Bob Dylan 980219 in Cincinnati, Ohio - Cincinnati Gardens
February 19, 1998 Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati Gardens Address: 2250 Seymour Ave. Capacity: 10,830 Showtime: 7:30 PM Ticket prices: $35.00, $24.50
Subject: Cincinnati Show Review From: Roserut (roserut@aol.com) Date: 20 Feb 1998 04:38:51 GMT Tonight was the night - I was too busy to think about what was to come. I missed all the RMD gatherings busy with other things such as Doctor's appointments that I had forgotten about. First, Kenny Wayne Shepard, even though he's pretty good and has potential I was getting bored at the end of his set wanting Dylan. I much prefer seeing Dylan without an opening act. What happened next was the pits. Dwight Twillery, who is on his last term on Cincinnati City Council and WEBN had to make this Noah Hunt day and presented Noah with something - I hung my head down and thought "why do they have to make an concert an political event". Noah Hunt is from Cincinnati and they made a big production of it. I'm like so what if he's from Cincinnati does that make him better than someone that isnt from Cincinnati - NO. Finally, Dylan and band came on stage. Dylan looked sharp in his white tuxodo suit. I didnt like the tie though but he looked sharp. Tony Garnier needs desperate help in the wardrobe department - he looked better than he did at Dayton but JEESH - it was such a mixuped garb - I cant describe it. Larry Campbell typically straight performers uniform - nothing to stand out. Cant describe the others because they sat mainly. Larry Campbell really looked alot more relaxed this time I saw him with Dylan - he is starting to find his groove and the whole band is beginning to really jell together. The show was shorter than the one in Dayton - it could be they had to be off the stage by a certain time and with an opening act that doesnt know when to quit... He started with Where Are You Tonight Sweet Marie - I had never seen this done live and he was so animated and looked like he was enjoying himself so much. The Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You - really sweet. The Can't Wait - I really did enjoy that - Dylan was right on all evening - his ability with the guitar is highly overlooked. NOt only is he an genius with lyrics but the ability to play music as well. The Under The Red Sky - I was surprised - I had never heard that in concert and didnt expect it - a very nice surprise. Silvio - I never get tired of that song - he was right on with it. Cocaine - he was mugging with the audience. Then an powerful Masters of War - great. Then Tangled Up In Blue I wish this would disappear from the setlist - even though it was a good version. Highway 61 was rocking. Then Million Miles - really good addition to the setlist. Last time I listened to TOOM I was secretly hoping to hear this. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues again - was next and again - Dylan the musician is highly overlooked. Then 'Til I Fell In Love With You - the TOOM songs are really fitting right in with the older songs - not many musicians have the ability to take totally different sounding songs from the officially released version and make them come totally live in concert Tthen It Ain't Me Babe - the guitar playing in this song was amazing. The most touching part of his show was when he changed the lyrics to Love Sick from :"I wish I never met you" to "I wish I never hurt you" - that so was touching it brought tears to my eyes. Then Rainy Day Women - not many artists can use the same song to end the show and create such electricity. The lights went up in the house on this song - it seemed Cincinnati Gardens was in a hurry for people to get out. Very enjoyable, very good song selection and excellent performance by Bob and the Band. He did alot of entertaining and flirting the audience all evening.
Subject: Two Bra Night in Cincy From: Michael Roos (roosme@ucrwcu.rwc.uc.edu) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 09:41:39 +0000 It was magic in Cincinnati last night. A two bra night. This was my fifth show in six months, Indy in August, Columbus and Dayton in November, 3rd NYC MSG show in January. After the MSG show, which frankly was a disappointment, I feared that either Dylan or I (or both of us) might be doing this too much. That show seemed passionless. But then he puts together a show like last night, and I think there's no way a person can do this too much. It was as fun as it gets. Kenny Wayne Shepherd opened, with local boy Noah Hunt as his vocalist. This resulted in a little political buffoonery, when Dwight Tillery, an outgoing Cincinnati City Councilman, took the stage at the end of the show to lead some cheers and read an absurd proclamation declaring the day "Noah Hunt Day" in Cincinnati. Noah looked suitably embarrassed. Personally, I didn't think he jelled with Kenny Wayne, and I didn't enjoy their show as much as when I I first saw Kenny Wayne in Dayton, Nov. 96, with a different vocalist. Then Dylan marched out in a white suit, with black piping down the legs, and white patent leather shoes that he must have stolen from a dead used car salesman, and I knew we were in for a good time. He launched into "Absolutely Sweet Marie," singing it with all the fire and energy the song calls for. This had also been the opener in Indy and at MSG, but neither of those times did it work for me as an opener. Frequently it takes Dylan a while to crank himself up in a show and I had formed the opinion that the opening number should just be some flat out rocker, like "Maggie's Farm" or "Subterranean Homesick Blues" just to get him jump started. But this night the fire was there from the start. It was a terrific version of a great song. There aren't enough superlatives for this show. "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" was full of feeling, as good a version of the song as I can imagine. Dylan's singing was like nothing anybody else can do. Twisting and drawling and punching words for effect. It was a marvel. "Can't Wait" was just as good. On TOOM, this has been one of my least favorite songs, but now in performance it has come alive for me, and Dylan's singing is revealing all its nuances. This was followed by a fine rendition of "Under the Red Sky." I wasn't listening as close during this song, because my son pointed out to me a videotaper just below us. Our seats were in the fifth row up of the first section on the right side as you face the stage. In the first row below us, a guy had set an 8mm videocam on the railing and from time to time would flip out the little lcd screen to check out the video. He had large beer cups on either side of it, but it's hard to believe that was enough to disguise what he was doing, given that cops and security men were walking past regularly throughout the night. The security was tight in other regards (stage rushers were routinely ushered back to their seats), but this guy taped freely all night. After the show, I asked him about it, but he mumbled something unintelligible, shook his head, and hurried off with the video cam wrapped up in his parka. (So all right, if you're reading this, I would love to trade you for the video. I ain't no cop, see?) "Silvio" was "Silvio," the smash mouth rocker it has become. I love it. Then the acoustic set, which has become standard the past three weeks. "Cocaine" was pure fun. But then, the most serious moment of the night was the performance of "Masters of War." This can't be an accident. Dylan has to be making a comment about the Iraqi crisis here. He sang this song as though he meant every word, snarling out, "And I'll stand over your grave till I'm sure that you're dead." It's reassuring that he cares enough about the prospect of shedding blood in the desert to sing this song with genuine commitment. "Tangled Up In Blue" damn near raised the roof. I must admit, I don't understand those people who would prefer to strike this song from the setlist. It is my personal favorite Dylan song of all time, and it obviously means a lot to him too. It was a terrific, spine tingling version of the song, as rocking as an unplugged song can get. This is when the bras started flying. We had a good view from our seats of the front rows on the floor, especially given the fact that those rows remained lit throughout the show. I'm convinced that Dylan likes the lights on those people because he wants to see them. He loves to perform for them, and he will pick out people (usually female) to mug and prance for. The front row last night, however, didn't seem to provide him with much inspiration. Front row center consisted of about 10 young guys in baseball caps who stood with their elbows propped on the railing staring up impassively at Bob as if they didn't have a clue who he was or what these songs were about. There was hardly a head bob in the group the whole night. Who were these guys and how the hell did they get front seats? Sons of radio execs? (Yeah, I'm jealous, I know.) Early in the evening, Dylan strutted to the front of the stage to check them out, but, getting no response, he bounced back to the band and went on with the show. But at some point in TUIB, he found somebody over to his right, in maybe the 2nd or 3rd row, that appealed to him, so he did some of his best tippy-toed dancing (it's a hoot to watch him do it), mugging and duck-walking. Shortly thereafter a bright red bra comes flying up onto the stage. Then later a black one comes up. So somewhere down there, the mammaries were swinging free the rest of the night. What a good time we were having. The rest of the show continued the vein of hard charging blues rock: "Million Miles," "Memphis Blues," "Till I Fell In Love With You," "Highway 61." A string of songs that could knock the wind out of El Nino. "It Ain't Me, Babe" and "Love Sick" were a strong pairing again, and "Rainy Day Women" sent us all home with the party spirit. Dylan marched out with the bras still lying on the stage. This tour must some day be remembered as the TOOM Tour, with four songs a night coming from the new album. They definitely provide the dominant flavor of the show, but it's a different flavor than the album. The new songs have a lot more fire in performance, and I think they're better than in the studio. This was, start to finish, a rollicking, hard driving, blues rock show, a shit-kickin' good time. I'm betting that at the Grammy's on Tuesday the world's gonna a great performance of "Cold Irons Bound," and it'll be Bob's time to win. He won Cincinnati Thursday night, with two fine pieces of lingerie to show for it! Mike Roos
Subject: Yay!!! Cincinnati From: Jesse Anderson (bread@erinet.com) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 01:01:11 -0500 Here's to Cincinnati for bringing back my faith in the Casual Bob Fan. The stage was line from the get go, and this put Bob in a very great mood. The result: he was strong and relaxed from the second song on and never let up. I've seen him in Boston, NYC, and Toledo (Down with Toledo!) in the last few months, but this was the best show by far, simply for the intensity he put into every song. I know the setlist is nothing to go crazy about, but he stretched every song to its limit, and his singing was right on. In Masters and It Ain't Me he slipped back into his quiet voice (think Lone Pilgrim) and sang beautifully. He snarled and sneered. I've never seen him that into the lyrics. Some crazy chucks threw various undergarments onstage and got smile from Bob, and one of them hit Bob's Hand with a rose (or something) right in the middle of IAMB, so he faced them and danced like crazy (for Bob anyhow). He winked a few times too. Security was excruciatingly tight, but the crowd didn't care, they kept rushing over and over (Where were these people at Toledo???? Where??? Down with Toledo!!) and being taken back to their seats or out. It was funny. Cuesheet had Shelter, You Ain't Goin' Nowhere, Tears of Rage, 4th Street. Note the inversion of Till I fell in Love and Hiway 61! Anyone else notice the Harmonica and Mike sitting behind Bob on the amp the last few shows? I saw it at Toledo and again tonight. Maybe next time. That's all for now. Jesse
Subject: Dylan in Cincy 2/19 From: (kenya@infinet.com) Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 17:50:51 -0500 This was Kathy and My fourth show since August (Blossom/Aug; Columbus/Nov; Cleveland Valentines day; and Cincy last nite. In total my 12th Bobfest...Kathys fifth I think. Bob is such a great musician..a real pro.There is alot of the "new stars" that could learn a lot from this 56 year old rocker. We loved the cincy show. Our seats were not as good as we have had in the past but we could see Bob well and the sound was Ok for this venue. A great sight to see gray-haired elders dancing to RDW right next to young'ns. Bob's following is as diverse as any. We saw one lady who brought her seeing-eye dog( a beautiful dog) She appeared to enjoy the show as did her beautiful yellow lab! I he's opened with ASM the last 3 out of 4 shows we have seen. I must admit. I have followed Bob pretty seriuosly since '74 and the first time I was conscious of ASM was when Lefty Wilbury covered it at the 30th anniv. I love the song. That is one of the things I love about Dylan is that being a late bloomer there is so much music to hear. Hell I just finally able to get Planet Waves... so Im enjoying the crap out of that "new/Old" music. Bob;s TOOM material is fantastic. He was doinf Cold Irons Bound and has dropped it for quite a while now. I saw him perform it in November and it was incredible. It seems he dropped it once it get media attention for a grammy..that would be just like Bob (maybe not) Million Miles was much better in Cleveland the other nite. It seemed he and Larry jammed on it longer up there? By the way Bob looked great in his white country gentlman suit. What a classic character! May he stay forever young. There will no other like him folks so get out there and experience Bob. Not only Bob but his band is tight, tight. Great chops!! I know many get tired of TUIB but it is so fine, I will never tire of that. I do miss Jokerman however. Bob..Consider dropping in back in the set list. Masters of War was a timely and great performance. To see him do songs of that quality that are that old, is really reaching into our history as a country and as a people. i know many will say Phil you make too much of this "song and dance" man, but to me much of what is is in the songs and Bob's songs are at the top of the list. Right there with John and Paul although Bob may disagree (with John and Paul). Iam listening to Not dark yet as I type this. What a great song. I amy ask Kathy to play at my wake. It is so chilling it enthralls me. I like to song cocaine blues but I do feel a lil uncomfortable with the subject. It hurts so many people. I know it is just a song, but thata how I feel. I'd rather Bob wouldn't do it. It is fun. I'd like to have seen him do roving gambler more often, What a great song. Well Cincy was a success! Good crowd reaction and although he was not quite as animated as he was in Cleve on Valentines Day (I proposed to Kathy right after the show...she said yes!!)We thought the performance was overall better. We left the gardens and went out a back exit just to the buses pull away (a quick get a way may I add) It was amazing to think Bob was just 5 minutes from finishing a 90 minute balzing set, on the rolling bus heading for Tennessee. He's out there folks!!! While others are hid away anbd come out every 5 years for the cahs cow tours. BOB is out there! With you, with me. He's out there. We are the beneficiaries. We hope he is well,happy and in love. Kathy and I are and we are better off in many ways thanks to Bob and his music. Think what it would be like not to have that music anymore? See what I mean!! There's you and you only...that I'm thinking about! BD Best Wishes to Bob and the band!! Phil Annarino
