On a rainy Boston night fans of Old Crow Medicine Show and of course Bob Dylan, shuffled into the Orpheum Theater May 25th on a cold, wet, but soon to be electric night. And as one walks down the alley at 1 Hamilton Place, it may be surprising that one of Boston’s oldest historical and most significant theaters stands subtly tucked between restaurants and Suffolk University business buildings. But, the tattered landmark has been a host to all of the legends, including Dylan and his presence would surely be felt tonight.
Last year, marking the 50th anniversary of Dylan’s classic Blonde on Blonde, Old Crow performed the album in its entirety and later decided to record the album with their own southern-spin and tour in honor of the man and his music, in which OCMS’ Ketch Secor, has never shied away from declaring his greatest influence. At one point during the show, Secor gleefully reminisced about his fascination with Dylan and his experiences as a fan growing up. “We’re celebrating 50 years of Bob. We love Bob. We love tellin’ stories about Bob, even though we’ve never met him.” beamed Secor with sincerity. And so, he and the band continued to do so with word and song for over 90 minutes.
The show started promptly at 8 PM as advertised. The drum, whistle and stomp of “Rainy Day Women” go the show off to a rousing start. Other highlights included “One of Us Must Know”, a frenetic version of “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again.”, which was played with undeniable conviction by every member of the band. The southern drawl inflection was eerily reminiscent of Dylan from his earlier years, when enunciation was less of a struggle.
“Pill-Box Hat” was one of the more visually entertaining performances, with the full band walking to the edge of the stage and delighting the crowd with choreographed bobbing and dancing. Kevin Hayes took on lead vocal duty and his physical performance alone, as he sang while dangling off the front of the stage, hovering over the front row, was worth a standing ovation all by itself. After “Just Like a Woman”, Secor announced, “It’s time to flip over the record. We’ll be backing just a little while.
Donning a pair of black sunglasses, Secor and Co. came back and ripped through a furious “Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine”. At the end of the song, Secor was spinning and almost took a tumble, but shrugged and laughed it off and reminded the crowd, “We’re Old Crow Medicine Show from Nashville, TN!” before continuing further into the set with “Achilles” and “Marie”.
Declaring, “This song is a waltz.”, OCMS played “4th Time Around” the well-documented and controversial response to Lennon & McCartney’s “Norwegian Wood”. Secor then turned this fiddle up to 11 for “Obviously 5 Believers” and it felt like the band was having their own private hoedown. Before playing the last song of the second set, Secor stepped back up to his mic, smiled and said, “It’s great to be up here singing from the Great American Songbook.” The band then wrapped it up with “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.” The band waved good-bye and the audience rose, clapping, whistling and clearly asking for more.
After a few solid minutes, OCMS descended upon the stage once more and came out for the encore. The band huddled around a singular vintage microphone to harmonize throughout the iconic “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” before bursting into a festive version of “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere.” Their bold and glorious take on “Quinn the Eskimo” propelled the audience members out of their velvety seats to sing, dance and cheer before ending with OCMS’ own “Wagon Wheel”, of which is a nod to Dylan in itself.
So, if you go to the next show, look around. You may see women wearing pill-box hats. You may see men hugging, singing, dancing and of course drinking beer together. But, keep an eye out in the shadows, you just may catch a glimpse of the man himself, hidden behind sunglasses and under a black hoodie. And if he’s there, rest assured he’ll that he’ll be thinking, “Old Crow, you’re killin’ it.”
