August 28, 2008
Review by John Pruski
Great show, and after 40+ shows over the years last night was my first
hearing of Chimes of Freedom live, so that for me was a personal
highlight. Dang, I've heard our friend and hero Bob Dylan play Joey,
Visions of Johanna, Jokerman, Under The Red Sky, Man In Me, If Dog's Run
Free, Desolation Row, Blind Willie, etc., heck even Brown Sugar, multiple
times, but never before last night had I heard Chimes of Freedom! Chimes
had been played twice already, however, on this current mini-tour. Much
has been made on TV this week of last night being the 45th anniversary of
(Bob singing before) MLK's I Have A Dream speech, but of course we want no
November 1963 repeats this November, but having said that I was expecting
something monumental, some nod to the past, which we indeed were treated
to via the strong performance of Chimes of Freedom.
The night got of to a very WET start. From about 6:00 to 6:20 PM it was
raining lightly on us as we stood waiting in line for the doors to open.
When it began to really downpour, however, the doors seemed to open
pre-6:30 PM, but by then many of us, me included, were already partly
drenched. In line we were joking that Bob should play Hard Rain, which
coincidentally he did!
I really liked the way the band (only) started Leopard Skin, with Bob
ambling out to great applause about half a minute later. Being a general
admission show, most of us crowded down into the hot, steamy, and
closely-packed front, from where, when Bob played harp, I could see
clearly his huge diamond ring on his wedding-ring-finger. For me the
concert peaked during Chimes and the immediately following Till I Fell In
Love With You, which featured some great unison guitar-organ riffs. During
Till I Fell I found myself think of Spoonful, so similar was a phrasing or
two and so get-down was the arrangement. Till I Fell was truly another
highlight, something akin to a Dr. John show-stopping version of Wang Dang
Doodle.
The crowd naturally acknowledged High Water's (also played last year in
KC, as was Just Like a Woman) Kansas City verse, Ma's naked verse, and
sang along audibly so during the refrains of Just Like A Woman and LARS.
Bob played harp several times throughout the night, no guitar, and again,
I really noticed his organ much more this year than in previous years
(when it seemed Donnie played more solos). George's cymbals rang very
clear of the very get-down It's Alright Ma, which I've not taken note of
previously. All in all, it was just a great show, following by about three
minutes of applause before the very strong encores. And by the way, it
poured off and on during our four hour drive back to St. Louis.
John Pruski
pruskijohn@yahoo.com
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