Bob Dylan setlist 990622

Bob Dylan 990622 in Hollywood, California

Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 07:11:01 -0700
From: Frank Cipriano  legaleze@earthlink.net
To: karlerik@monet.no
Subject: Hollywood Bowl, 6/22/99

I took my wife and two daughters (19 & 16) to the show last
night.  A splendid time was guaranteed for all.  Our seats really
really far back at the "rim" of the Bowl, but somehow the girls
made their way up pretty close during Dylan's set.  They were
dancing.  They were happy.  "Nice shoes...I think I saw Jack
Nicholson...Great suit!"  What can I say?  I can't post a full
setlist since I just didn't keep track, but it seemed virtually
identical to two nights before in Anaheim.  Simon opened and
later brought out Bob for the now-standard duets (nice).

There was a break while Simon's massive stage set was torn down
and Bob's relatively sparce one was put up.  "Hallelujah! I'm
Ready" started it.  "Mr. Tambourine Man" was a beautiful,
touching arrangement.  "Memphis Blues Again" was another
highlight.  "Love Sick" and "Not Dark Yet" from TOOM were
probably the best of the evening.  Lots of dancing & energy. 
Lots of "thank yous" and comments from the stage. At one point
Bob said something like "almost didn't make it on time here
tonight..." possibly referring to the gridlocked freeways 15
miles in any direction around the Bowl.  It took damn near 2 1/2
hours to drive 18 miles.

Anyhow, I've been listening to Dylan since Peter, Paul & Mary
turned me on to "Blowing In The Wind" as a kid of nine.  It just
knocks me out that I can not only still go see the man, but that
he's honestly looking and doing better than ever and his newest
songs are my favorites.  Hell, their ALL my favorites! Thanks,
Bob, for a great Family Night.  We all appreciated it deeply.  Do
whatever you want to do, man.  You're the best!

Subject: Re: June 22, 1999 - Hollywood, California - Setlist
From:  spjohnny@earthlink.net
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 01:57:18 -0700

In contrast to the other two shows I've seen this tour, Bob came
out strong right from the start and maintained a consistent
level. But he never reached the heights of Sacramento or,
thankfully, the depths of Concord.

At one point during a particularly long between-song break, he
said, "I almost didn't make it here tonight," and then said a few
more things that I couldn't catch. I wouldn't be surprised if he
was held up in the horrible traffic that caused many people to
miss much of Paul's set. In any case, Bob came out for the duets
already dressed in the black cowboy-ish suit he'd wear for the
main show.

"Sound" was solid and the medley was enthusiastically sung. Paul
seemed to be going out of his way to give his delivery a
down-home twang, but I think his group is out of their element
with country music. Finally, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" was
quite promising. On a couple of occasions Simon would just about
finish a phrase and then Dylan would quickly repeat it -- a sort
of call-and-response that reminded me of Van Morrison duetting
with his sax player on the last Dylan tour.

As for the main set, this was my first time hearing "Hallelujah."
It had a robust, romping feel and put me in mind of both "When
the Saints Go Marchin' In" and "Yellow Rose of Texas."

"Masters of War" probably received the most thoughtful delivery
of the evening. I especially liked the way Bob sang, "You sit
back and watch as the death count gets higher." He just tossed it
out with a shrug, like someone who really doesn't care how many
people die to make him rich.

Often, though, Dylan seemed to switch back and forth between
attempting to evoke emotions or characters and simply seeing how
incongruously he could deliver a line. This led to a strange
"Love Sick," which sometimes sounded like an impassioned stump
speech -- "I said, 'I'm SICK of love!'" -- and sometimes like
Shatneresque psychodrama, as when Bob nearly screamed "I just
don't know WHAT TO DOOO!"

On an unrelated note, I got the impression that Bob was trying to
get an "old-timey" feel into his performance tonight. For
instance, when he thanked people, he said not only "Thank you
ladies and gentlemen," but also "Thank you kindly." And during
the harmonica solo at the end of "Tangled," when he crouched
almost to the point of kneeling and waved his right hand rapidly
back and forth from the wrist, he looked to me a lot like Al
Jolson.

Anyway, it was definitely an entertaining evening, though not as
emotionally affecting as some other shows I've seen.

Subject: Re: June 22, 1999 - Hollywood, California - Setlist
From: don freeman dfreem@home.com
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 15:38:26 GMT

That is a great review from spjohnny. You've got a good point
about "Hallelujah, I'm Ready to Go" being a lot like "Yellow Rose
of Texas."I wonder if Bob's fans would like him to do that old
song?

You also make a good point about Bob's country "Aw shucksness"
talking to the crowd. Someone recently said Bob was coming on
like Gabby Hayes

Subject: Re: June 22, 1999 - Hollywood, California - Setlist
From: Peter Stone Brown  peterb@erols.com
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 14:26:31 -0400

Years ago Bob Dylan was reported to be president of the Gabby
Hayes fan club.

1999: January - February - March - April - May - June

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Path: Norway.EU.net!uninett.no!howland.erols.net!europa.netcrusader.net!205.231. 82.12!newsrouter.icnc.com!portc04.blue.aol.com!audrey01.news.aol.com!not-f or-mail Subject: 7/22/99 Review From: JWOL16 Date: 23 Jul 1999 13:27:52 GMT Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Let me start by asking anyone with a recording of this concert to please contact me. Thanks. In my best concert seats ever, 4th row, Dylan gave the best concert I've ever seen (only my third Dylan show, if you were wondering). In my experience, Dylan shows seem to work like the Richter Scale; every time he hits he's ten times bigger. After a great "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie", Larry played some excellent fiddle on "My Back Pages". Charlie Sexton, who really impressed, gave the sound crew the signal to turn Dylan's sound up, and they were happy to oblige. Dylan closed the song by dancing through a harp solo. After walking through another "Master of War" (which seemed to be missing a few verses), and a good, thorough scratching of his head, Dylan gave a great performance of "Tangled Up In Blue", which he and the crowd always seem to enjoy. In the last verse he sang "got to get to him somehow". The intro to the next song sounded suspiciouly like "It Ain't Me Babe", so I was surprised when he stepped up to the mic, dripping sweat, and jumped into "Girl of the North Country". Next came "All Along the Watchtower" which I was very happy with because, despite its reputation as a concert standard, I've never caught it live (besides the recordings). He then played a relatively laid back "Positively 4th Street" which I prefered to his performance of the song at the Fleetcenter in January of '98. Then came a great "Maggie's Farm" and a very nice "Not Dark Yet". This was very much like its original album form, moreso than any other song all night. Next came "Silvio"; I think he plays this for the rather loud and excited reaction he always receives from the crowd. The first encore was "Like A Rolling Stone", an excellent performance. He then closed with "It Ain't Me Babe" before introducing the man "who needs no introduction". I don't know what the criticism has been about, because I loved their duet on "The Sound Of Silence". Sexton had to tell the sound guys to turn Dylan back down so the his volume was equal with Simon, not wanting to step on anybody's toes. Dylan reached back for his harmonica, played a few off-sounding notes, gave the instrument a dirty look, and switched to another to finish his solo. Simon seemed to be encouraging Dylan throughout the song. The two really enjoyed themselves through "That'll Be The Day". Dylan either forgot the words to the last verse of "The Wanderer" or couldn't keep up the pace; either way, he threw in the towel and laughed his way back to the chorus, where he rejoined Simon. "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" was nice, especially with Campbell, Sexton, and Simon singing the "ooo"s while Dylan sang his verse. Simon then took the second verse and the tried to keep up while Dylan danced around the chorus (just like.....just like so many times before). They added the "I hear you knockin' but you can't come in" before ending the song and, with it, the evening's duets. A great show. As for Simon, his band of "world musicians" gave his songs an unfortunate adult contemporary sound. He played the standard set list. A let down after Dylan's fabulous set. There was no joke. And contrary to my probably silly hopes, there was no "Chimes of Freedom" either. Still great, though. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Path: Norway.EU.net!EU.net!nntp.primenet.com!nntp.gctr.net!nuq-peer.news.verio.n et!remarQ73!supernews.com!remarQ.com!remarQ69!WReNclone!WReNphoon4.POSTED! WReN!not-for-mail Subject: Re: 7/22/99 Review From: Euphonium Joe Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 07:04:01 -0800 Organization: http://www.remarq.com: The World's Usenet/Discussions Start Here Concert report card: Bob Dylan A+, Paul Simon B, audience D It was a fine night in Masnsfield, and I was thrilled when I got to my seat - finally after five years of seeing Bob I had a really decent seat, and the performance by Bob and his band made it worth every cent. Bob was in fine form, from the acoustic classics "My Back Pages," "Girl from the North Country," and "It Ain't Me Babe," to the sizzling country-rocker treatment of "Maggie's Farm." The problem was in the starting lineup. On this Thursday night, it was Bob's turn to open the show. At 7:40, when the familiar annoucement "Would you please welcome Columbia recording artist Bob Dylan" was made and Bob kicked off with "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie," over half the seats in the pavilion were still empty. It seemed that most of the crowd regarded Dylan as just the opening act, and they were quite willing to stroll in casually and chat with each other until Paul Simon's set. For crying out loud, Bob was well into an hour into his set, and people were still drifting in! And what's the deal with people paying over a hundred bucks for a ticket just so that they can talk through the whole concert, and constantly get up to buy another flat $5,50 budweiser? Oh well, so much for the complaining. Those people who wever actually there to see Bob were treated to a fantastic show. If you get the opportunity, see Bob Dylan in concert. He is amazing. And yes, all the observations made by the newspaper reviews are accurate. Dylan and Simon's shows are a study in contrasts. If you've seen any of the Neverending Tour shows, you know that Bob and his band come off as loose and slighly unrehearsed. Bob worn and often raspy voice gives added impact when he sings lyrics like "It's not dark yet, but it's getting there." Bob, Larry, and Charlie trade licks and jam until Bob gives the nod over to Tony and David and eventually end up more or less together. Then they seemingly stumble into the next song. On the obligatory duet, Bob was content to let Paul try to hold together the "That'll Be the Day/The Wanderer" medley. It seemed that Bob either didn't know the lyrics, or didn't give a damn about singing them right. However, when Bob and Paul closed their duet with "Knockin on Heaven's Door," Bob sang with conviction, and his harmonies with Simon were magical. By contrast, Paul's show is a perfectly synchronized big band show, featuring three percussionists, horn players, accordians, keyboards, fancy light shows, and Paul's sweet voice. Don't get me wrong, I love Paul Simon. He put on a great show. But having him on the same stage as Bob Dylan was mighty strange. * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network * The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!