Bob Dylan 960517 in Cleveland, OH

Date:    Sun, 19 May 1996 14:13:05 -0400
From:    Mark L Troyer (troyerma@PILOT.MSU.EDU)
Subject: Review of Cleveland, May 17 Concert (shorter)

Life is pretty hectic, and my last two concert reviews have been
waaaaaay to long, so I shall strive to be more concise.

Friday night in Cleveland Dylan was real, real on.  An incredible show.
I was very happy, and afterwards my non-Dylan-fan friend told me he now
understands Dylan's appeal.

Drifter's Escape was a great opener, it's now arranged similar to
silvio with harmony on choruses.  Lots of harmonica.  I Don't Believe
You was killer.  Watching the River Flow again has "too sad to cry,"
however Dylan bowed to convention Fri night and rhymed it with "why"
instead of "book."  I think the goose was really cooked here as well.

On Silvio, "I can tell you fancy. . ." verse is dropped, and "She lit
a burner. . ." is left out of Tangled.  Exactly the same omissions as
the night before in Detroit.

The second electric set was fairly laid back relative to the other two
recent shows I've seen.  There was no real rush toward the front and
apparently security had been given different marching orders Friday
as no one came on the stage.  Seeing the Real You was great but didn't
quite have a "rocking out" feel, and She Belongs to Me reeeeally slowed
things down.  After an instrumental break, Dylan sang the "bow down to
her on Sunday. . ." amazingly, pushed it over the next level.

Maggie's Farm somehow seemed less intense than the version from Sunday
night in London.  Toward the end, Dylan's voice momentarily began to
give out a bit, but he kept on singing out loud and strong.

I noticed Roger McGuinn come out for the second encore (acoustic My
Back Pages).  Dylan sang the first verse, then McGuinn took a verse, maybe
there was one more, and then Dylan and McGuinn alternated lines on the
"soldier's stance" verse.  Definately one of the highlights.  Dylan
came up to the mic, said "Roger McGweene!" with an, um, unusual
vocalization of "McGuinn."  I don't think everyone caught it; Dylan then
stepped back to the mic and added (from my vantage point looked like
he had a huge smile on his face), "The ONE and ONLY ROGER MCGUINN!"
and the crowd went nuts.  Priceless.  McGuinn and J.J. appeared to
be singing backup on the standard two verses of "Rainy Day Women,"
but I couldn't really hear them.

Lots of striding across stage by Dylan on guitar solos, moving around,
interacting with the audience.  I seem to remember him shaking a few
hands down front.  And yet, the show had a much different "feel" for me
than the one Thursday night in Pine Knob.  Less of a carnival. . .

Three shows in seven days (no "Seven Days," though).  Can't help it
if I'm lucky :-)   And, well, if anyone mysteriously starts hearing
last Sunday's London show or Friday night's Cleveland show (or any other
one, really) please let me know if it might be contagious (nudge, nudge,
;-) ;-) ).

Peace,
Mark

Date:    Sun, 19 May 1996 06:22:50 -0400
From:    Michael Rapp 
Subject: (x-ref) McGuinn on Dylan

Newsgroups: alt.music.byrds
Subject: Re: McGuinn with Dylan
Date: 18 May 1996 18:24:14 GMT
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In <4nkkl6$aij@newsbf02.news.aol.com> kaffnip@aol.com (KaffNip) writes:

>
>Yes, Roger please provide some details on this appearance with Bob
Dylan.
>
>Is Dylan doing okay or are these persistent rumors about his poor
physical
>health really true.
>
>Hopefully he is doing okay.
>
>KaffNip@aol.com

I got up and played "My Back Pages" in C and 3/4 time with Bob last
night, and "Rainy Day Women" for the encore of his concert here in
Cleveland. He and I talked before the show and if there's anything
physically wrong with him, he didn't mention it or show it in any way.
He looked and sounded great!

All the best ..... Roger