Bob Part 2 - Electric Boogaloo
I'm really struggling to write something today. In fact, I'm struggling to do anything. Yesterday was really busy since I had to work for 6 hours at the library and then I went to the concert. Today I reacted to this by waking up at 11 and just lazing about. I'm not even enthusiastic about watching the Oscars tonight. I guess there's nothing too terribly wrong with all this, but it makes me feel guilty sometimes (the lazing about, not the non Oscar watching). In any event, I'm going to try and press on with a concert review.
I got the House of Blues about 45 minutes before doors were supposed to open. I wanted to try and get up by the barrier in front of the stage if I could, but I didn't want to show up 3 hours ahead of time. I wish I had been just a tad earlier, because I ended up right behind the barrier people, about the equivalent of second row (it was SRO on the floor). I had a great view though.
The crowd was a mix of older and younger people, although it may have been the whitest crowd I've ever seen at a concert (not that that really matters). I didn't feel much like chatting with anyone, so I didn't. There was about an hour to wait before the show was supposed to start, but it seemed to pass by pretty quickly.
The show started out with a reformatted version of Rainy Day Women #12 & 35. Bob was on guitar for the first 3 numbers before retreating behind the keyboards he has favored the last few years. During the very first song a girl climbed up on the stage right past the security guard and ran over to Bob's microphone. She just stood there looking at Bob before security hustled her off. I hope that was $60 well-spent for her. She left her faux fur wrap hanging on the barricade and it was still there after the show. There's a video below of the incident. I'm just glad she wasn't a psycho with ill intent.
So the big question with Bob is always "what about the voice?". Perhaps I was the beneficiary of low expectations, but I thought he sounded much better than the last time I saw him. There was more range, power, and depth to his voice than the show I went to almost 2 years ago. None of the words seemed to get caught in his throat this time. He even hit a couple of semi-high notes. The first Dallas show on Thursday was Bob's first since early November, so maybe the time off did his voice some good. I thought Bob's energy level seemed higher too.
I thought the sound in general was better than the last show too. The instruments all seemed to be balanced pretty well with nothing sounding too loud. He played a lot of songs from his latest album, which were mostly in a blues-type of vein. We got some good harmonica solos too. As usual there wasn't much interaction with the crowd. He mumbled something after the first song that I couldn't understand, and later he said something about "thanks for coming out to this venue". He also introduced the band at one point. At the end of the show the band was standing in the middle of the stage to say farewell and it took forever for the lights to get turned on. They stood there in the dark for awhile before the lights finally came up. The crowd seemed pretty into the show. Overall I thought it was a great show and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Based on this experience I am definitely interested in seeing him again if given the opportunity.
Here's the video with the girl running up to Bob:
Lay Lady Lay:
Setlist:
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
The Levee's Gonna Break
Spirit On The Water
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
'Til I Fell In Love With You
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
Honest With Me
When The Deal Goes Down
Highway 61 Revisited
Workingman's Blues #2
Summer Days
Ballad Of A Thin Man
encore
Thunder On The Mountain
All Along The Watchtower
I got the House of Blues about 45 minutes before doors were supposed to open. I wanted to try and get up by the barrier in front of the stage if I could, but I didn't want to show up 3 hours ahead of time. I wish I had been just a tad earlier, because I ended up right behind the barrier people, about the equivalent of second row (it was SRO on the floor). I had a great view though.
The crowd was a mix of older and younger people, although it may have been the whitest crowd I've ever seen at a concert (not that that really matters). I didn't feel much like chatting with anyone, so I didn't. There was about an hour to wait before the show was supposed to start, but it seemed to pass by pretty quickly.
The show started out with a reformatted version of Rainy Day Women #12 & 35. Bob was on guitar for the first 3 numbers before retreating behind the keyboards he has favored the last few years. During the very first song a girl climbed up on the stage right past the security guard and ran over to Bob's microphone. She just stood there looking at Bob before security hustled her off. I hope that was $60 well-spent for her. She left her faux fur wrap hanging on the barricade and it was still there after the show. There's a video below of the incident. I'm just glad she wasn't a psycho with ill intent.
So the big question with Bob is always "what about the voice?". Perhaps I was the beneficiary of low expectations, but I thought he sounded much better than the last time I saw him. There was more range, power, and depth to his voice than the show I went to almost 2 years ago. None of the words seemed to get caught in his throat this time. He even hit a couple of semi-high notes. The first Dallas show on Thursday was Bob's first since early November, so maybe the time off did his voice some good. I thought Bob's energy level seemed higher too.
I thought the sound in general was better than the last show too. The instruments all seemed to be balanced pretty well with nothing sounding too loud. He played a lot of songs from his latest album, which were mostly in a blues-type of vein. We got some good harmonica solos too. As usual there wasn't much interaction with the crowd. He mumbled something after the first song that I couldn't understand, and later he said something about "thanks for coming out to this venue". He also introduced the band at one point. At the end of the show the band was standing in the middle of the stage to say farewell and it took forever for the lights to get turned on. They stood there in the dark for awhile before the lights finally came up. The crowd seemed pretty into the show. Overall I thought it was a great show and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Based on this experience I am definitely interested in seeing him again if given the opportunity.
Here's the video with the girl running up to Bob:
Lay Lady Lay:
Setlist:
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Lay, Lady, Lay
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
The Levee's Gonna Break
Spirit On The Water
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
'Til I Fell In Love With You
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
Honest With Me
When The Deal Goes Down
Highway 61 Revisited
Workingman's Blues #2
Summer Days
Ballad Of A Thin Man
encore
Thunder On The Mountain
All Along The Watchtower
Labels: Concerts, Viddy Well
posted by JC at 6:59 PM
3 Comments:
Yay JC! I am so glad to have the opportunity to experience these concerts vicariously through your descriptions. Nice writeup!
nice post! my brother is a huge bob dylan fan, he will love these videos.
i've seen dylan several times and you never know exactly what you're going to get, lol.
I swear I commented on this post. I'm glad his vocals were better and you enjoyed the show. I wonder what he's done that he's improved over the past few years, as opposed to getting worse - because he was bad when I saw him "way back when."
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