Reviews

Irving, Texas

Toyota Music Factory

March 10, 2022


[Miles Hanisee], [Laurette Maillet], [Jacob Studebaker]

Review by Mary Connell


What a night! Bob’s voice was strong and clear; set list was exactly same
as Lubbock, and he and the band were in top form. Surprisingly, Bob came
out from behind the piano to greet us six or seven times! Not a word to
the audience, or about the area, in contrast to his trend this tour.

It felt to me that he was a bit cool and standoffish, not as warm and
smiling as he has been lately. One possibility, if that was so, was that
he was not feeling the love from the audience. Being from the area, I feel
the need to apologize to Bob and the band for several distractors. One, a
woman who was front and center in the audience was shouting throughout, as
if to insist on a personal dialogue with Bob. She was so loud that
security approached her no fewer than four times during the concert (and
spoke with her numerous times before it began) and she really never
stopped. She was on her feet, arms up, dancing and calling out to Bob
almost constantly. Two, a group of four couples sat just to her left, in
the front row, center, and they talked to each other throughout the night.
The young women never looked at the stage but for the couple of times they
decided to stand and dance (I was directly behind them in the second row);
otherwise they were chattering inanely about their day to day activities.
The young men with them were in and out of the room, apparently buying
drinks or doing lines of coke or something—it did not seem that a single
one of them had a reason to be there. Third, the audience at large was not
particularly responsive—virtually no standing o’s after the first few. 

The lights were on in the audience, btw, as at other venues, so if the
purpose is for Bob to see where and how his music is landing, I can
imagine he may have felt somewhat underappreciated. 

Laurette, I looked for you but did not spot you outside before or after.
Your reviews have been delightful, last fall and this tour. I only
“discovered” Dylan in early COVID and this was my first time to see him,
and you prepared me well to know what to expect. Following your lead, I
arrived early, found the buses, stood with a few fans chatting and
watching the activity, hoping for what we knew would not happen, a
Bob-sighting. Went inside early, saw that my seat was not great (the venue
is almost flat, so mezzanine seats are not tiered enough to give a good
view.) 

When Bob thanked the audience, after Jimmy Reed, people literally started
walking out—the eight people in front of me milled around as Bob
introduced the band and were gone as he began Grain of Sand. Bob, I am so
sorry we are that uncivilized here. You are so precious and it was
wonderful to be able to drink in your performance. 

Mary Connell 

[TOP]

Review by Laurette Maillet


From Lubbock to Irving.
I get up early in March 9th and walk to the Buddy Holly Center. It opens at 
10am and I have to check out at 11am. So I rush and run (literally) back to 
the Super8 hotel. Nice museum and sad story about Buddy disappearing 
tragically at an early age.

I check out and walk to the greyhound station. The bus leaves on time at 
2.50pm to reach Dallas at 10pm. Nice and quiet trip except for the driver 
to call the police to bust a passenger smoking in the toilets!

I walk the half hour to my youth hostel, the Deep Ellum hostel, to realize 
I am in the "busy" area of Dallas. Excessively noisy :( . I won't be able to 
sleep before 4 am when they close the bars and clubs.

March 10th.
Wake up, take a shower, drink coffee and walk the streets sarrounding 
me. The walls are covered with paintings, murals. I take hundred of photos.
By 4pm I contact my good friends Carol Wilkinson and Joni. We will meet 
by the Toyota music factory. I catch the orange line train and here we are 
in a restaurant, eating a pizza. We have fun being together again. Carol 
and Joni are pure Angels, feeding me, buying me a ticket for the show 
and offering me some Bob Dylan merchants item. I can't be too much 
thankful to those good souls ! :)

Corki, a good friend and Fan, texted me that he will finally be able to 
reach Irving on time for part of the show. He drove all the way from 
Arkansas to attend some shows.

By 8pm Bob is on in a venue looking like a stadium, I mean not a 
theater. Thanks to the good job of Jason, the sound is perfect.

Bob is loud and clear, particularly excited on " I'll be your Baby tonight" 
with some "yeah" and laughs in between the lyrics.  A bit sarcastic :)

He will say "thank you" twice and move 5 times center stage for a 
pause, looking at the public for few seconds. He will start " When I 
paint my masterpiece" with a long intro on harmonica. It looks like 
Tony is surprised. Just before "melancholy mood" he steps forwards 
the center mic but retrieves in security behind the piano. All the 
songs are rapidly and powerfully interpreted. 

" Save somebody " makes few fans stand up in the front but globally 
the public is static. Corki arrived for the fifth song and told me later that 
a lot of folks left the venue before the end. :(

The girl next to me is just constantly drinking and gets annoying.
From where I seat I have a good view of the guitars; Bob Britt and 
Doug Lancio. Britt doing the rythme , acoustic on " When I paint my 
masterpiece"? and Doug the riffs. (Chewing  gum :) ).Charley is 
powerful on his drums. Tony bent on his standing bass.

After "Jimmy Reed " I focus on Bob's lips to catch his talk. Who will 
he refer to tonight? He simply says "thank you friends" and introduce 
the Band. No speech on JFK??

A pause ... And off he's gone to the next show.

I wait for Corki, Carol and Joni.
I will travel with Corki to the next cities; Sugarland and San Antonio.
Can't wait to have a great time with my new Bob Dylan friend.
Thank you to my good Samaritans Carol Wilkinson and Joni Zornes.
Much love and prayers. See you in Austin.

[TOP]

Review by Jacob Studebaker


The Toyota Music Pavilion seemed like an odd place for Dylan to be with
this kind of show (a reserved lounge-jazz type performance). The
jumbo-trons beside the stage flashed slides advertising upcoming shows for
Tears For Fears, Jack White, Judas Priest, and then a bright red screen
with white lettering stating something to the effect of “THE ARTIST HAS
REQUESTED NO VIDEO TAPING OR RECORDING IN ANY CAPACITY OF TONIGHT’S
SHOW. ANYONE CAUGHT WILL BE WARNED ONCE, AND THEN ASKED TO LEAVE THE VENUE
IF THEY DO NOT COMPLY. THANK YOU.” Then an ad for Bon Iver, Billy
Strings…

I was a few rows away from nosebleeds, but felt sorry for everyone in the
front rows. Between doors opening and showtime, one woman had gotten up
and was either intoxicated or just plain-and-plain rude as she was up
against the barricade shouting “BOB DYLAN” at the stage, likely
thinking it’d summon him in a puff of smoke. She kept doing it every few
minutes, occasionally turning to the crowd still filing towards their
seats for approval. She’d also occasionally shout what sounded like
either “ROCK N ROLL” or “FUCK ‘EM UP!” I overheard two guards
beside me talking about her, saying “she shouldn’t be doing that now,
and she definitely ain’t gonna be doing that doing showtime.”

She did.

Consistent with the setlist on this leg of the tour, the lights went down
and the show started promptly at 8. The band took to the stage and seemed
to be rather indifferent to the crowd. I noticed around me the crowd kept
murmuring amongst themselves. I’ve heard that at his shows, Dylan will
have a soft light on in the front rows so he can see the crowd and gauge
reactions. Poor guy must’ve seen what I saw, which was a wave of people
standing up and all pulling out their cell phones regardless of the
policy. Security guards armed with flashlights and scowls stormed upon
them like police in a prison riot as they’d shine the flashlight in
their phone, at their face, and then at a sign in their opposite hand
reiterating the phone policy. By the third song, it had worked. It was the
first time I’d ever been to a concert where not one phone was filming
for one song.

The closest to a rise I ever saw from the crowd was during the rock 'n’
roll rendition of "Gotta Serve Somebody,” which I’d heard had become a
set highlight almost every night on that leg of the tour. Otherwise, it
sounds like Bob didn’t give anything special to the crowd on this show.
He barely even acknowledged the crowd outside out of a few “thank
yous” and a band introduction.

I was completely saddened when during Melancholy Mood, people began
leaving the show. Not in small droves, either. It was a constant stream of
people leaving for the remainder of the show. I was mostly befuddled by
the fact that Bob hadn’t even indicated the set was nearly over, let
alone a band introduction. Bob gave what the crowd wanted, which was to
say they saw Bob Dylan live.

Overall, I enjoyed the songs and the performance, but I felt sorry that
Bob had to endure such a crowd.

[TOP]

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