Bob Dylan 971217 at the El Rey Theater, Los Angeles, CA
Subject: Re: 12/17
From: spjohnny@earthlink.net
Date: 18 Dec 1997 19:54:04 GMT
I just thought I'd say that I found the second night at the El Rey to be
far better than the first. They seemed to have fixed the sound -- vocals
were very clear and you could easily distinguish the various instruments.
Also, as I think many people would agree, the set list was much more
interesting. And finally, Bob and the band were terrific.
Almost every song was excellent from start to finish:
Musically, "One Too Many Mornings" reminded me quite a bit of "Not Dark
Yet," and had some wonderful singing, with Dylan mixing quick staccato
passages and smooth drawn-out ones.
I liked "Highway 61" a lot more than usual -- it seems it's almost always
musically strong lately, but last night Dylan also managed to make it sound
especially bitter and cynical, I thought.
"White Dove" was sung so straight-forwardly "country" that it came close to
sounding like a parody at times, but it was still terrific (though many
people seemed to choose this song to head for the bathroom or a drink).
And as I think someone else said regarding another show, "Dove's" placement
right after "Tangled Up in Blue" didn't seem to work that well in terms of
pacing. In any case, though, I'm sure I've never enjoyed "Tangled" more.
The last verse was especially strong, with Dylan speaking softly and
raising the pitch of his voice on the last word of each line.
"Love Sick," a song I haven't previously liked much in concert, was also
excellent, despite a brief lyrical mistake (singing "My feet are so ti--"
in the wrong verse, if I remember correctly). I especially liked the
emphasis he placed on "EWWWWWWWWW, I'm love sick."
As for stray comments from Bob:
He asked people to give Jewel a hand, then added something I didn't catch.
He introduced Ringo Starr (who was sitting up in a corner at the front of
the balcony) with (to paraphrase): "Tonight we have with us one of this
kinda music's best drummers -- Ringo Starr. He's out there somewhere, but
we won't put the spotlight on him." Ringo seemed quite pleasant and
frequently smiled down at the people who would look up/wave to him from
below.
Similar to Tuesday night, Dylan finished the band introductions by saying
(approximately): "We tried to get Don Henley to play tonight, but we
couldn't find him."
I apologize for any glaring factual errors in the above.
PS: On the first night, I saw, I think, Don Was get into a limousine with
someone who several people asked for autographs. I didn't recognize this
other person. Does anyone know who he was?
> Dylan at the El Rey Theater in Hollywood 12/17
>
> Maggie's Farm
> Senor
> Cold Irons Bound
> You're A Big Girl Now (band's list had 4th St and Simple Twist of Fate
> as alternates)
> I Can't Wait
> Silvio
> @Roving Gambler
> @One Too Many Mornings
> @Tangled Up In Blue
> White Dove
> Blind Wilie McTell
> {Intros -- Ringo was in the house}
> 'Til I Fell In Love With You
>
> Encores:
> Highway 61 Revisited
> @My Back Pages
> Love Sick
> Rainy Day Women #12 & #35
Subject: el rey, otra vez (review) 17dec97
From: melanie lamm (lammster@widenet.com)
Date: 18 Dec 1997 14:17:03 -0700
the oracle began the evening with a surprise -- forgetting
to bring the admission ticket; but after a little detour, returned
in a much better mood than last night, hoping the sound would
be clearer, and indeed, with _cold irons bound_, as the opener ;)
was tighter, though still a little over-the-top.
_cib was followed by a pristine _big girl now, a relaxed country
jaunt with slippery playful phrasing. our host wore a loose
black pleated "judge's robe" jacket with an old-west-style
tie-knot featuring two long maroon hanging ends. like the
liner photo in _toom.
_cant wait_: a little fast but more in sync; varied vocal flips
enforcing the gospel-blues thing; ultimately, if the levels arent
toned down, this song *must wait* -- for a bigger hall to spread
its wings. a touch rushed but good verbal execution.
_silvio_: also a little fast, but slowed to a kind of march, then a
midnight bayou eerieness; as last night, the "boll weevil looking
for a home" verse was not the first; rhythms in general tonight
were tighter, faster and more expediently compacted for direct
audience consumption.
vocals, to this point, had been left unresolved. again, the
sound mix unfortunately allowed the instruments to *engulf*
that capricious voice -- rather than playing around it, but
underneath, dylan's deliveries were deliberate and subtle.
since i was stage-left for a while, i could see that kemper
does play during the "acoustic" set, which is more busy
these days with everyone working at once. _roving gambler_
was grand-ole-opry style with baxter and campbell bleating
bar-room harmonies. as bob's voice gets stronger nearing
the halfway point there's always more space in the slower
songs for well-appreciated verbal soarings.
_one too many mornings_: leisurely and deliberate, with a
soothing sleepy pedal steel floating around a gruffy lament,
allowing the words to flower clearly along musical vines.
the band, in general, on nearly every song is now smooth as silk.
the only liabilities are volume excesses, which, if you're standing
in the wrong section, both ruin the music, and drown the
vocal. this is the responsibility of the sound crew, who,
apparently get no directions home from their boss, though tonight's
rhythmic lines seemed more clean. i guess once you schlep a
couple stacks of giant amps around the world for 35 years, you
cant start adjusting for every little club you wander into.
_tangled: a spirited quasi-acoustic horseback ride starting
soloesque and adding more instrumental punch with
each verse; not as evocatively etched as last night;
fewer gradations and dylan's "lead" acoustic guitar
repeats one or two notes like some weird hallucinogenic
dinner gong.
_white dove_: satisfying, but no hard edges; good harmonics; a touch
slow but resonant; not yet fully realized as a personal statement.
_blind willie mctell_: smooth reinforcement of southern-americana
motif. by now, in the electric parts, only songs #2,4,10,11 are
changed each night due to 4 unvarying _toom entries.
with less room for setlist variation, "album orphans" like
_blind willie are welcomed more than ever. only complaint would
be the mix: allowing the music to partially obscure that biting
dusky voice. what else is old...
last night, tony's was the gag-intro with dylan's comment:
"we tried to get lindsey buckingham...maybe next time." tonight
it sounded like "we tried to get don henley..."
after kemper's intro: "there's another guy who plays great drums
for this kind of music; ringo starr; stand up and take a bow..."
people craned but couldnt find ringo in the balcony, bob
quipped "you must really like him." he was seen in the audience
at a '92 dylan-pantages gig. a regular fan.
_till i fell in love with you_: swinging, syncopated, punchy;
mr baxter has a way of making the pedal steel sound
like r&b trumpets beginning each line.
_highway 61_: still a touch compacted and ear-bursting
but at least not muddy tonight; vocals could've been more
prominent, but are colorfully inflected, making it more
rootsy.
_back pages_: relaxed, passionate, inspiring, flawless
_lovesick_: i wish id never heard this song. "wanna take
to the road and PLUNDER?" with headband, loincloth,
and spear? looking for "LOVERS IN THE MEADOW"? take
the lyrics with you.
replace with: _not dark yet_ -- you wont regret it, so dont forget it.
_rainy day women: kind of an elephant in the living room,
but tonight more listenable and lubricated.
yesterday our host featured his faux frankenstein scowling
bird face; tonight more head-tilting with herman munster-eye
rolling. dylan's inscrutable demeanor resembles a friendly
penguin pecking his way around a cocktail party.
in general, the band-dynamics are so tight that each
song soon alights to a satisfying auto-pilot, but not without
strands of texture, especially when slowed. the musicians
can adjust intuitively in near perfect rhythm. lower the
volume, please.
temperature outside typified a pleasant southern california
december: cooler: 54f with approaching low cloud cover.
overall, tighter band-dynamics; more supple vocal executions
(though again at times partially occluded by that godawful
wall of sound -- for which the oracle requests back a portion
of the so-far expended $92!) highway 61 robbery, indeed...
tonight's inside-the-park-home run=_my back pages_
(c) oracle@delphi 18dec97 13:03
Subject: El Rey - 12/17/97 - Review
From: (alistaire@earthlink.net)
Date: Thu, 01 Jan 1998 13:51:04 -0600
BOB DYLAN @ The El Rey Theatre in LA -12/17/97
The El Rey Theatre with it's audience capacity of 900 is a
wonderfully intimate venue. Again I was stage left, on the
riser by the speakers, and 18' from center stage.
As soon as Jewel came onstage, someone shouted out "Like A
Rolling Stone" and she promptly flipped him off. Then she
rather politely said, "You're welcome to come back later.". I
listened to Jewel's "Pieces Of You" 1994 on the way up to the
show. This is an album that is still charting more than three
years after it's release. There is no question she has grown
with experience and has the potential for so much more. Just a
gal and her acoustic guitar. She started with a new song
"Don't Walk To Close" ...and her guitar sound was breaking up
....both for her and for the audience. She told the
soundman...but kept trying to make it happen. Finally she just
stopped and asked the audience," Does this suck as much as it
does for me?" Again to the soundman..."What do you want me to
do?"...Extremely slow and poor response to assist her. Finally
someone tried a different plug and she banged on the guitar a
bit and broke into her set including some very powerful new
songs.. I'm not sure I know all the titles, but this is my
best shot..."I'm Sorry"; "A Song About Hollywood"?;
"Strange"? ( I think this was the point where she told the
audience to "shut up" and this quiet and lyrical piece) ;
"Pieces Of You" ( she introduced this song by telling the
story of playing for a modeling convention with major
celebrities who just didn't get it ... when the lyrics of
"ugly girls"... "faggot" and "Jew" rang out ...forks
dropped...and she was left with a somewhat stunned
audience...there is no question she has learned from her stage
experiences) "Who Will Save Your Soul"; "I Tryed To Forget
You" ( very Dylanesque! ); "Last Dance Radio" ( wonderful!);
"Deep Water"; "Song My Dady Taught Me" ( a wild increasingly
intense yodel that pleased the entire audience ). There were
shades of Joni Mitchell, and one could remember a very young
Joan Baez with just a guitar and a voice opening for Bob. I
was surprisingly impressed and look forward to her new work.
It is clear this is a singer/songwriter that has a
"connection".
Bob hit the stage right on time with Larry Cambell (electric &
acoustic guitar); David Kemper (drums); Bucky Baxter
(acoustic, electric guitars ,pedal steel guitar & mandolin);
and Tony Garnier (electric guitar & acoustic upright bass).
It was "Maggies Farm" (again the signal that this is a new
sound and a new Dylan who moves and talks more than ever);
"Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power); "Cold Irons Bound" ( a sonic
introduction and then it is solid and hot!); "You're A Big
Girl Now"; "Can't Wait" ( again there is an intro that kinda
winds up and there he is ..a solid punch) ; "Silvio" (this is
very live 'new' rocker and tonight it featured 'Dead Eyed
Dylan' ) ; Roving Gambler" (traditional acoustic); "One Too
Many Mornings" ( a sonic intro ...you're not quite sure what
it is gonna be and then what a treat!); "Tangled Up In Blue"
(acoutic...this is the one that has the audience right with
him the rest of the evening and he knows it. He is coaxing the
sound out of this guitar and this is also 'The Limbo Dylan'
doing the "how low can I go" routine...kinda 'The Dylan
Dance'!!!!! ); "White Dove" (this is electric and he is doing
"The Dylan Waltz"!) ; "Blind Willie McTell" (where has this
baby been hiding for so long?) ; "'Til I Fell In Love With
You" (strategically placed as the final song...wild!) ; and
then he is back for the encores....."Highway 61 Revisited" (
this is the most amazing version!) ; "My Back Pages" (acoustic
and much more alive and clearly touching than the recent "Bob
Dylan Live '96" EP4 release!....were the lyrics really..."I
was so fucking older then, I'm younger than that now?" Oh. And
here he is doing 'The Dylan Swagger" and then 'The Dylan Duck
Walk'!); "Love Sick ( one of the most powerful Dylan songs in
some time!) "; "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" ( the lights are up
for this one and the whole house is rockin' and he is playing
to and acknowledging the audience).
Again the guy who used to just stand and sing one song after
the other and just split, talks more and shakes his tail
feather. Tonight I spotted 'The Dylan Toe And Heel Taps' AND
'The Dylan Knee Dips'!!!!!! along with ---> ..."Thank you
everybody" ...when he does the band introductions he does his
" We were trying to get Don Henley up here tonight but we
couldn't find him"...and a surprise acknowledgement of
...."...one of the great drummers in the audience
tonight...Ringo Starr...where are you Ringo?...I guess we
don't want to put the spotlight on him". Ringo was actually up
in the VIP section in the balcony seats, but for a moment I
thought I spotted him in the front by the stage. I thought
....wow!...maybe he's gonna hop up during the encore! ...but
then I realized the guy I was looking at had way more hair
than Ringo these days. Each night of the Bob Dylan Festival in
Los Angeles appears to be getting better. CAN'T WAIT until
tomorrow night!!!
Alistair (Al) Hunter
