Bob Dylan 980826 in Perth, Australia
From: Carsten Wohlfeld Subject: August 26, 1998 - Perth, Australia - a review Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 10:35:30 +0800 Bob Dylan & Patti Smith Perth, Australia Burswood Resort Casino, The Dome, August 26, 1998 A review by Carsten Wohlfeld Well, when you smash your glasses it's not going to be a fun day, especially when you're as blind without 'em as I am. The day of my trip to Perth was saved on the plane though, cause I was treated to my all-time favorite episode of "Friends" as we'll as the movie "Hope Floats" (incl. Plenty of "Feel My Love" airplay) and the fact that Ed in Perth was a quite lovely host. Thanks! The day of the show we pretty much spent running around Perth and Fremantle, checking out all the important sights as well as hunting for posters. It was the 1.000 show of what we still call the Neverending Tour, despite the fact that Bob thinks it has ended in 1990. Anyways, the Burswood Dome is a huge ugly building where you never should have a concert... oh well. Walker/Davies were opening again and they were okay. Reminded me of a more traditional orientated Gallon Drunk. Patti Smith was once again in fine form tonight, shaking up her set quite a bit. After opening with some comments on the great Indian Ocean she started with a poem I didn't recognize that became a storming rendition of "Not Fade Away" with Patti going mad on harp, hopping around the stage! A gentle "Wing" followed to make way for a song "from a couple of decades ago", as Patti called it - "Because The Night"! She also made some comments about the beautiful Swan River in Perth, and, funnily enough, she followed it with "Pissing In The River" :- ) She also skipped "Free World" for the first time on this tour to play "Paint It Black" just before ending with her usual opener "People Have The Power". Stagerush happened during that song and Patti finally had a great time. Wonderful show as ever! Bob and his band came out at approx. 9.20pm to start - yet again - with: Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat Which was given the usual treatment. I guess it's an easy way to start the show, cause it's a simple 12 bar blues, but there are tons of other songs to open your set with, so this choice still kinda annoys me. I Want You Yet another "Blonde On Blonde" song, the usual slow arrangement with Bob's voice a bit rusty to make it really special. Solid. Can't Wait One of the highlights of the night for me. Bob's voice was pretty shot all night, but the way he was spitting out the words to this one made perfect sense. Pretty hot delivery music-wise as well. Positively 4th Street Well, since I've heard what many people regard as the best two live versions of this song ever - Berlin and Magdeburg 1996 - live and in colour it's always very hard for me to like this song. Tonight it was pretty good though, complete with nice new phrasing and long pauses between the start and the end of the line. You'll know what I mean when you hear the tape! Watching The River Flow Another very funky performance of this song, long twin guitar solos, lots of smiles from everybody on stage! Nice! Cold Irons Bound Was "Cold Irons Bound" and I liked it for the simple fact that it wasn't "Silvio" Don't Think Twice It's All Right (acoustic) Third night in a row but it's such a lovely song that I didn't mind. Strange though that Bob messed up the lyrics AGAIN! Bob was rolling his eyes constantly - either he was angry at himself for forgetting the words or the band did something wrong (I didn't hear it then) The Times-They Are A-Changin' (acoustic) Even though I don't have to hear the tune ever again I have to admit that this version was quite nice. No major highlights, but everything seemed to fit in perfectly. Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic) Solid. Enjoyed by band and fans alike. Forever Young (acoustic) Somebody down at the front yelled for this song and went absolutely berserk when they started it about ten seconds later. The obviously were going to do it anyways, though. It wasn't a request... but it was very nicely done. Pretty much in the same way as "Times". Just perfect without being special. Highway 61 Revisited Followed Bob's introduction of the band and rocked as usual. Long twin solo before the last verse - great! (encore) Love Sick Solid. Not much more to say about it (again) Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 & 35 Yet another horrid version of this one with the houselights on.. It Ain't Me Babe (acoustic) No harp unfortunately, but probably the best song of the night. Even though Bob's singing was kinda weak all throughout the set, it was sweet and gentle and just very nice on this one. Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic) Yet another very good vocals performance. Seemed as if he just had warmed up when the show was already over... 100 minutes, approx. 13,000 people in an ugly building, Bob-by-numbers but happy faces all around... that's the plain facts for Bob's 1,000th show since June 1988. Thanks for reading, see you in hot and sunny Darwin on Friday! Carsten Please reply to: happyjaq@confetti.ruhr.de -- "it's irrelevant, i'm an elephant and she's a mouse" (smudge)
Subject: perth concert 26 august, my view From: Dr George Christos (christos@cs.curtin.edu.au) Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 13:40:50 -0700 hello all dylan fans, last night was absolutely magical, especially for me. let me tell you about myself first. i have never been a musical person. i didn't even have a record player as a kid. however, i used to go to the state library to do my homework, but i would invarably finish up in the basement musical section listening to dylan. i would listen to songs like blowin in the wind, and the times there are-a-changin' and marvel at the depth of dylans lyrics. i loved the way that the sounds mixed together in songs like positively 4th street, and the way dylan distorted words. i got back into dylan in a big way about 2-3 years ago. i used dylan's songs to motivate me to walk again and to rejoin society, after a horrible illness which affected the pain mechanisms in my body. i didn't walk for months. in the last 2-3 years i have purchased about 40 odd cd's and laid my hands on 30 odd bootleg tapes. i now listen to dylan every day all day, even when i cycle (every day almost) as my physiotherapy. anyhow back to the concert. incidently i tried to record the concert but it failed. the concert was held at the burswood dome, which is a horrible concrete building that seats about 20,000 people, the acoustics are generaly bad. last night bob sang to one side of the venue, so i estimate there were about 12,000 people. i drove past the venue about 3 hours before the concert started. i was curious to see if the band was practicing. just as i got there a van pulled up and these guys were getting out. i recognised tony garnier and bucky baxter, i reached into my briefcase to take out the two cd's i took to work that day, they were TOOM and mtv unplugged. i got them and david kemper to sign them for me. i heard bob was due soon and i got real excited so i hung around for a short while. one of bob's female assistants told me that he would not sign anything and if i asked i would only get disappointed, so respecting bob, i went home and we prepared for the concert.my wife and 3 kids (aged 15,13 and 11) came with me. we had good seats on the first tier, but a friend with a friend in the music industry, who had a ticket in row 5, right in front swapped with me after patti smith. she is a real bit patti fan. when i got to my 5th row seat there were people standing up close to the stage, waiting for bob to come out. there was a rush of crowd that went up front for patti's last song to dance and they stayed there during the break. i asked the record company guys i was to sit with if they would be staying there and one said, i guess so. another mocked me by saying i should be up there. everyone knows what i big dylan fan i am in this town. well i figured i just might so i went up in front of the stage too. people then started standing up and some started standing on their seats too. if i had stayed were i was meant to sit in the 5th row i would not have got much of a few of bob, but where i finished i had an unobstructed view of bob dylan. i could see his face so clearly. just before bob appeared some annouced the usual "ladies and gentlemen, please welcome columbia recording artist bob dylan". the concert was special to me cause i have been hounding columbia for the last two years to get bob to come down under, and incident to release bootlegs series 4 and 5 and a live album (which they did in australia as a bonus cd with TOOM). they still haven't given me another video of a concert like mtv unplugged. there was an enormous roar as bob came on stage. i was expecting LEOPARD SKIN PILLBOX HAT, and that is what he played. the band and bob really rocked into it from the outset. they played six rock arrangements leopard skin pillbox hat i want you can't wait (melodic) positively 4th street watching the river flow cold irons bound all of these songs were fabulous but things got better. the band suddenly went into mtv unplugged mode, that country feel, and played 'acoustic' versions of don't think twice the times they are-a-changin tangled up in blue forever young i loved them all. bob seemed to be starting to enjoy himself now. he was pulling faces at the audience and staring out at people, even my way. i don't recall the drums in tanged up in blue, i was hypotised by this time, bucky played a mandolin for this song. bob sang forever young with real feelin. i could see him sweating at the mike. he even sang "please stay forever young". this made my eyes water as i knew this song was about bob's kids, but i also associate this song with how fans feel about him, and how i feel about my own kids. sorry about the lack of structure in this note. sorry for crapping on about myself too, but i don't feel like going back to re-edit this message. bob then went electric again and did a superb ballad of a thin man & highway 61 after which the band left the stage. i knew very well that he would return to sing the standard 4 encores., lovesick rainy day women it ain't me babe blowin' in thw wind and for me these were the highlight of the night. inciedntly bob wore a suit like at the grammies this year, but which the horrible make-up. he looked so good. i could see images of him in 1966, sometimes he stood just like in a poster i have from royal albert hall (or manchester), other times he leaned forward and grimaced like in "hard to handle". the first song he played was lovesick. i felt as if i was at the grammies again. then came rainy day women and the cloud went beserk, everyone was singing, and i could smell the joints around me. dylan really started to smile here. it was fantastic to see him so happy and enjoying himself. these two numbers were electric and dylan changed to acoutic/country for the last two songs. it ain't me babe was unbelievable. as a friend of mine noted, he sang this song with regret, softer, unlike the version on another side of bob dylan, where he is singing with a sense of arrogance. the last song of the night was blowin in the wind, and i could see myself back in the basement of that library i went to as a kid. today i have been quite sad reflecting on the high of last night and the circumstances leading up to this event. for some reason or another i never got to see bob dylan live before. i will never forget that night. i was so upset when i realised that my tape hadn't worked out. the only time i don't listen to bob is in the car, i only have a radio, but today they played blowin in the wind while i was driving into work. i sang with it and cried after. i was so lucky to see bob dylan at such close range. may he stay forever young. cheers george christos
Subject: Perth 26th Aug Not a review, just impressions From: Rosie (roses@it.net.au) Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 10:53:02 -0700 First I must say that I am not one of those fortunates who sees Dylan on a regular basis. I have only seen him perform once before, in 1978 (that's a pretty scary thought, 20 years.....), at the Perth Entertainment Centre. That was a hell of a show and I can re-live it any time because Budokan is pretty faithful to that experience. The slowed down "I want you" the highlight. Jumping forward 20 years. Patti Smith, who I know nothing about was SENSATIONAL, Her final song, Paint it Black (I think) initiated the stage rush. They left but the crowd stayed at the stage. Bummer for those of us with seats close to the front, we had to stand on our seats and spent a good part of the night being hassled by venue security asking us to get down. A negative I will not dwell on. First song "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" Could not hear Bob. Could see him well enough and he looked uncomfortable. Likewise for "I Want You" and "Can't Wait" "Positively 4th Street" Sound problems are being addressed. I don't know how often he does this. It was a complete reworking and I Ioved it. It's one of my favourites. He could do it to the tune of Yankee Doodle and I wouldn't mind. "Watching The River Flow" Can' t remember still getting over 4th street "Cold Irons Bound" Bob's loosening up, almost appears to be enjoying himself. The crowd loves it. Good old fashioned rock and roll. (Does this song remind any one of Dire Staits "Money for Nothing"? Does TOOM remind you of "Brothers in Arms"? Three's something about his voice, the sound and overall production that gives me a sense of deja vu ) "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (acoustic)" GREAT. A highlight. The sound is still not good enough for me to tell how true he was to the original. "The Times They Are A-Changin' (acoustic)" I thought it was great, the crowd loved it. Bob, however, looked like he would rather have been any where else, grimaces, exasperated skyward looks, shaking his head in apparent frustration. "We're having the time of our lives Bob, don' t worry so much". "Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic)" He's having some fun again. I have to hear this again. Another highlight. "Forever Young (acoustic)" Call me an unromantic old fart but "I never did like it all that much" "Ballad Of A Thin Man" No surprises here. Perhaps gathering his strength for; "Highway 61 Revisited" This was worth the price of the ticket alone. This to me will be what "I want you" was 20 years ago. encores During the break someone fiddled with the knobs because suddenly we can hear every word. Bob seems much more at ease as well, exchanging nods, and smiles with the audience. "Lovesick", "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" , "It Ain't Me, Babe " and "Blowin' In The Wind" A great set, left us wanting more. There you go then. It was worth the 20 year wait. Interested to hear what others thought. Rosie
