Cocaine Blues and the Sound of a Harp I Got the World at My Shoes but Im Falling Apart

Bob Dylan 990709 in Tinley Park

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          Subject: Report on Tinley Park From: Bill Parr (William_C_Parr/UTK@ln.utk.edu) Date: 9 Jul 1999 23:17:00 -0700  A report on the Tinley Park July 9, 1999 show:  I'm going to try to keep this one brief....  The BoDeans (spelling?) opened.  Paul Simon was on first.  Setlist (song titles questionable):  Bridge over Troubled Water Boy in the Bubble A song from Rhythm of the Saints with the phrase "worth some money" occurring repeatedly Trailways Bus (from Capeman) Mrs. Robinson Me and Julio From Rhythm of Saints - "Further to Fly" -- during this one, Baron was lurking to the side of the stage  Graceland "Cool Rivers/Memory of God" - what is the real title? Slip Sliding Away Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes Be My Buddy (title????)  Encores:  Late in the Evening Still Crazy After All Those Years   Then, Simon briefly introduced Dylan - something like "It's a great honor and a pleasure to introduce Bob Dylan."  Bob was not wearing a jacket, or a tie.  Duets:  Sounds of Silence  This had beautiful guitar work. Dylan performed on Harmonica." Best Dylan vocalization (and there were many this night) was "Ne-OWN Night."  That'll Be The Day  Lots of grins by Dylan. Neat piano and guitar work by Simon's band.  Wanderer  Knocking on Heaven's Door  Dylan played some lead on this one. The usual clowning around about "I hear you knocking and you can't come in" at the tail end of this one.  Then, all left stage, and 20 minutes later Dylan and band returned.  Bob was now wearing suit and tie (white piping on pants).  1. Cocaine Blues  Tony is wearing a purple suit, and a hat. Larry is wearing a striped jacket with solid colored pants. Kemper is wearing a hat, and sexton a matching (I think) jacket and pants.  Cocaine Blues was quite pleasurable. Nothing special - to separate it from other performances of this song I've heard lately.  2. Mr. Tambourine Man  It occurs to me listening to this - Dylan uses ALL the notes within his range. How do you sing with him? Do you try to use the notes he isn't currently using? Or do you try to travel with him vocally?  Sexton appears more confident.  When Dylan says "jingle jangle" the voice notes go up and down.  Lots of joy in people's faces surrounding me, as they watch this song's performance.  Dylan does another harp solo.  Dylan signals "stop" to Kemper and the song winds down.  3. Masters of War  The spotlight is on  Bob as this one starts. The sincerity and earnestness on his face is impressive. He means this song. Interesting that it seems to appear so often in setlists.  When Dylan bends over to look at his stuff where he has the harp(s) kept, I'm struck how much he looks like the Dylan of 1966 in basic profile.  Beautiful guitar work by Larry and Bob.  Vocalization is striking again ----- "so - ul" ---- soul appears to have grown to the point of two syllables. My notes indicate the guitar work seemed magnificient to me. "De - ad" has AT LEAST two syllables.  As usual, Dylan passes up singing the "Even Jesus would never forgive what you do." verse.  After this song, Dylan says "Thank you kindly, ladies and gentlemen."  4. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue  Dylan's into that little small step dancing routine again tonight. (I note this on my setlist spiral notebook as "D-Dancing.") Dylan smiles a lot on this one.  5. Tangled Up in Blue  The crowd pleaser, as usual. Lots of little dance steps. Dylan's delivery/vocalization is amazing -- "abandoned it out west" gets sung unbelievably quickly. As if he got a late start on the phrase and had to make up time.  Lots of high volume acoustic guitar, and Dylan solos. Dylan favors us with a harmonica solo, also.  Tony continues to dramatically swing his bass back and forth to keep time with the music. Larry and Charlie strum vigorously and maintain the strong rhythms which make this song work. Dylan signals to Kemper, and the song is over.  Now, moving to electric . . .  6. All Along the Watchtower  I enjoyed this one. Larry Campbell was on fire - his guitar work was INCREDIBLE. Charlie is still on acoustic, but Larry is playing incredible stuff. The song ends a bit suddenly.  7. Just Like A Woman  Larry is on pedal steel for this one. (For some reason, whenever I hear Just LIke a Woman with pedal steel I think of the scene in Annie Hall when, well, you all know...)  Dylan grins repeatedly, and hops around before the end of the song. He is obviously pleased with this performance. I think this may be the best version of Just Like a Woman I've personally witnessed live.  9. Stuck Inside of Mobile  Charlie remains on acoustic guitar, more smiles coming from Dylan. He is certainly cranking out the smiles tonight.  Larry Campbell and Bob trade leads.  9. Not Dark Yet  Charlie is now on electric guitar. This one isn't as good as the version played at Saint Andrew's back on Tuesday night of this week.  BOB JOKE ALERT: Dylan does band introductions, and when introducing Larry C. (I think it was Larry) he indicates Larry had his first job in Chicago as a waiter. Dylan indicates Larry never took tips - that he was a "dumb waiter."  10. Highway 61  Dylan and Larry Campbell start out trading off leads, with Charlie providing rhythm. Then, Charlie takes some lead work, also. Tony continues to swing back and forth as he plays.  I am very fond of the way the current band performs Highway 61. A true guitar piece.  ENCORES  After the band leaves, the cheering and cigarette lighters rage on, and  11. Like a Rolling Stone.  Dylan's obviously proud of this song. He's almost strutting around the stage during the performance. Charlie, Larry and Bob all do leads. How does it feel -- very good!!  Now, shifting back to acoustic, we get  12. It Ain't Me Babe  Sad, mournful start. Both Dylan's face and voice show this.  It  occurs to me - Bob is an acoustic guitar hero. It is when he plays acoustic guitar that, to me, his guitar work is t he most impressive.  ANother harmonica solo here. Dance stepping by Dylan - he seems to need to do a lot of moving around whenever he plays harmonica.  13. Not Fade Away  When I hear this (back on electric) I think that's it for the night.  Three strong leads again. Larry really hams it up! I don't ever recall being as impressed with Larry Campbell's playing as I was tonight.  14. Rainy Day WOman  A surprise second return to the stage. Lots of guitar hero posing by Bob. Still another harmonica solo. Bob chats with Tony about something in animated fashion as they are leaving the stage, and then they return to play  15. Blowing in the WInd  Dylan takes lots of acoustic lead, and favors us with lots of big Dylan smiles.  He bows, and is gone.  This was a wonderful night. Not as emotionally intense for me as the Saint Andrew's show Tuesday night, but superior, in my opinion, musically. Some of this contrast may be because I had a hand on the rail (Sexton side of stage) at Saint Andrew's, and was in row 7 at Tinley Park.  A good time. Anyone who passed up the opportunity to come - blew it big time!  See you on the road,  Bill Parr        
        Subject: My First Show (Tinley Park, 7/9/99). From: Josh Miller  jlmillr2@uiuc.edu  Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 01:29:30 -0500 Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign  Evening, all.  And what a fine evening it has been.  I just returned home to Joliet from Tinley Park, which is normally a 30 minute drive that has turned into a long, hard hour due to heavy consturction on Interstate 80.  This was my very first concert, but I am by far a newbie to Bob and his work.  I have been listening for about 6 years now (I began at 13, and will be 19 in a few days).  These tickets were actually a birthday present from my parents.  They couldn't have given me anything better.  I arrived early to the 6:30 show - very early. They were still doing soundchecks when I wandered into the very front of the line for reserved seating.  Paul and his band warmed up to the immortal "That'll Be The Day", and they must have played it at least 4 times as we all stood, awaiting the chance to find our seats.  I thought I was just about sick of the song...  Until later.  As you probably know, Paul Simon opened the show tonight.  I'm not a big fan of Paul's, so I am warning you that the following might be skewed by ignorance.  But hey - I just call em like I see em =).  He started the night with "Bridge Over Troubled Water".  I've heard this one before and like it very much, but Paul just didn't make the tune stick tonight.  He really didn't make anything stick.  He is touring with a huge (eleven piece?) band, and it seemed like something vital was missing somewhere. Bob's band of 5 accomplished a completeness that Paul and his mob (3 drummers!) couldn't obtain.  Simon ended the show well though, and thus satisfied the crowd.  When Bob came out for the duet, the place went wild - and so did I. "The Sound of Silence" came off wonderfully, Dylan hitting those low notes as he did.  "That'll Be the Day" and "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" were also candy to my ears.  Bob came out with the band shortly after.  I am not a huge "Cocaine Blues" fan, and I don't think 9/10 of the people I was sitting around had ever heard the song.  But it got people up and the show moving, so it served it's purpose.  "Tamborine Man" sounded nice and crisp, as did "Masters of War."  The highlight of the beginning, though, was "Tangled Up In Blue", which had non-Bob fans up and dancing.  He did great work with the harp, and I just couldn't believe my ears.  Another song that was right on tonight was "Not Dark Yet".  Bob really nailed it.  I have the feeling that most in attendance weren't familiar with it and that's a shame, but I was going crazy.  The encore had it ALL - this is what it was all about to everyone who stayed through the 4 1/2 hr set up to that point; LARS, It Ain't Me Babe, Not Fade Away, RDW#12&35, and Blowin' In The Wind.  After he gave the final song of the final encore, I heard some kid behind me yell, "SHOW YOURSELF, PAUL!"  Nobody could play after a show like that and expect to come out above water.  Anoter point of interest is the fact that Bob was moving a LOT tonight!  He was sliding all over the place.  I don't know about you all, but I hope my knees are in as good a condition as his @ 58 ;-).  While introducing the band, he mentioned that the drummer had his first job in Chicago as a waiter.  But he didn't take tips.  He was a dumb waiter.  It produced a good chuckle =).  It was a great, great show.  I hope to catch many more while I have the chance to.  Bob has been a constant influence in my life for a few years now, and I have thought about my expectations for this night, my first show.  Bob Dylan lived up to every one of them.  Keep on keepin' on, Bob...  -Josh        
        From: Otrax28@aol.com Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 11:53:03 EDT Subject: Dylan/Simon in Chicago on 7/9/99 To: karlerik@monet.no  Went to the Bodeans/Simon/Dylan concert at the New World in Tinley Park, IL on Fri. July 9. Show was great. Bodeans were very good, but did a much too abreviated set. Paul Simon was on next, and put on a great show. The arrangements of all his songs were well done. I had heard bad things about the sound system at the World, but from section 204 each of the 9 musicians on the stage could be heard well, as I took time to isolate each instrument during the set. The crowd was very enthusiastic, and I would hope Simon continues to perform live.  Bob Dylan did a short set with Simon, but it was high quality! I was suprised to hear how well the two voices blended together. The medley they did between Sound of Silence and Knocking on Heaven's Door was a great tribute to their influences.  I told my friend after the Simon set that even with the wealth of material in the Dylan song book, I would not want to try to follow a set like the one Simon performed. But Dylan was more than up to the challenge. His set started acoustically, but quickly gave way to the electric guitars, and Bob and his band just flat-out ROCKED! It was a contrast in styles, Simon taking rock to the edge with world beat and Latin influences, and Dylan stripping everything away, and showing the very core of what makes rock so great in the first place. This was the third time I have seen Dylan, and was by far the best.  Marty's cousin Bobby        
        
Poetry in Motion
        July 9, 1999  First Appeared in The Music Box, August 1999, Volume 6, #8  Written by John Metzger   Both Bob Dylan and Paul Simon have had the type of careers that should allow them to headline their own individual concerts. It's almost certain that they would find themselves stepping onto the stage in smaller venues, but these more intimate locations would much better suit their music than the spacious outdoor amphitheatres that they are playing this summer. These days, though, the rule seems to be "bigger is better," and concert promoters are feeding massive monetary rewards to artists who are willing to jump onto these blockbuster tours. Therefore, Chicago-area fans of both wordsmiths were forced to endure the pitiful acoustics of the New World Music Theatre in Tinley Park when the duo dropped in to perform on July 9.  Of course, we're not talking about just anyone -- we're talking about Bob Dylan and Paul Simon. While many artists have failed to connect genuinely with their audience at the gargantuan New World Music Theatre, these two magicians masterfully turned the event into an intimate party for 35,000.  Dylan and Simon are both veteran performers who for decades have managed to defy the odds by not only continuing to create vital music but also seemingly to improve with age. Their musical and lyrical genius is shared by only a scarce few, and every time their critics have written them off, they've come back stronger than ever.  Simon is in the process of recovering from his noble attempt to buck the system on Broadway, where his short-lived musical was virtually ignored or unjustifiably bashed by the status-quo press. His subsequent album Songs from the Capeman is a solid effort, though it doesn't quite live up to the music on Rhythm of the Saints or Graceland. For whatever reason, he chose to perform only one song from the new disc, a beautiful rendition of Trailways Bus, which was a perfect fit stylistically with his other recent material.   Unfortunately some of the subtle textures of Simon's performance were lost in the sonic black hole of the amphitheater, but he did his best to overcome the venue's deficiencies by allowing the grooves to carry the songs. Augmented by a band that included four percussionists, two keyboard players, two guitarists, a bass player, and a three-piece horn section, Simon fused multi-cultural cadences with jazz and folk music. Since his work on Graceland, he has come to understand truly the power and mysticism of rhythmic beats, and as expected, many of his songs drifted into a whirlwind of drums and percussion.  Not surprisingly, more than half of Simon's material came from his three most recent albums, and the audience latched strongly onto the material from Graceland, dancing and singing gleefully along with the band. With as many times as it's been played and heard, it's amazing that You Can Call Me Al still sounded fresh and vibrant and was delivered with dynamic intensity. The Cool, Cool River from Rhythm of the Saints, was the strongest song of the set and built to a majestic climax while exploring an exquisite jazzy terrain.  In addition, Simon also reinvented several of his classic songs. Mrs. Robinson drifted along a slower-paced country groove and contained a '60s surf-pop synthesizer solo as kaleidoscopic images flashed on the screen behind the band. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard benefitted from its driving rhythm and its percussion interlude.  Dylan has been riding high since the release of his Grammy-winning Time Out of Mind, and his recent concert performances have been solid affairs that touch upon the dynamic range of his back catalog. A lot of hype had been made in regard to the anticipated collaboration between Dylan and Simon taking place on this tour -- so much so that it was impossible to not be a little skeptical. Nevertheless, it succeeded brilliantly and at least appeared to be a true partnership. Sounds of Silence was revamped, with Dylan providing an acoustic guitar line straight from the songbook of Johnny Cash. Dylan's Knockin' on Heaven's Door was refitted with a reggae beat � la the Jerry Garcia Band, and this particular rendition was especially moving. The final Grateful Dead concert took place exactly four years ago tonight in Chicago, and after a quick glance through Dylan's set list, it's hard to imagine this wasn't in the back of his mind. His song selection seemed to tend towards those songs that the Grateful Dead or the Jerry Garcia Band had covered, including It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, All Along the Watchtower, Tangled Up in Blue, Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, and even a cover of Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away.  I've seen quite a few outstanding performances by Dylan in recent years, but this may have been the best yet. As usual, the gifted bard toyed with his phrasing and recreated several of his most familiar songs, refusing to allow them to become stale.  In addition, the recent departure of Bucky Baxter didn't seem to faze the group one bit, and they managed to paradoxically straddle the fence between being a tightly- and loosely-knit outfit. A few songs, like All Along the Watchtower and Not Fade Away, seemed to be cut short -- most likely due to time-constraints. For the most part though, the group pushed each selection for maximum effect by stretching them out into lengthy, full-blown jams, anchored by the dependable cadence of David Kemper. Highway 61 Revisited raged as the dual guitar assault of Dylan and Larry Campbell became a fiery tempest of unyielding energy. Their twin leads intertwined and folded into each other, constantly changing the shape and texture of the song. Likewise, Tangled Up in Blue simmered upon an acoustic-tinged groove as Dylan peppered the jam with his unique harmonica style. Even the leisurely flow of Not Dark Yet, the only song in Dylan's set that was less than 25 years old, connected to a haunting and powerful spiritual presence.  Dylan seemed unwilling to let the evening end, returning to the stage to scatter five songs over two encores and blowing the venue's usual curfew by nearly 30 minutes. He finally relented after delivering a stunning rendition of his anthem Blowin' in the Wind that brought the emotionally exhausting evening to a rousing conclusion        
        Subject: 7/9/99 review From: joshua michael gulley  jgulley@ezinfo.ucs.indiana.edu Date: 14 Jul 1999 14:35:33 GMT  Here is a review I sent to a few friends and they suggested I post it  here.  So, here you go........  **************************  7/9/99 World Music Theater, Tinley Park, IL  The BoDeans opened up and really got the place going.  I've followed them since 1987 and it was fun to see them again.  I was definitely relieved to see Paul Simon take the stage next.  He played a rather entertaining set, but I found myself wishing he wouldn't play so many songs off "Rhythm of the Saints."  Just stick to the hits I thought.  I realized the irony of this kind of thinking when Dylan delivered a prototyical greatest hits set when he took the stage.  More on that later.  The duet worked pretty well.  I was suprised at how well Dylan's and Simon's voices blended together on Sounds of Silence; I would never have imagined that they could pull that one off.  The "That'll Be the Day/Wanderer" medly was fun, but all too short.  "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," was fun to hear reggae style, but I think it works a bit better for Clapton.  Plus, I found the repeated "you keep on knockin' but you can't come in" line way too cheesy.  On to the main event....  Dylan et al. started a bit slowly with "Cocaine Blues," as the harmonies that graced this classic back in Summer '97 just weren't evident to me. Dylan's delivery of "Tambourine Man," a song which I thought I had grown completely sick of, really suprised me.  The harp playing in this song was fantastic and it turned out to be an indication of Bob's harp prowess for the rest of the show.  About this time Dylan's voice really hit me.  It was sounding better that I have heard it in quite some time (in person, that is).  "Masters of War" was a real treat as you could almost see the contempt hurling out of Dylan's mouth.  Powerful stuff.  This turned out to be my Dad's favorite one of the evening.  "Baby Blue" was fantastic, mostly because Larry got on the pedal steel.  It really made the song and reminded me how much I miss Bucky's contributions to the overall sound. TUIB rounded out the acoustic set and caught me off guard.  I had become a little tired of this one, but Dylan almost completely reinvented this late 90's warhorse.  His harp playing was exquisite.  I can still here it now....  On to the electric set.  AAtW got things off to a horrible start.  It didn't work at all.  Dylan seemed to flub or miss a few words and the song ended rather abruptly.  Why he didn't just treat us to "Down Along the Cove" like he did the following night in St. Louis (my typical luck) I don't know.  Fortunately, this was just a little speed bump as Just Like a Woman was incredible.  Again, Larry's pedal steel made the song. "Mobile" was just a step above AAtW, unfortunately.  The next tune was worth the price of admission, and quite a steep price it was (ticket price was $92 w/ TM charges).  "Not Dark Yet" was just heavenly. I closed my eyes during most of the song and just took it in.  That man can really write a song.  Highway 61 was a rockin' end to a great set.  High energy indeed.  The encores were a lot of fun, highlighted by an etheral "It Ain't Me, Babe."  The pharasing he used on this one was something else.  It really transformed an old classic into a new sounding, exciting old classic.  I loved it.  The harp was just a 2-inch icing on the cake.  The show ended with a suprising (to me) return to the stage for RDW and Blowin' in the Wind.  A great topper to a great show.  I couldn't help but be a bit disappointed by the setlist, but I've got to remember who he is playing for.  The place was packed and I'm sure only about 10% of the people were fanatics like me.  They were there to see the songs they new.  They probably had the same reaction to "Not Dark Yet" as I had to the songs-I-didn't-know from Simon's set.  Dylan puts on a great rock-n-roll show for the masses.  He is a performer who entertains for a living and (seemingly) for his own edification.  He seems to have a different attitude than he use to back in the 60's through the 80's when it was "play what I want and they'll deal with it or they won't."  Bottom line?  I'll go see him again, and again, and again.  He's still the greatest!  Josh  p.s.  If anyone is willing to trade for this tape or CD-r, please get in  touch!        
        Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 23:14:44 -0500 From: Bob                  X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: karlerik@monet.no Subject: Tinley Park Review  Hi Karl,  This is a kind of stream of consciousness review.  I hope you can use it.  Thanks, Bob Condren Chicago, Illinois    JULY 8, 1999   9:58PM - Just got off the phone with my friend Janice to secure a ticket to Bruce Springsteen's September Chicago show.  10:00PM - Phone rings, I think it's Janice calling back to tell me something she forgot to say.  But instead it's my friend Joe.  He says he has an extra ticket to the Paul Simon/Bob Dylan show, the next night, at the World Theater.  I'm taken by surprise but it doesn�t take long to say yes (I can't help it if I'm lucky!)  JULY 9, 1999   7:45PM - After a night of insomnia,  in part due to anticipation of the show, a day of allergies, and medication induced disorientation, we arrive at the World an hour later than the ticket time, several song into Paul Simon's set.  I have a poison headache, again from the allergy medicine, but I feel all right due to a mega-dose of Ibuprofen and a strong 7/7.  PS has a band of at least ten, and he's playing most of the songs with fairly complex, arrangements.  "Slip Slidin' Away" sounds good, great lyrics and it's good to hear "Me and Julio" again.  But Paul is up against the monstrous acoustics of the World Theater.  Somehow his saxophone player breaks through the sound barrier on "Still Crazy�" All in all I'd give this3 1/2 stars on a five star scale.  8:30PM  approx. -  PS introduces BD and they do a brooding version of "Sounds of Silence,"  Dion's "The Wanderer" and "Knocking' On Heaven's Door."  I've seen the "SOS" duet described as something from a spaghetti western and I'd say that's pretty accurate.  On "Knockin On Heaven's Door" they work in Little Richard's "I Keep a Knockin'" but damn if I can remember how it sounded.  8:45PM, (more of less) - Duets end and roadies work furiously to breakdown PS's set to set up for BD and band.  9:10, PM (sort of)  - Lights go down and spotlights bounce in a circle in the middle of the stage - cool way to let everyone know that next show of the endless tour will start soon.  9:20PM - BD comes out in a black suit that can be described as Nashville formal wear.  Bassist Larry Garnier is wearing a purple suit and matching hat and, believe it or not, he pulls it off.  OK, here's the songs (not complete, omissions are not judgemental, just due to time and space constraints)  "COCAINE BLUES" -  I thought this was a Blind Willie McTell" song but it's actually written by Rev. Gary Davis .  I heard he was doing this one and I'm glad he did it here.  Anti-drug message - great line goes something like, "my doctor says this drug's for horses, it's not for people."  (If anyone has the lyrics, please e-mail me, bcondren@enteract.com - thank you)  "MR. TAMBOURINE MAN" - This song was rearranged, as are almost all the mid-60's songs.  Bob no longer uses the harmonica rack. Instead, he holds the harp and mike with one hand and  does a sort of baby step, soft-shoe shuffle, while he's playing.  Kind of quirky, but cool (what else is new?)  "MASTERS OF WAR" - Couldn't make out the lyrics due to acoustics but the feel of the song was there.  Also, Larry Garnier is great on stand-up bass.  "ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER" - Even though Bob wrote this, I think Jimi Hendrix has a partial claim to this.  And this version sounds like BD and band recognize that notion.  Great, fat guitar sound from Larry Campbell with Charlie Sexton playing simultaneous lead, if I'm not mistaken.  This song transcends the acoustics (who's ever running the soundboard may have had a hand in this, too.)   "JUST LIKE A WOMAN" - I've hear that some peolple find this song condescending to women.  I don't think so.  I think this is a touching portrayal of a complex woman and relationship.  One of the best lines ever  - "When we meet again , introduced as friends, please don't let on that you knew me when, it was hungry and it was your world."  But you all knew that   "STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN" - what a song! It's rearranged but they very wisely keep the descending guitar/bass riff after each chorus - the dream/nightmare ambience of this song starts to make me think of the three previous BD concerts I had seen -1965, Arie Crown Theater, with the Hawks, (I'm ten years old and my Mom takes me and my sister), 1979, or was it 1980, during the "Slow Train" era (but he does "Just like a Woman") and again, in 1986(not too much of a  recollection of this one, except that "Like A Rolling Stone" was great.  I'm emotionally overwhelmed by this time, like a good part of my life is rushing over me, and I'm startng to contemplate my own mortality, as well as Bob's.  I'm wondering if I'll get to see him again.  "NOT DARK YET" - The segue from "Stuck Inside�." to this one is amazing, with this song's lyrics addressing the mortatility issue.  Maybe this was not a coincidence.  This could be the best band he's had since the Hawks/Band.  I didn't hear the nightly joke or introductions do to a wild raccoon running through the aisles - honest!  "HIGHWAY 61 REVISTED" -  no sliding whistle on this one.  The John Lee Hooker boogie beat may sound trite from a lesser band, but with these guys it feels like it's midnight and you're crossing the border from Memphis, Tenn. into Mississippi.  I can't imagine a better version of this song.   ENCORES ( I've lost track of time)  "LIKE A ROLLING STONE" - close to the original 1965 studio version and that's OK with me.  This song, along with another 1965 debut, James Brown's, "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag,"  changed popular music forever.  "IT AIN'T ME BABE" - great song but I can't remember too much about this one.  "NOT FADE AWAY" - big arrangement, they almost sound like the "E" Street Band on this Buddy Holly classic.  Now, these lyrics may be considered sexist, "I'm a gonna tell you how it's gonna be, you're gonna give your love to me."  All in all, though, a good closer.  I thought that was it. The band left the stage but the lights stayed down and the roadies were out messing with the equipment.  My friend Joe says they're coming out again and predicts RDW #12 and 35.  I kind of laugh.  Yeah, right.  But don't you know it, the band comes back and they start the familiar beginning to the Blonde on Blonde opener.  RDW #12 AND 35 - great blues rock version of this one.  Also, perfect for the boozed up, Friday night crowd (Joe, I'm still in awe of your call.)  BLOWIN' IN THE WIND - Joe call it again. Perfect way to wind down the show.  The band looks happy, Larry Campbell has a big smile.  Bob blows the crowd a kiss.  They leave the stage.  This was an exhausting evening but well worth it.  One of the best shows I've seen.  It's not dark yet, not by a long shot.          
              

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

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