problem is that Bob's keyboard was mixed very much in the
background, which was probably done on purpose, just like it was on Love And Theft. This song's riff
was to stick in a lot of people's heads after the show (including mine); it was a great opener.
Lay, Lady, Lay: In Lay, Lady, Lay I could hear the keyboard much better, albeit mainly only the high
notes (when he played low notes on the keyboard, they couldn't really be heard). He played it very
similarly to the way he plays the guitar: he would play notes after lines and he would even generate a
fairly similar sound.
Tombstone Blues: Another shift occurred in the sound in the third song as Bob's piano playing started
to sound less like his guitar and instead picked up a different style. This was a great rocker.
Accidentally Like A Martyr: The first Warren Zevon tune of the night, Accidentally Like A Martyr,
featured great guitar lead by Larry. Bob sung "thought I could be" with raising in a wonderful way on
the word "be". Because I didn't know what this song was at the time (we didn't find out until some time
after the show), I jotted down as many lines as I could in case nobody identified it so we could then
search for it. While doing this, I learnt how difficult it would be for those who don't know Bob's
songs to pick it up: he is pretty hard to understand in a concert setting. This isn't a complaint,
but it's just a nod of the head to those who say they can't understand him.
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight: The second country-ish song in the first five started up next. One line
caught my attention: the second time he sung "kick yer shooooes off". Also, his closing harmonica solo
was surprisingly good as he was playing notes all over.
Brown Sugar: I'm ashamed and embarrassed to admit it, but, as Bob strapped on the guitar and they
launched into this Rolling Stones' song, I didn't know what the song was. Most everybody else up in
the front where I was recognized it as they all sung along the "brown sugar" part and the "oooo oooo
oooo weeee" or however it goes. :) George was really pounding the drums on this number and I was laughing
away when even Tony went up to the mic to yell out the "oooo" part. I think this is the first time
ever that Bob has covered a Stones' song.
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right: After the one electric guitar song, Bob switched to acoustic
guitar. Amazingly again, his guitar featured much more than the 'usual' three note solos. Don't get
me wrong: I like Bob's guitar solos. But this one was even better than what he often does. There was
a lot of passion in "I'm thinking and wondering all the way down the road" and the next two lines.
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding): Back on keyboards, they launched into a stunningly new
arrangement of It's Alright Ma. This brought a big smile to my face and the only way I can try to
describe it (and insufficiently so) is to say it was sort of a 'badass blues' in that it had an edge
of sorts to it. The music was quiet as Bob sung the verses and it got loud between verses and also
during the bridge verses. I think this will be great after some more rehearsal: it sounded a bit
rough at the start but picked up as it went on. It was during this song that I noticed how Bob looks
like a mad genius on the keyboard! He rocks around, makes goofy faces, smiles away, and makes crazy
gestures, and it really looks like he's a mad genius, or a little kid: he does look young up there.
Love Minus Zero/No Limit: Throughout Love Minus Zero, Bob kept singing lots of high-up notes but
I don't know whether it took away from the song or not. Near the end, he plunked away a neat keyboard
solo which could be heard much better than during the electric songs because everything was quieter.
Boom Boom Mancini: Charlie had a great guitar solo in this second Warren Zevon song. In this song
I had even more difficulty than I did in Accidentally Like A Martyr: I could only make out two sentence
fragments. It's not fair to say that it was Bob's voice or anything that made it difficult to hear the
words because the sound mixing here was different than the shows I've seen before: Charlie was quieter,
Larry was louder, and Bob's vocals were quieter.
Searching For A Soldier's Grave: With Larry on mandolin, they went through this song with nice vocal
harmonies.
Mr. Tambourine Man: Sung quietly and softly, Mr. Tambourine Man had some nicely sung lines. He sung
the word "fate" in a determined way. I don't, however, much care for the current arrangement of this
song.
Honest With Me: A good concert rocker with Bob on keyboard and Larry on slide guitar.
To Ramona: By this time, the show didn't feel so much like a show but rather like a paint splattering
where anything can come up anywhere: there seemed to be no format for electric/acoustic/keyboard/guitar
or anything! It was quite something. This was an ok version of the song.
High Water (For Charley Patton): As High Water started up, I thought it was going to be Gotta Serve
Somebody until Bob started singing. Larry was picking the electric guitar like he'd pick a banjo (more
or less), which added to the song. Actually, the sound of the song was just plain great; it was a
highlight of the show.
Mutineer: A very touching Warren Zevon tune followed. Wow. Great vocals by Bob, as he was very
determined to sing it well. And what lyrics! Another highlight.
Floater (Too Much To Ask): A third show highlight in a row, the jazz jams were unbelievable.
Charlie played a jazzy solo, then Larry did. Beautiful stuff.
Summer Days: What a jam and what a way to end a show. They stood in formation and then left.
After a bit, they returned.
Like A Rolling Stone: The standard encore song, Bob picked it up near the end with what I've
decided to call the syllabic spitout which involves giving each syllable in the line almost equal
value and equal time/space in the song, enunciating each one as separate entities. He used this
during the "you got no secrets to conceal" part.
Knockin' On Heaven's Door: This song, which when I first heard this arrangement had a huge impact
on me, doesn't hit me as strongly anymore. After this one, Bob gave a quiet, almost shy-ish spoken
band intro. They then hopped into...
All Along The Watchtower: All Along The Watchtower, which is the one encore song I want to stick
around. This version, like most, featured great jamming. At the start, Bob's guitar wasn't working
so he walked to the back of the stage and Tom came out to fix it. This caused the beginning of the
song to have a great intro jam.
This brought the opening Fall 2002 US tour show to a close. I was actually kind of disappointed
despite all I mentioned above. The reasons are probably several: First, I was extremely tired.
Second, although the show had tons of experimental aspects in it, I didn't think that it was up there
in quality in terms of Bob's vocals; he seems to be doing less with his voice than he used to (ex.
less cool phrasing). Third, I had just ended my Bobfast so perhaps that somehow affected how I reacted
to the show. Strangely, after the show, I had a Van Morrison song stuck in my head (well I also had
Solid Rock in my head...).
Another note: Charlie was very quiet tonight. He didn't look very into the show, rarely smiling
or moving around too much, and he only played two leads that I remember (in Floater and in Summer Days).
After the show, we all gathered outside the arena and walked over to a pub-restaurant. Some
folks chatted away but I was so tired that I was almost dozing off. We got into our minivan pool
and drove to Jeanette (4thstreet)'s house. She had very kindly offered space in her house for all
of us in the minivan pool. Kait and I ended up chatting pleasantly before going to sleep. Tomorrow,
we were to all head out to Eugene.
Eugene, Oregon (10/05/02) review
I hope you enjoyed this review. Any questions? Any comments? Please let me know.