Bob Dylan 990731 in Wantaugh
Subject: some comments on 7/31 From: Andrew Dixon adixon@nimbus.ocis.temple.edu Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1999 12:27:13 -0400 Ok, i know i will be drubbed out of this group, but Tangled alone was worth the incredibly high price of admission. his singing was incredible. i used my recent training in zen to help me treat each experience as new, and so pretended that each song was one i hadnt heard live and had been waiting to hear for forever. it was quite nice. and forever young was quite tender. watching the river flow was a nice surprise and really got the juices flowing. unfortunately, since this is only a partial bob show, he had to bring in the reins. i cant wait for bob to be alone again, though i always enjoy simon's show. not dark yet was so nice. i cant say this enough. just tender and well delivered, all around. so, maybe i was spoiled by Tramps a few days earlier, but i am ready for the touring with simon to be over. (although simon's set is nice, and somehow seems to be like a post-sex cigarette. it gives you time to go, ahhh.) andy
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 18:52:38 -0700 From: Carsten Wohlfeld carsten.wohlfeld@ruhr-uni-bochum.de To: billp61@earth.execpc.com CC: karlerik@monet.no, happyjaq@confetti.ruhr.de Subject: jones beach (2) review Bob Dylan Long Island, NY, July 31, 1999 Jones Beach Theater A review by Carsten Wohlfeld Day 2: Same hot weather, same beautiful location, same folks (at least the ones that came for Dylan, I donât think mayn of the Simon-only fans went to both shows). The pretty good band Eudora was the opening act, they had a very strong singer, looked a bit like Lucinda Williams, sang like Patti Smith. Now that ainât too bad, eh? At 8.10 it was time to welcome the ³columbia Recording Artist Bob Dylanã for the last time on this seven week summer tour. I wouldâve loved to hear either ³Somebody Touched Meã or ³Hallelujah Iâm Ready (To Go)ã tonight, simply I havenât heard them yet, but instead we got: Friend Of The Devil (acoustic) started off proceedings as we probably could have expected it. The kids next to me (who went completely nuts when Bob did ³Not Fade Awayã the night before - or so they tell me) loved it. It was apparent from the start that Bob wasnât in the same fine form that he used to be in yesterday. It wasnât bad, but hardly above average. My Back Pages (acoustic) Much better than the Holmdel version, mainly because Bob and Larry were playing the same song and because of that the solo matched a lot better :-) Harp at the end. Masters Of War (acoustic) Yet another strong version, but Bob and band are on auto-pilot for this song, cause theyâveplayed it so many times. Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic) Surprisingly early in the set. It was hardly above average and didnât feature any of the variations from the previous shows. Forever Young (acoustic) The only semi-surprise of the night. I was sick and tired of hearing that song like 15 times in a row in Australia and New Zealand last year, but today I quite enjoyed it. Larry and Charlie on backing vocals - Bob had mercy and tried to sing the chorus *with* them rather than *against* them. All Along The Watchtower was ³All Along The Watchtowerã © 1999 Positively 4th Street It couldâve been the perfect version, cause it was even slower than the renditions from this spring, almost like Berlin and Magdeburg Î96, lovely pedal-steel courtesy of Larry, too, but Bobâs singing wasnât too hot, he seemed to have trouble remembering the words and screwed up the - I think - second to last verse pretty badly. Watching The River Flow Another minor disappointment, cause after years of horrid version the band finally had worked up a pretty good arrangement this spring, that sounded a lot like ³Maggieâs Farmã, but at least it was fast and fun. Now it was weak, slow and bluesy and I didnât like it AT ALL. It was as bad as any of the Î95/â96 renditions. Not Dark Yet was ³Not Dark Yetã, followed by the introduction of the ³finest players in the countryã. Silvio followed as expected and it ROCKED, which is the polite way of saying that it was the same as it ever was. (encore) Like A Rolling Stone one for the people who never saw Bob before. Blowinâ In The Wind (acoustic) Unfortunately yet another very unconvincing rendition of this songs. After he had played ³Donât Think Twiceã almost very night for the first four weeks of the tour, he stopped playing it altogether for the rest of the tour. It wouldnât necessarily have been a lot better, but at least it wouldâve been a nice change. Then he asked Simon to come on stage and they did Sound Of Silence the same way as before... Thatâll Be The Day/The Wanderer at least they had knew that quite a few people attended both shows and went back to the Buddy Holly song. Pretty lame version actually, that sounded like ³Pillboxã with the wrong words, but at least Dyland and Simon seemed to have fun. Knockinâ On Heavenâs Door You just gotta love those backing vocals and so I didnât care that this one was the last song of the tour. Of course they couldâve done something special on the last night, but maybe thatâs just not possible on a high-scale tour like this. Even though this last one was probably the weakest show of the six I got to see this week, I was very pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the shows throughout the tour. Charlie isnât doing much (yet), mainly playing rhythm guitar, but at least that helps to keep the band together and make the sound tighter. I donât think heâll stay with Dylan for too long if he position doesnât change soon. A top player like him should have other things to do than playing easy chords for Bob. As I said in my first review already, the shows were very good, but kinda uneventful still. They just had too much stuff that was repeated every night. Hopefully Bob will abandon the idea of the double-headlining act soon and weill return to this usual 110-minute show. Til next time, take care of yourself and each other ;-) carsten wohlfeld -- ³always tell the truth, itâs easier to rememberã (evan dando)
