Reviews

It was a great show in Omaha last night.  This is my sixth time seeing 
Bob perform (the first being in the mid-80s) and I would say this is  the
second best show I've seen with the best being when he came  through
Lincoln with Charlie Sexton while promoting Love & Theft).

The opening band was better than I'd expected and put on quite a  
great show (name escapes me at the moment, I'm having a senior  
moment).  Elvis Costello was a highlight, but I don't think he was  
into this show as much as it sounds like some of the other nights, and 
the crowd response when he tried to involve them wasn't that great,  which
is sad because he did put on one heck of a great show, but  wasn't as
talkative as it sounds he's been.  He sounded fantastic and,  as a huge
Elvis fan, I wasn't disappointed.  The man not only doesn't  need a
backing band behind him but, he could have done the entire show  without a
guitar either - acapella would have been plenty for me, but  he is a heck
of a good guitarist.

Then Bob came out and the first thing I noticed was that he was  
pronunciating very well and continued to throughout the night.  I  
could understand almost every word.  Sure, the voice was rough, but  I'd
never heard him sing this clearly before.  In addition, it seems  to me
that whenever he comes through Nebraska, he always shakes up the  show a
little more than he generally does.  I came expecting that I  already knew
what the set list would be, with exception of one or two  songs - based on
what he'd been playing on earlier dates.  But he  shook things up quite a
little bit.    He started out with  Loepard-Skin Pill-box Hat, and the
band sounded a little loose.   Lay,Lady, Lay was next and Bob was clear
but I always miss that song  sung with the beauty of the original
recording.  Then Just Like Tom  Thumb's Blues - a great performance.  Then
the band really got cooking  for Love Sick - a fantastic performance of
this song.  Later, Girl of  the North Country popped up and it was a
surprise to hear it.  After  Honest With Me they moved to Spirit on the
Water (including many in  the crowd responding with the "no's" and
"whoo-hoos" as at other  concerts), High Water and Workingman Blues.  I
saw Bob in Lincoln last  year and remember being bored during the new
songs but not last night  - Bob and the Band played them with heart and
they stood up to the  rest of the set list.  The band did a good rendition
of Highway 61  Revisited, then moved into Ain't Talkin' - which, after
Highlands, was  the next top song on my list for what I wanted to hear. 
It was a  fantastic rendition and Bob sounded great - dark, moody,
gorgeous and  memorable.  Summer Days was next and yes, it's one of the
best live  songs but whenever I hear it now I miss the Sexton days - Bob
always  blew the roof off the place when they'd play it but now it's still
 great but a little subdued in comparison.  But the band still sounded 
tight and it got everyone up on their feet.  Ballad of a Thin man was 
next and it turned into a great jam.  For the encore it was a great 
version of Thunder on the Mountain followed by a good updated version  of
Blowin' in the Wind, but I was hoping he'd close out the night with  a
bigger bang, such as AATW.  Still, it was great to hear him play it  again
and it was interesting hearing a more electric version.

Overall, it was a heck of a good show and Dylan and the band sounded 
great.  One thing I would say is that I brought along a friend who  mostly
came to see Costello play.  He knows all the Dylan "hits," but  isn't a
huge fan and doesn't know the new material that well.  He only  recognized
two songs through the evening (casual fans aren't going to  know Ballad of
a Thin Man or Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat, for example).   While I think he
was disppointed not to hear more of the songs he  knew, I still think he
walked away having experienced something much,  much different than he
expected and I think that's testiment to Bob's  musical evolution.  Bob
smiled to the crowd frequently and they did a  group bow at the end, all
with big smiles.  Bob got a lot of love from  the crowd tonight and I
think his performance was him showing us in  kind.

Brice Sullivan
Lincoln, NE

Road trip from St. Paul
Clouded harvest moon visions 
Sunset cornfield blaze

Qwest center buzzing
No coat or camera check
Lump in throat and sock

Sister-in-law hugs
Amos Lee opens softly
Special night heightens

Elvis sings out his soul
Brother's Italian shoes
Suite view from afar

Bob enters building
Hammering heart'a'pounding 
Pill box hat guitar

Hoping for love song
Last minute re-rehearsing
Yes Lay Lady Lay

Time and fate unite
Swirling spinning dizziness
Whisper in her ear

Words rhyme with passion
Romantic music inspires
Down on my left knee

A girl from Kansas
Me, just a boy from ND
Will you marry me?

A surprised mask
Have your cake and eat it too
Ring slides onto hand

Stay Lady Stay, Stay
While our lives are still ahead
My girlfriend says YES

Happiness embrace
Tears of joy swimming downstream
Y'er lost in the rain

Lovesick keys tapping
Jazzy mystique-filled room
Levee's broken

A true love of mine
Fiancée introduction
Break out the champagne

Photos and toasting
Honest with me I must you
Cowboy band backdrop

Dylan fans happy
Spirits on the water lift
Mellow crowd grooving

High water Charley
Rain gods beckoned tonight
Out west is on fire

Workingman's blues true
Must cruise when the curtain falls
Saturday toiler

Dancing feet turn on
Some bleachers out in the sun
Rock and roll rise up

Searching for the source
Ain't talkin' about summer
Days and night are gone

Stage right back to us
Know something happened here
Highlight of the night

Lights down flickers up
Witness his story tonight 
Reality check

Rollin' and tumblin'
Thunder assurance of those
Who have gone before

The answer my friend
Will blow 'til the PEACEful end
Love /Understanding


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