Bob Dylan 990609 in Salt Lake City, Utah
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 10:22:34 -0600 From: "Charles Owens" (cowens@prc.state.ut.us) To: (karlerik@monet.no) Subject: bob dylan in salt lake city, June 9th, 1999 ** Proprietary ** ** High Priority ** I wanted to share with you my experience at the dylan/simon concert last night. paul simon came on first, which is where he belongs as far as I am concerned. Bob should never have to open for him. one of the concert goers that I was sitting next to remarked that bob should do the same thing that garfunkel did and drop paul. he seemed to be hiding behind the noise of the huge band, and lots of lights. I will say in his defense that the delta center is a barn, and a terrible place to hold a concert. it make be a great place to have a basketball game, but the sound bounces off the walls and distorts the sound. There was very little magic until bob cam out to do the four song set with paul. you could sense the difference when bob walked out into the hall. bob's voice was deep, not nearly as high as it has been in the past few years. when he blew his harp at the end of sounds of silence, the audience went nuts. the last time bob was in salt lake city there was no harp at all, so it was really a thrill to hear him play it again. after the stage crew cleared all the stuff off the stage that paul simon seems to need to put on a show, it was a spartan look for bob and the boys, but that was all they needed. they began with " friend of the devil" and there was never a let down in the tempo until they were finished with " not fade away". the only way the concert could have been better (bob's part at least) would have been if bob had played " oh babe, it aint no lie ". when it comes right down to it, bob in his black suit, and attack the music style made paul simon pale in comparison. it almost seemed to me that I could see the ghost of woody guthrie, cisco houston, alan lomax, lead belly, tim hardin, and david blue on the stage with him. thanks bob, it was great to see you again . if you are still singing when you are 80, I will still be in the crowd, awed in the presence of such a man as you.
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 14:20:01 -0600 From: William White (w.white@m.cc.utah.edu) To: karlerik@monet.no Subject: Eating Crow over Simon/Dylan After the Stones show this past February I swore I would never ever attend another show in the Delta Center in SLC the sound was that bad. When I heard that Zimmerman and Simon were going to play there I was heartbroken. I knew that if I went and couldn't understand their lyrics due to the poor acoustics I would go temporarily insane. Also the last time I saw Simon in SLC the Gulf War had just begun and he gave an uninspired performance ( I was not inspired either). In addition, the last time I saw Dylan at Park West he was in a funk. I left his show somewhat disappointed as well. I was not going to pay just to be disappointed again-despite tremendous respect for the talents of our generation"s two greatest singer/songwriter/poets. I went anyway-and I was rewarded ten times over with two GREAT performances with by in large good to very good acoustics. Paul having gotten over the lack of acceptance of his musical 'Capeman', led 8-10 extremely talented musicians from around the world in an enthusiastic retrospective of some of his greatest work. Like the Stones, Paul can grasp the essence of a musical genre and creatively make a home within it-as evidenced by 'Graceland' and contemporary African rhythm, and the South American rhythm heard on 'Rhythm of Saints'. Simon's earlier work was a high point with most of the crowd during his 70+ minute set that included Bridge over Troubled Water, and Me and Julio down by the School Yard. Bob joined Paul at the close of his set but despite the significance of the the two of them performing together for the first time it just didn't work-the lack of melodious harmonies being my biased opinion. Bob Dylan is a musical genre in and of himself period. Only the giant and genius musicians the likes of Jimi Hendrix or Eric Clapton cover Bob's material any better (some would say) than the poet himself. Dylan appeared to have fully recovered physically and mentally from his own brush with death and played with genuine sincerity. With the wealth and breath of his material numbering in the hundreds I was pleased with what I heard including: Highway 61, Memphis Blues, All Along the Watch Tower, Knocking on Heaven's Door, Tangled Up in Blue, Like a Rolling Stone and Mr. Tamborine Man. Bob and Paul paid tribute to a number of deceased or soon to be deceased songwriters; Johnny Cash-'I walk the line', Jerry Garcia/Phil Lesh- 'Freind of the Devil', Bill Monroe-'Blue Moon of Kentucky'. Bob rarely ends with his own songs and yesterday night was no exception when he finished with a rousing cover of the Stones-'Not Fade Away'. Unlike the scene some 30 years ago or so their was no one in the crowd yelling , "Judas'" when Bob put his Martin down and picked up his Strat. They were yelling for more at the conclusion however. Long live the Poets-they define where we came from, where we are , where we are going and who we've become. -- William White Research Associate Department of Internal Medicine Pulmonary Division University of Utah School of Medicine
Subject: Paul/Bob in Salt Lake City From: John Provine (jprovine@xmission.com) Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 19:18:02 -0600 The concert review in the Salt Lake Tribune this morning asked, rhetorically, "was the show really worth $90?" Gawd, journalists and their dumb questions. In spite of the fine evening, though, I have to say that I think last night didn't *quite* match up to the "Born at the Right Time" show back in -- when was it -- '92 or '93. This was mainly due to the sound quality, I think. The Delta Center is fine for basketball and hockey, less so for music. It was hard to get a good mix in that huge building (or maybe I'm being overly generous to the sound men). For instance, while the sax solo on "Still Crazy" was beautiful as usual, the electric piano that contributes so much to the mood of this song was nearly drowned out by the guitars. The horns in the middle of "Late In the Evening" even took a bit of a backseat, which is close to sacrilege. "Late in the Evening" just ain't the same without those horns. Nonetheless, Paul had the joint jumping, especially on the upbeat numbers like "Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes", "You Can Call Me Al", and "Me and Julio". Also, this didn't seem to be quite as knowledgeable a crowd; the reaction to some of Paul's lesser-known songs was kind of lukewarm (I'm thinking of "Cool, Cool River" and "Further to Fly" in particular). And "Bridge" had a totally new arrangement. That seemed to throw people off; they didn't quite know how to react. Dylan's set was an interesting contrast, which I guess shouldn't surprise anyone. The sound quality seemed to affect his performance even more than Simon, unfortunately. Maybe it's because I'm less familiar with his music than with Simon's, but I had a difficult time understanding a word he said. He brought the house down, too, but it was different somehow. His encores of "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Blowin' in the Wind" probably got the biggest ovations of the night. But I gotta say this: Bob Dylan and Paul Simon should pass on the duets. They just don't make it as a duo, folks. On "The Sound of Silence", Paul sang the lead vocal with Bob doing the harmony, the part that Paul used to do. It was frankly awful. Perhaps Paul should scrounge around for someone with a sweet pure tenor to sing the high part and stick to his own line. All in all, you would never guess these two men were pushing 60 and had been doing this for three-plus decades. It was a fine evening and yes, it really was worth $90. John
Subject: Salt Lake City review From: JMwebtrash (jmwebtrash@aol.com) Date: 12 Jun 1999 00:00:58 GMT Paul opened, therefore I'll kick it off with the duet portion. I must admit I was a bit nervous for my Bob and his ability to pull off the duet section. Not to worry! Paul brought him out and neither appeared the least bit uncomfortable, and, from the first tentatively struck guitar notes it was "chicken skin" time. Bob was in a very understated black shitkicker suit and doing that "leg waggle" and I immediately understood all the Hank Williams references I had been reading. "Sounds of Silence", in that it brings back that '60s milieu of Dylan and Simon, is a perfect duet choice. The performance was beautiful! Living room pickin' at its best. There they were, Bob and Paul, sidled up close together, swapping verses, crooning imperfect yet super soulful harmonies, and, most importantly, demonstrating utmost respect for the material. And when Dylan grabbed a harp ("I found my harmonica, Albert") for a solo, it was, figuratively, electric. I'd been awfully anxious, make that impatiently excited, oh, let's just say I couldn't wait for the roots medley of "I Walk the Line" and "Blue Moon of Kentucky". Whew! I was enthralled. These boys flat out like their work and, seemingly, enjoy each other's company. Dylan's wistful "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" rounded out the duets. I didn't even have to close my eyes for Katy Jurado and Slim Pickens to reappear on that haunting landscape of Peckinpaugh's "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid." The duet segment is indeed too short. IMNSHO they should expand it by at least a couple of songs. They are magnificent together. The teardown/setup of the stage went rather efficiently. It's, no doubt, quicker to disassemble Simon's and erect Dylan's than the other way around. The lights once again dimmed and, through a thunderous welcome, Bob and the boys banged out the intro to "Friend of the Devil." I figured we'd get it. We in the hills of Utah usually do, with the reference to that cave and all. Lyle Lovett gave us his version on the day Jerry died, and, even though I knew that Bob had left out "Stuck Inside" at Memphis, I expected FOTD. Dylan is such an endearing and idiosyncratic presence. He just exudes Bobness. And what a great band. Tony I remembered from a few stops "Asleep at the Wheel" made in these parts way back when, but the rest of the band were rank strangers to me. David Kemper worked out at a modest trap set from underneath a 10-gallon lid that, in the old days, would have put the beaver on the endangered species list. Larry Campbell, a long drink of water, sported a duster somewhat shorter than those cowboy raincoats you see around, and is one clean picker. Tony had that "slouching toward Hibbing" body language going as he draped himself over the 'doghouse.' he's one comfortable looking dude. And that brings us to Charlie Sexton, a subject of much discussion of late. His fans are all bummed because he won't be reuniting with his old mates in Austin and the rmders are all in a tizz over Bucky Baxter splitting and Sexton's perceived inalbility to fill them shoes. It appeared to me, however, that Charlie had absolutely no interest in Bucky's shoes and, in fact, stole off to Miami where he ripped off a pair from Pat Riley. It looked like he grabbed one of Pat's Armani suits while he was at it. Let me just say, even if they didn't play a lick, this might be the coolest band I've ever seen in my life. And that includes Miles Davis' group from the early '60s. Actually, Charlie looked very comfortable with what appears to be a role of rhythm guitar, sporadic harmony vocals, and the occasional lead break on the electric stuff. No doubt about it, he's already in a groove. "Tambourine Man" came off rather nice, I thought. Bob certainly didn't shove the vocal down our throats, but, with a new to me synchopated arrangement, gave it a great ride, including a quintessential harp break. There was a ton of stuff going on in "Masters of War." First, the picking was extremely clean, maybe even overly so for effect, and performed to a rhythm resembling march-time. The band even appeared to be marching, militarily, in counterpoint to the chaos of the subjectmatter. There was a macrocosm and microcosm going on that I'm sure wasn't lost on the Bobcats. "Hattie Carroll" moved into the #4 slot as Dylan drug ol' Zantzinger deservedly through the coals once again. He did it alone. The rest of the band didn't have much to do at all at that Baltimore hotel. Did I mention that Bob was in good voice. Extremely good voice, for Bob. It's like when Kristofferson once told Willie Nelson that he had lost his voice and Willie replied: "How can you tell?" Bob really did sound wonderful, and he gave great reading to his songs. Things started to get rockin' a bit with "Tangled." Tony may have gone electric here. Bob indeed took the lead break and included that "two note" thing. His harp solo once again embellished the whole. It's a style so personal and singular, and, like a Van Gogh brush stroke, immediately recognizable. Charlie, in his limited role, is still very much involved and digging it. Then, with minimal fanfare, the skeleton key is once again in the rain, sliding down the kite string, attracting lightning. Acoustic machines are now being swapped for those with more horsepower, at least for Larry and Bob. Sexton remains on flat-top. There is this sense that two riders are approaching with the wind about to howl. "Watchtower": Never has so much drama been created with so few words. Larry moves to steel and Charlie finally straps on something with potential. It's "Just Like a Woman" and this somehow seems very Dylan to me, having Charlie on acoustic for Watchtower and electric for JLAW. These guys are reminding me more and more of the Drifting Cowboys, Hank's old band. I'm sure it was more so with Bucky on steel and Larry on fiddle. Now you get one or the other. Larry can be very articulate and understated one moment, and, during bottleneck work, come on raw, brash and loud. He appears, at times, to be the very net over which the rest of the band performs. Charlie gets juxtaposed once again for "Stuck Inside of Mobile" (acoustic) and "Not Dark yet" (electric). I think he is a perfect fit for the band as a whole and Larry in particular. One can only hope a larger role evolves. I knew that "Highway 61" would be a showpiece and end the pre-encore part of the show, but I was ill prepared for the blistering trade-offs between Larry's bottleneck and Charlie's flamethrower. I mean it harkened back to Duane Allman and Dickey Betts. They were spitting out pure stuff. There would be no prisoners working the highway this time. Now take them two and throw in Bob, Tony, and David stoking the fire and, indeed, something is happening here. The boys flat bowled us over. The encore segment had "Blowing in the Wind" in the acoustic slot. Tony played one of those huge, cutaway, guitaron-looking, jumbo dreadnought bass guitars and the full-on acoustic effect was chilling. In as much as you never get the studio version at a Dylan show, "Love Sick" was pretty darn close. But as Utah Phillips used to say: "Good though!" "Like a Rolling Stone" was, well, like a rolling stone. Those around me, however, could probably have done with a little less vocal on my part. We got Buddy Holly and "Not Fade Away" to wind it up. From Hibbing to Lubbock. Once again Dylan brings it all back home. What can i say? He is THE MAN! I found this to be an evening of pure delight. Simon and Dylan were both better than I thought they would be. I posted a review of Simon's set at PaulBob. In fact I ripped off my duet review from that for this. I also posted a Totally Subjective Dylan Rave link with a faulty URL to rmd yesterday. Here is the correct URL (thanks to Raylene): http://www.newschoice.com/newspapers/park/parkrecord/default.asp thank you Jay Meehan
