Through The Fog: The Wife Sees Bob Dylan

So Bob Dylan on a Wednesday night was a toss up. Mid week, sure, but there would be no opening act. Early start (7:30), figure a two hour show, we’re home by ten or so depending on traffic. And it is Dylan, after all. I convinced her she should come along. Neither he nor we are getting any younger. Plus, I got us actual seats off to the side of the stage. I doubt my wife would like to stand/body mingle for two hours on the concrete floor of the Coliseum. Seats would almost guarantee neither of us would need an aspirin or six to get around the next day. She agreed to go, nearly changing her mind at the last minute due to a lingering head cold, but making it out the door on time, extra Kleenex on hand.

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We got to our seats and had a nice, unobstructed view of the stage looking down about 20 rows. I felt bad for the couple sitting next to us. She had purchased their tickets on impulse after reading an article in Rolling Stone about this past summer’s Minor League Ballpark tour that had Dylan joining John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson after the local Triple-A game around the country. She seemed a bit disappointed when I explained her mistake, but took it better than I thought she would. Shrugging her shoulders, she simply said, “Well, it IS Dylan, right?” Fair enough, part two.

The show started almost right on time. After the house lights went down, a voiceover rambled off Dylan’s pedigree in deep baritone. “Are you ready to welcome rock and roll’s Poet Laureate?” A bit of ego stroking, sure. But, really, who’s got more credibility than Bob Dylan?

Now, I haven’t seen Dylan live in over ten years. And I know that the years can take a toll. But Bob Dylan hit the stage with the same energy I saw in him ten years ago, or even 30 years ago. Sure it took him a couple of songs to smooth out his vocals (Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat and Lay Lady Lay), but he attacked the keyboards on the former and the blues lead guitar on the latter.

Not that his crack band needed too much help. The recent return of guitar ace Charlie Sexton to Dylan’s backing band on The Never Ending tour after several years seemed to have Dylan actually smiling as they traded licks. The rhythm section of George Recile on drums and Tony Garnier on bass played like brothers, laying down a nice foundation for the rest of the band to shine. Stu Kimball played mostly acoustic guitar and Donnie Herron played anything they put in front of him – Pedal steel guitar, lap steel, mandolin (electric), and even viola. Bob Dylan was no slacker either. Besides keyboard and electric guitar he took center stage several times with just a harmonica and microphone. His blues harp playing on Love And Theft’s Sugar Baby just dripped with emotion. When he added the harmonica to his keyboard playing, as he did during Modern Times’ Spirit On The Water, the effect was stunning. His passion for playing was also evident when he played lead, mostly filling between Sexton’s crisp runs. Dylan stands back from the mike and angles the guitar neck upward, bringing the strings close to his face, It’s as though he can feel the notes right there at his fingertips, without having to wait to hear it out of the monitor.

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The stage and set design was an interesting study in black and white. The band, all dressed in black, most accessorized with the requisite black hat, played to a black back drop with a variety of white patterns, from disco-ball simulated starlight to a stark bright back light that left giant shadows of the band on the opposing wall of the arena. Mostly white spotlights followed the players. Sexton danced around a lot, engaging Dylan and the rest of the band, seemingly infusing them with more energy. The lighting switched to a low, front lit dim yellow spotlight and made it seem as though we were sitting in an old blues bar with a wicked house band as the band started Cold Irons Bound slowly, with Dylan first on harmonica, then guitar, spit out the plaintive love ballad like he had lived the words himself. Same thing with the next song, Workingman’s Blues #2. He’s still got it at 68!

Let’s not forget that we are dealing with one of the most gifted songwriters of our lifetimes here. Sure he rocked, sure the band was tight, but a Dylan song is lyrics, story telling. He’s only in three separate Halls Of Fame, right. Take Spirit On the Water, for example. More than halfway through an almost two hour set, Dylan goaded the admittedly more gray than not crowd with the lyric “You think I’m Over the Hill. You think I’m past my prime. Let me see what you’ve got. We can have a whoppin’ good time.” Bob Dylan’s still got stories to tell.

By the time the band ended the main set with an alarmingly beautiful version of Ballad Of a Thin Man, even my wife was standing. The poor misguided couple to our right as well. And if the encore set was supposed to send the crowd off into the night all atwitter, it certainly did the trick. Dylan wisely squeezed the rockabilly gem Jolene (from Together Through Life) between truly amazing versions of Like A Rolling Stone and All Along The Watchtower to end the show. The crowd roared, the band bowed and left the stage. The crowd roared a bit more, but the house lights came up to a few groans. Mostly, the folks I saw were checking their watches. 9:25 was good. Depending on traffic, most would be home by ten.

As we crawled like cattle through the halls to the exits, we overheard someone in front of us ask their companion, “Wasn’t All Along the Watchtower a Jimi Hendrix song?” My wife rolled her eyeballs so high; she might have bruised them on the ceiling. We both laughed about it through the ride home too. Looks like this show was a hit with my wife and I’m glad. We both needed a night out, even though it was the middle of the week. Later this month I’ve got a single ticket up close for Loggins & Messina. If it turns out that my wife wants to go, I’ll have to hit up Craigslist for an extra ticket and ‘tip’ a friendly usher to find us two seats together on the night of the show. I’d do anything for my wife, even sit in the upper balcony.

Rock On through The Fog

A.J. Crandall

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3 Responses

  1. Wow!, GREAT description of the show. Had my minds-eye well exercised on this one. I felt as though I had seen the show. Very well done, and indeed “rock on through the fog!” What a great write-up. Thanx!

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