Review provided by Carsten Wohlfeld It was hot. Very hot indeed and you wonder why Bob picks the end of July to tour the east coast. Probably for the same reason that he piked February for his first tour of the region. Even though I don’t like those US ampitheaters at all, I have to say that the Meadows was quite nice. Seemed to be pretty new (or very well kept) and you had a pretty good view even from the (still-not-so) cheap seats in the back. A guy called Stephen Smith opened and he was pretty good, looking and playing like Dylan in 1964. At around 8.10 the strobe lights signalled it was time for the show: "Ladies and gentlemen, would you please welcome...“ They opened with: Friend Of The Devil (acoustic) which was okay, but Bob’s singing sounded a bit tired all night, so it wasn’t very smooth and that didn’t exactly improve any of the acoustic numbers. Larry played the mandolin and proved that you can play a rather decent solo on that tiny thing, too. Something which Bucky never really did. A new variation to the routine followed. Not "Thanks ev’rybody“, but "Thank you ladies and gentlemen“ My Back Pages (acoustic) Then Larry grabbed his violin and started off this song with a long harp solo that just can be described with one word: spectacular. For that solo alone it would be worth hearing the song every single night. Larry joined Bob with the fiddle during every chorus and when it was time for another fiddle solo at the end Bob cut it short by starting a harp solo. He didn’t even wait for Larry to finish, he jumped right in. At least it was a pretty good and long solo. None of the recent noodleing, but more reminiscend of those gorgeous long solos from around ‘95. Masters Of War (acoustic) was next, of course. Charlie Sexton, who so far had only been looking great playing his red acoustic guitar switched to dobro, though you couldn’t really hear it in the mix. Very strong version actually, as Bob’s singing was better on this one than on the first two. Tomorrow Is A Long Time (acoustic) A very pleasant surprise, got a very strong reaction from the crowd (about 20,000 people I guess), which I wouldn’t have expected. The song itself sounded a lot like the ‘98 version - lovely without being spectacular. Larry alone sang backup vocals and cause Bob was strechting out the lines it was almost like a duet sometimes. Nice! Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic) was there as well. Changes evvery single night these days, kinda like "Watchtower“ used to don in the mid 90’s. Weird phrasing, too or was it just the fact that it was too fast for Bob? He looked very frail and some of the long pauses inbetween lines didn’t really seem to be there on purpose as he had trouble catching up during the next lines then. You were almost hoping that he did it on purpose nevertheless and didn’t do it cause he had trouble remembering the words. Interestingly enough, the „italian poet“ verse was featured for the first time in ages (not only today, but on this summer tour, or so I’m told). All Along The Watchtower Charlie on acoustic for am, f and g and the rest of the band electric. Sounded like a cross between the recent versions with Bucky and the famous Hendrix arrangement and suffered from the fact that Bob ended the song when Larry was just about to start what sounded like a very very promising solo. It was pretty short too. Just Like A Woman must have been great on some of the last nights according to various reviews, but tonight it kinda suffered from Bob’s somewhat rusty voice. Larry on pedal steel. Silvio Very good version actually, as it included all the original lyrics and the backing vocals courtesy of Larry and Charlie sounded a lot better, too. I guess it makes a difference that Charlie is a singer in his own right as well. Not Dark Yet Sounded a bit rushed at first and Bob’s singing was way to loud as well, but he rreally nailed the last couple of verses and it was clearly one of the highlights of the night. Band intros followed... "some of the best players in the country“... a joke about David and some cartoons on TV that I didn’t get... Highway 61 Revistited Amazing! Larry on slide guitar and he ROCKED the house. I thought I would never enjoy hearing this song again but they proved me wrong. It was - for me at least - the highlight of the set. Then they were gone (encore) Like A Rolling Stone when he returned, Bob was wearing his huge cowboy hat. "Rolling Stone“ was a bit too slow for my liking, but hey, we’ll have to get used to that. Very good vocal delivery though, way above average compared to the rest of the evening. Crowd: nuts Blowin’ In The Wind (acoustic) Failed to make any impact on me. The Bob stepped up to the mircophone for his little speech: "And now it’s time to welcome to the stage somebody who really needs no introduction. One of the finest musicians of our time, Paaaaaul Simon!“ (or words very close to that). Sound Of Silence Very, very enjoyable version. One of the best duets I ever heard from Bob, much better in fact as I had expected it to be. Very slow version, too which made perfect sense with thse two ‘oldies’. Larry on pedal steel and Bob on harp for a short solo at the end. Another highlight! I Walk The Line / Blue Moon Of Kentucky Well, it was forgettable, which of course is a nice way of saying that it sucked. At least you could hear Bob singing which is very rare on any of his "duets“ of course and Larry played his fiddle again which was a very welcome change as well. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door Larry, Charlie and Simon supplied the „oooo-oooo“ intro and it was a lovely sing-a-long with the "... and I can’t come in“ lyrics at the end. Fun song to watch, probably not as hot on tape.... 90 minutes, including the duets and that was it. All in all it was a very professional show that obviously included too many overplayed old songs for the real fans but was still quite enjoybale de to the fact that the new band is really sensational. Charlie is not doing much (yet) but he gives Larry the space to play new and improved solos. They also had some extra lights and the light show was very nice indeed. If the show was worth the $100 some people paid for the best seats is not up for discussion really. It was a very good show, but not necessarily a good concert, if you know what I mean. Entertainment was more important than artistic innovation... Wonder what he’ll pull out for Tramps? Thanks for reading and keeping up with my far from perfect english.... so long! carsten wohlfeld -- "the light at the end of the tunnel is a train“ (unwound)
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