Bob Dylan 990223 in Buffalo, New York
Subject: Just Like A Reveiw-BUFFALO From: Bob Meyer (dyln61@buffnet.net) Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1999 12:33:24 -0500 Sometimes when you go to a Dylan show everything just falls into place perfectly.... This was one of those nights!! Actually the fun started with Natalie Merchant's set. Not what she played as much as what she said. Although she was VERY good and played the best cover version of David Bowie's "Space Oddity" that I've ever heard. In between songs she told us of her conversation with Dylan the night before. She said, in a giddy awe struck fan voice " I was talkin' to Bob last night...no really...I was. He said that Buffalo is one of his favorite places to play." She than said something he told her about the people and the weather. Later on she says "Bob also told me the thing he likes most about performing is when people sing along with the songs. So sing along with him... the shows on this tour have been great." Seeing Dylan just a few months ago in Rochester I was expecting pretty much the same type of high quality show as i witnessed there. But they were quite different. whereas the Rochester show was a bit more cerebral tonight's show was just good ol' fashioned "baby it's cold outside, kick your ass, lets have fun, rock and roll" !! With a bit of reflection thrown in the middle for good measure. No dispute about whether to sit or stand for this show. TO BE ALONE WITH YOU got things off to robust country start. Dylan singing perfectly. Sounding healthier than ever. JUST LIKE A WOMAN...Nice surprise. Done better than usual. The crowd seems to be taking Natalie Merchant's advice. People in my section (20th row floor) are singing the chorus. It's going to be a good night!! ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER..ahhh, like an old comfortable slipper. right back where it should be. This was NOT the slowed down version we first heard in Miami in March of 98. This is the mid 90's loud rock version we all know and love ;-) seemed to be a bit shorter than usual. I"LL BE YOUR BABY TONIGHT.. Back to the country. Always loved this song. Crowd loved it. CAN"T WAIT.. Finally some "Time Out Of Mind" songs. This is becoming a Dylan classic before our very eyes. IMO,the best song on TOOM. MASTERS OF WAR.. Done it's usual way. No surprise here. That's about to happen next.. PASS ME NOT, O GENTLE SAVIOR.. This starts off sounding like a strange version of "Blue Eyed Jane" but I quickly detect it is not. People around me are completely stumped. Dylan is singing beautifully, something like "Savior, Ohhhh Savior, hear my humble cry, while others are calling, do not pass me by." Me & the folks around me wait until its over and guess it is some kind of hymn or something the Stanley Brothers did. Or maybe both. This was GREAT!! I can think of no other way to put it. IT"S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE TANGLED UP IN BLUE Are what we are all used to. preformed very well, as always. We are all still coming down from the hymn to notice any shortcomings ;-) HONKY TONK BLUES...This was cookin'. A crowd pleaser and worth the price of admission to hear Dylan try to sing " I got the ho-ho-wonky tonk blues" TILL I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU..only our second, and unknowingly, our last TOOM song of the show. Perfect version. HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED..Expected but not with Paul James on guitar. Dylan says he is an old friend who always wanted to play in his band. No one around me knows who he is. I still don't. Sort of an odd mix with three people playing guitar. To be honest I missed Larry Campbell solo's on this song. This song usually his time to shine. A blistering version though!! LIKE A ROLLING STONE... A BIG surprise.. Was expecting "Love Sick". I figured things were changed to accommodate Paul James and play something he knew how to play. Real nice guitar work by all on this one. BLOWIN' IN THE WIND.. What I feel is Dylan's best and maybe one of the best song's ever written. Crowd was almost dead silent during this.. Very emotional. NOT FADE AWAY... This just brought the house down!! Dylan dancing around like a cross between Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry. I hope this song stays here for a long time!! A Perfect ending to an outstanding show. THE CROWD.. I was lucky enough to sit around some of the nicest people I have ever encountered at a Dylan show in my life. As a matter of fact the whole crowd seemed in rare form. Even heard someone yell out, wanting to hear "Who Killed Davey Moore?" A great way to take off the chill of a wintery night. A big thank you to Tom Fischer for passing around his binoculars. Take Care, Bob Meyer Buffalo, NY dyln61@buffnet.net
Subject: Another Buffalo review From: Jonathan Coe (cf104@freenet.buffalo.edu) Date: 24 Feb 1999 18:14:41 -0800 Hi, Having just read Bob Meyer's excellent review I would like to add that Bob was indeed in excellent form and was, for the most part, in a honky tonk mood last night. My friend and I hadn't seen him since the summer of 1997, which in our minds was one of the best shows we had seen. "To be alone with you" was a delightful openner and "Just Like a Woman" was sung beautifully. At that point my friend said that she could leave a happy person. :-) "Can't Wait" was a revelation and for us a highlight of last night. Given the fact that we had not seen him since the release of TOOM our only dissapointments were that he did not play more TOOM material such as "Lovesick" or "To Make You feel My Love". Live, "Can't Wait" and "Til I fell in Love with You" were far better than their studio versions and we would've liked to have heard more of TOOM. Ah well you can't have everything. The acoustic set was, as always, excellent. The band is really tight. I have heard "Masters of War" several times but it never loses it power and while we were stumped by "Pass Me Not" it was moving. "Its All Over Now Baby Blue" was solid though I did miss the instrumental fills that Bob played in 1997. And we had no idea who Paul James was (except that he looked a little like Paul Reiser :-) ) but boy can he play. HWY 61 was a barn burner the interplay between Bob and he was intense and it just got better. Like Bob Meyer wrote "Like a Rolling stone" was a real surpprise. Did not expect that one and "Blowin in the Wind" and "Not Fade Away" brought to a close what was an excellent and at times surprising show. In closing I would like to add that Natalie Merchant was very good. I'm not a real big fan of hers but she was excellent. A memorable evening. Jonathan Coe
Subject: review of Buffalo show Feb. 23, 1999 From: (mabela@my-dejanews.com) Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 16:11:34 GMT After publicly complaining in rec.music.dylan about the high ticket prices for the Dylan show Tuesday night, I resisted buying tickets until the last minute. However, I travelled hundreds of miles to Tennessee to see Bob earlier this month, so I could not just stay at home when he was performing in Buffalo, only a two hour drive away. I ordered a pair of tickets the day before the show, and got 26th row floors. Arriving at the Marine Midland Arena, I began to realize why the prices were so high. Buffalo has built a huge temple to hockey, right in their downtown core. It is a stupendous building, with a grand entrance. Inside, the ceiling seems to float way overhead. I cannot imagine watching a hockey game from the last row in a building this big. Inside, it seems as big as Skydome, the indoor baseball mega-stadium in Toronto, my home town. As for the ticket price, I imagine there is a rather large mortgage on this building, and someone has to pay the bills. Natalie Merchant played to the home crowd, referring to the old hockey arena, Memorial Auditorium, just a couple blocks away. Natalie attended her first rock concert there, but the building now lies derelict - boarded up and unused. Of course, Natalie also made several references to the man we were here to see. During one pause in the show she said "I was talking to Bob last night. He said 'Buffalo is one of my favorite cities to play in.' He said you are survivors here. If you can survive this climate, you can survive anything." I guess Bob has not forgotten his Minnesota roots, and the climate up there. The musical highlight of her set was just Natalie on the piano, playing what I assume is a local traditional song, "15 miles on the Erie canal". Great sound - haunting lyrics. Towards the end of her set, she also told us that "Bob told me that he likes it when you sing along. Bob has been doing some extraordinary shows. You're in for a treat tonight". She was right. After her set, I maneuvered down into one of the two aisles in from of the stage. I chatted to some other Bobfans. Had the pleasure of handing Chris and Maura their first two Dylan bootlegs. Meanwhile, the rather overbearing security people tried to clear the aisles. They were quite persistent, and eventually persuaded me to retreat. However, I just moved over to the next aisle, arriving just before the lights dropped, and the band took the stage. After hearing "Serve Somebody" open my last six Dylan shows, I was thrilled to hear a song I did not recognize as the opener. Turns out it was "To Be Alone With You" from Nashville Skyline. This got my heart pumping - expecting more surprises to come. The people standing in the aisle with me were having a great time - dancing and singing along to "Watchtower" and "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight". This last one in particular was a great version, with a real country twang to it. And then - Bob speaks! I could not make it all out clearly, but he did say something about a "new song"! I had visions of Mississippi, or some other rare treat, but it was only "Can't Wait". I good song, but it has been out about 15 months now. The man knows how to tease. As Bob and company went into the acoustic set with "Masters of War" the good folks in the security detail decided it would be a good time to clear the aisles! Two large strapping young men forcefully told each person in the aisle to return to their seat. They did not use force, or touch anyone, but they were quite intimidating. I got very lucky. I saw that there was a group of young people in the third row. There was a girl standing in front of a young man in the second seat, so her aisle seat was empty. I moved in, and asked if they would give me refuge. They kindly agreed (thank you!). Meanwhile, the security squad made slow (but loud!) progress up the ails. As he sang "Masters of War" I could see Bob appear to be watching the action. No smiles- he did not seem happy with it. But - the music. The second acoustic song was unfamiliar to me. It sounded like a hymn, so I thought it might be "Rock of Ages" at first. All I remember of it is the word "Saviour". Bill Pagel has identified it as "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior". Two different hymns within the space of one month. Our man must be having those old time religious feelings again! A woman accidentally hit my head with her arm as she blew a kiss to Bob. I was in my third row refuge, trying to lie low. She apologized, and kissed my bald head better! Works for me.... Gotta love good crowd spirit. Of course the aisle filled up again during "Tangled Up in Blue" - and again the goon squad tried to clear the way with little success. The aisle was packed with happy people singing and dancing (including me, of course). A huge range of ages, with some first timers, and tour veterans. During TUIB, Bob did switch from third person to first person for the last verse. How come when Bob does stuff like this, we call it "lyrical variation" but when Frank Sinatra did it, he was forgetting the words? After the four acoustic songs, I was surprised to see Bob put on another acoustic guitar, as Tony and Larry were donning electric instruments. After a couple of seconds, Bob realized the mistake, and switched to electric as well. He approached the mike and said "Our friend Paul James is backstage tonight. I think he is going to come out and play with us". Paul seemed very happy to be back out on stage with Bob. He had also joined Bob on stage at the Concert Hall (Masonic Temple) on Yonge St. in Toronto on April 28, 1996. A great show, which I attended, and happened to have been listening to on the drive down to Buffalo tonight. Paul played with the band for the remaining four electric songs. "Highway 61" was really hopping - people around me were going crazy. Also good reaction for "Like a Rolling Stone" - with many people dancing and singing /shouting the lyrics. That can be annoying when listening to a tape, but during the show I find it adds to the excitement level. And of course, "Not Fade Away". Certainly the best cover song I have seen Bob perform. This song must have a lot of meaning for Bob. Many have mentioned how the title describes Bob's continued performing out on the road. While making his Grammy speech one year ago we heard Bob talk about the important influence attending a Buddy Holly show had on him. He must put all that feeling into this great, rockin' version of a classic song. After the song ended, Bucky, Larry, and Tony walked off stage. Paul James stood with his guitar on staring at Bob with a hopeful look on his face. Bob walked up to him, and (as if to console him) put his hand on the side of this shoulder. He then hook his hand, and said something to him which I assumed was "Thank you". Then off they went, and house lights came up. "I'm gonna tell ya how it's gonna be...." The man knows how to play.... -Martin Abela
Date: 04 Mar 1999 14:29:00 +0100 From: happyjaq@confetti.ruhr.de (Carsten Wohlfeld) Subject: February 23, 1999 - Buffalo, New York - a review Bob Dylan & Natalie Merchant Buffalo, NY, Marine Midland Arena February 23, 1999 A review by Carsten Wohlfeld I didn't even want to do the trip to Buffalo (cause it was an extra 700 miles on my way to Amherst, MA) and for Bob only I probably wouldn't have done it. But the chance to hear the, um, wonder that is "Winder" two more times was reason enough for me to do the seven hour (one way) bus trip anyways. And it really paid off! Despite the freezing cold (minus 5 degrees or lower) I went the Niagara Falls to do the touristy thang, went to see "Shakespeare in Love" (Gwyneth Platrow...*swoon*) and arrived in time at the Arena to hear Natalie soundcheck "Wonder". One down, one to go! What a day already! The Marine Midland Arena is either the most impressive or the ugliest venue I've ever been to. It's huge, 20,000 capacity and it looks like a giant spaceship. Pretty frighetning, if yo uask me. Natalie opted for the "Librarian" look today (check the cover of the "Ophelia" album and you know what I mean, after the schoolgirl/pigtails look in Lake Placid. At 7.30pm "San Andreas Fault" followed the usual opener "Ophelia" and it was already apparent that Natalie was in poor health but a great mood neverthless, recommending restaurants on Elmwood (Ali Baba) and telling stories about seeing her first ever rock concert in Buffalo (Stxy, "Grand Illusion" tour which would make it 1977) before singing a few lines from a Stys song a-capella. The story about her first gig was long and pretty funny and included various marihuana references. She also did a special intro to "Wonder", which I sadly missed cause some guys in front of me made a lot of noise while looking for their seats... Bastards :-) The song she did (or improvised) ended with the line "from Albany to Buffalo" though. "Bob told me he likes Buffalo and he's really looking forward to the show cause you guys are survivors. If you can survive temperatures like that you can survive ANYTHING" was another of her statements before she left us with "Kind And Generous" (where her voice left her comepletely due to her cold). She also said "You're in for a treat tonight. Bob's putting on some really extraordinary shows and we'll get one tonight. I can feel it". I was thinking to myself: "Yeah right, what does she know". But of course she was right. The crowd went nuts during "Kind And Generous", so she came back to do "These Are The Days". An excellent show, despite her rusty voice. Shortly after 9.00 Bob came on stage to do "Gotta Serve Somebody"... oh wait, this is something else... To Be Alone With You Nowhere near as good as the night before, back to the old "this is soundcheck, can anybody out there hear me" routine. Nice to hear him open with something other than "Serve" though. It was a pretty funny version too as Bob made up the words as he went along. I don't think the lyrics included much from the original. Unless I completely misheard everything due to the bad acoustics of course. Just Like A Woman Thank God, no "Million" :-) "Staying" was the alternative choice on the cuesheet, but this warmly received version of "Woman" was fine, too. Did I really just say that... I guess it must've been really good then. It had the by now common high voice on the verses and the low voice on the chorus which is always a very nice "effect". After that Larry just needed to play one chord to make me realize what song was next, my alltime favourite, in fact: All Along The Watchtower so what arrangement did they do? The fancy "Series Of Dreams"-like they did last summer? No. The spring '97 one with Bucky on acoustic? No. What was it like? I iamgine the conversation between Bob and Tony sounded a bit like this: Bob: "I wanna do 'Watchtower' tonight" Tony: "Which of the two [above mentioned] arrangements?" Bob: "Summink else" Tony: "Hmmm, how about this: Larry puts on the weirdest lo-fi sound he can find on his guitar pedals and plays Am, F and G as fast as he can and the rest of us just *try* to follow *somehow*? Bob: "Sounds fine to me" and that's exactly what they did. It was probably the worst "Watchtower" ever but I was still happy to hear it. Notably there were no other choices for the #3 slot on the cuesheet. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight "May The Lord Have Mercy On Us All" Can't Wait "That was one of our old records, here's one of our new" Bob said before the song. "Red Sky" and "Born In Time" were other options. "Can't Wait" was okay, but nothing special. Masters Of War (acoustic) Sixth song and only the first repaet from the night before! Very intense version, very good indeed. Seems to get better every night. Do Not Pass Me, O Gentle Saviour (acoustic) Listed as "Don't Pass Me By" on the cuesheet. Can't really say much about it, expect that it reminded me of the Louvin Brothers in the '50s. Had the same kinda style. It also had the usual countryfied arrangements that we know from "Roving Gambler" et all. Gorgeous backing vocals courtesy of Larry (and Bucky). Yet another song debut... how many different songs has he played now on the "Never Ending Tour"? It's All Over Now, Baby Blue (acoustic) Sweet. Always nice to hear as they always get it right. One of my alltime favourites as well. Other unplayed alternatives for the acoustic set included "Ramona" and "Desolation" btw. Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic) Had a funny moment three fourth into the song when the whole band except for David just stopped playing. Solos afterwards went nowhere, probaly cause they were all so shocked about that accident. Honky Tonk Blues Cuesheet's alternate was "Love Sick" (unusually early in the set), but the Hank song was a very welcome choice, as i'd never heard it before. Except for the fact that it was electric it sounded very true to the original. I liked it. 'Til I Fell In Love With You Cuesheet had "Love Sick, "Feel My Love", "She Belongs To Me" and "Highway" in this slot, but Bob and crew picked yet another one. Not as good as before, but still a real rocker. After the song Bob introcuded the band and said. "There's an old friend of ours backstage who wants to come out and play... Paul James." So Paul came out, Tommy got him one of Dylan's guitars and they did the inevitable: Highway 61 Revisited which featured even more useless noodleing (ooops, "creative soloing" I meant). (encore) Like A Rolling Stone This came pretty much as a surprise, as it was the first time since "TOOM" came out, that "Love Sick" wasn't played (support slots and festivals excluded). Nice version, pretty fast, similar to the one in Wollongong. A big singalong (Natalie had said during her set: "You gotta sing along, Bob likes that"). Paul James on guitar again. Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat Cuesheet had "Broken" as the only song in this slot, my guess it that they wanted to have Paul James play another song and he probaly wasn't familar with broken. So we got an even heavier (= the extra guitar) version of "Pillbox". Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic) Without James, but a pretty nice version, even if you've heard the song a million times before. Great phrasing, very playful. Not Fade Away Again with Paul James on guitar, everybody from the band on stage to the people in the cheap seats had a good time. The verdict? Only four songs out of 16 repeat compared to Troy, a bit under-rehearsed at time ("Watchtower", "Gentle Saviour") but still fun to watch. The same can be said for Natalie's set. Despite her rusty voice she seemed to have more fun at this show than anywhere else so far. This was of course a show that Bob almost could've played three years ago. No idea waht moved him to drop all the regulars, but I'm still glad he did it, at least once. Next up: Amherst, MA! Stay tuned! carsten wohlfeld
