After a 4 1/2 hour drive  we arrived in Williamsport in the early
afternoon. Driving through New Jersey is always a drag and with sinkholes
closing Route 80 we had to take a more "scenic route".  Don't know
anything about Williamsport other then it hosts the Little League World
Series every year. It is literally in the middle of nowhere and I couldn't
help but think why in the world Dylan would end a tour there. The town
itself is interesting enough, a mixture of quirky shops, restaurants and
empty store fronts all in walking distance of the theater. But it is
something of a ghost town this time of year. We decided to get something
to eat and walked to a Greek restaurant that advertised home cooking and
vegetarian meals. When we arrived there were 4 women at one table and the
other  4 tables were empty. After waiting a while an elderly woman
emerged and looked shocked to see us. She asked if we had reservations and
when we told her no she said " I can't possibly serve you and the women
seated at the table" turned around and walked away. So....we walked
another block and found a Thai restaurant. The restaurant was divided into
two rooms. One was relatively full, the other empty, all serviced by one
waitress. She told us to sit in the empty room. People floated in and out
and she finally asked us "Why are there so many people?" We told her about
the concert and she laughed and said"I knew something was going on. I
don't get out much," After an excellent meal we walked to the theater
which is one of those old restored halls. Security was relatively none
existent and anyone could have slipped a phone in with ease. The woman
next to us in the loge section had last seen Dylan in 1995 and hadn't
heard Rough and Rowdy Ways. Good news is she thoroughly enjoyed the
show.The show started 10 minutes late. The sound was clear and bright with
Dylan's vocals and pianos prominent in the mix. Not much for the musicians
to do. Highlights for me were Desolation Row, It Ain't Me Babe and False
Prophet. We got guitar playing on three songs and I must say I much prefer
that to the piano. Some of the arrangements didn't work for me. Key West,
my favorite from R & R Ways was completely devoid of melody as was My Own
Version Of You. Throw in some harmonica here and there and there's not
much more you can ask for from an almost 84 year old artist.

Cavortin' in Williamsport

Williamsport, Pennsylvania was an almost five hour drive for us.
Interstate 80 being under construction, with ghastly times showing up on
all phone maps, Janet and I cut up to the 84 and mainlined to Scranton,
thence down the 81 before hanging a right through state forests and parks,
beautiful valleys and hundreds of blooming serviceberry and wilded pear
trees—blizzards of white against the early spring lime green. We got to
our hotel, which was also Bob and the band's, nice and early—in time
to smile at the tour buses as we parked, assembled our bags, and stretched
in the hot sun.

The Genetti Hotel opened in the same summer in which The Great Gatsby takes
place, that sweltering mid-Atlantic summer of 1922. It is comfortably
ancient like your grandmother's house, mid-century Modern furniture here
and there mixed with old fancy Chippendale replicas, red patterned
carpets, and a very grand ballroom with many chandeliers. Rita Hayworth,
Jackie Gleason, Carl Sandburg, the real Robert F. Kennedy, dozens of
famous baseball players, and countless participants in the Little League
World Series have stayed there—suites are named for many of the
celebrities. We loved the Genetti, and also the fact that it is next door
to the Community Arts Center—which opened under the name Capitol Theatre
in 1928—and also the fact that both are located on West 4th Street.

Dylan's show was at 8. It was 5:15 when we left the hotel. We walked up
and down West 4th, window shopping, basking in the sun, before we stopped
into Otto Bookstore, because any trip to Williamsport must include a stop
at what is said to be the oldest independent bookstore in America. They
opened in 1841 and are going very strong. The shop was full of people,
both locals and visitors going to the concert. Most of the locals were
going to the concert too. Otto was sponsoring an open mic night, and three
men were performing Dylan songs while we shopped. One spied my Levon Helm
Studios jacket, commented on it, and the next song they launched into was
"Up On Cripple Creek." A dozen of us sang along, in one of the
happiest moments I've had on a concert tour.

Pre-show supper was at Bullfrog Brewery, right across the street from the
theater. Janet had a Billtown Blonde, I chose a Hellbender Red Ale—and,
suddenly and gorgeously, there on the sidewalk were Sue, and then Pat!
Nachos arrived. We relaxed, took marquee photos, and watched the audience
start to file in. Soon people appeared on the balcony level, two stories
above the street, where tall gaslights were already lit and flaring. We
scanned the ranks above for friends: there was our own Nightly Moth, the
man in black, flitting along the outside balcony. Graham arrived at the
restaurant, and there were hugs all around. It's wonderful how many old
concert friends made it out to rural Pennsylvania for the 250th, and
perhaps last, night of the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour.

By 7:30 we were in the building. I was a little uneasy about the level of
crowd noise, as people swarmed the merch table and partook fiercely of
libations from the loge / balcony level bar. Turns out I was right to
worry. That wraparound bar stayed full the whole night, and there were no
doors and not even curtains separating the loud drinkers from everyone in
seats. Ushers did nothing to help with this, and indeed talked loudly
among themselves during some songs. A large guy in a St. Patrick's Day
t-shirt, with a reddish beard and baseball cap clamped firmly to his head,
volubly engaged both ushers and passersby in one of the balcony entrances.
Nothing could induce him to be quiet. Far worse was the awful woman in the
orchestra, over to the right-hand side. "Like A Rolling Stone," she
screamed. "Play something we know," she screamed. She screamed between
songs, and during quiet songs, of which there were many. She screamed at
the start of the two best songs in the show, "It's All Over Now, Baby
Blue" and "Key West / Philosopher Pirate." Someone finally silenced
her, but far too late; I did not see how, but I was grateful. She is the
reason we should be able to bring duct tape into all concerts, and risk no
liability for applying it. In her case, I wished for a steel plate,
rivets, and a heavy hammer.

So: an overall lousy audience experience, but a fabulous show. Bob picked
up his guitar a few times, including on I'll Be Your Baby Tonight,
but kept to the keys most of the show—keys, and that gorgeous harmonica.
He played beautifully, sometimes with his left hand as his right stayed on
the piano. As always, it's like hearing him sing, but even more so; we
are literally listening to him breathe. At no time is Dylan more connected
to his audiences than when he plays that harp—and you can feel it, sense
it in the intense reaction and happy applause even from an audience in
which many listeners were disengaged, apathetic, or just plain didn't
get it overall. The harmonica on "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" were as fine as I've ever heard him
play.

Goodbye, perhaps, to all the Rough and Rowdy Ways album's songs, except
for one, being played in the same set. They received sweet adieux from
their maker: a swirly "False Prophet," a spooky echoing "Black
Rider," a brilliant "My Own Version of You," the slow inexorable
march of "Crossing the Rubicon," the hymnal back-to-back of "I've
Made Up My Mind to Give Myself To You" and "Mother of Muses," the
rollicking sexy "Goodbye Jimmy Reed." Whatever comes this summer when
Dylan and his band are on tour with Willie Nelson's outlaws, we won't
have all of them. I'll miss the litany of the Rough and Rowdy tracks;
but it'll be nice to look forward to "Little Queenie" or "Deep
River" again, or whatever else Bob pulls out of the bottomless bag, from
covers of musicians he loves to his own matchless oeuvre.

"Playin’ only the hits tonight," Dylan grinned, at the end of that
sparkling "Key West." Yeah, I thought. You are, and they're from all
across your long career, a career that is still going. What's he up to,
now that he's off the road for awhile? I know what I hope. I hope he has
a good rest, and also that he's finishing up recording a bunch of new
songs. Maybe the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour will give way some time this
autumn to a tour in support of, dare we hope, a new and unannounced studio
album—up and down the West Coast, across the top of the Midwest, down
into the South, and fetching up in New England and New York as we all give
thanks, and then head into Christmastime and Hanukkah and holidaytide.
Maybe this is just me being greedy. We shall see. That's a grand thing
about being a Bob Dylan fan: we shall always see; and, quite often, be
both pleased and surprised.

Was this the final farewell to the ROUGH & ROWDY WAYS tour? We thought
2024 was the last one... but, as usual, Bob throws a curveball. If this 
was the last show, 'What can you say, what more needs to be said'. 
It was a delight!

When the tour was announced late last year, I did not think I would be
able to make any of the shows, as most were in the midwest, and just too
far a drive from NYC. I was also not sure if I wanted to see any more of
the R&RW tour, as I thought I had seen enough shows from 2021-2024 (28
total). But there was one show that stuck out on the schedule... the last
one... Tuesday, April 22, Williamsport, PA. That's about a 3-1/2 to 4 hour
drive from NYC. The more I looked at that slot, the more I wanted one more
R&RW show. I almost waited too long, but I was able to purchase two 12th
row, aisle tickets. Fantastic!

My wife and I took to the road Monday afternoon, and unfortunately had to
deal with traffic leaving NYC and in mid-Jersey. The ride took nearly six
hours, but nevertheless, we were in Williamsport a day ahead of the show.
I knew nothing about Williamsport, PA before seeing it on the schedule. My
sister, who lives in PA., also knew little about the town, and when
I told her I was going to Williamsport, she was completely puzzled. I
decided to play the game '21 Questions' with her to see if she could
figure out why I was going to Williamsport. You see, Williamsport seems to
be known for two things, the Little League Baseball World Series (they
actually invented the idea) and prisons... I believe there are five
prisons in the immediate area. I was a little worried about the prisons,
and the crowd they may attract, but that turned out not to be an issue. My
sister threw out all sorts of prison related questions for my visit.
Over a three day period she guessed everything from hunting, canoeing,
hiking, marriage, divorce, Little League Baseball, food and other
nonsense. With five questions remaining she finally guessed BOB DYLAN!

I'll get the show, but first, Williamsport, PA. actually has quite a
history. I spoke to several locals including a fascinating conversation
with a local shopkeeper. He was born in town and has owned quite a few
different businesses over his career in the town. He made most of his
money in real estate in town, still does, but now owns a rock shop...
Rocks Off... cool name. He actually saw Bob at the Capitol Theater (now
the Community Arts Center) in town when he toured in 1991. Anyway, he
told me about the history of logging in the 19th century. The town and
local area were the source of a huge percentage of the lumber in the
Northeast, with a 12 mile stretch of the Susquehanna River set up to run
logs to the mills. In the late 1800's they had the largest percentage of
millionaires in the country. Those millionaires put considerable effort
into creating unique wooden architectural framework for dozens of homes.
Stunning work. After the 1800's the town became a focus of the industrial
Northeast-Midwest... steel, coal, oil, gas, all found in abundance. The
town supplied all the steel for the Golden Gate bridge as well as numerous
other bridges and structures throughout the country. I was told that
there is enough oil/gas beneath them to power the USA for 300 hundred
years! Incredible! Also, the Lycoming Aircraft engine was developed in the
town. That engine powers more than half the world's general aviation fleet!!
And lastly, of course, they started the Little League Baseball
World Series. Okay, enough of the history lesson.

Bob was brilliant again tonight. I can't say enough good things about
him... he sounded great, he looked great. His piano playing was
impressive and the harp sublime. He even played some cool guitar. Of
course he will frustrate you by not singing directly into the microphone
sometimes, but that's part of the game. The band was in synch and Anton
Fig added something that was missing last year with Jim Keltner. The band
absolutely blistered at some points. At other times it was Bob doing
spoken word with sparse accompaniment as was the case for KEY WEST.

As always, I stand/dance at Bob's shows, and my seats are always one side
of the venue or the other, so as not to block people's view. I still get
complaints, but I know the rules about standing in front of your seat. So
before the show I spoke to the usher near me and told her I that I was
going to stand/dance for the show, and that at some point someone was
probably going to complain. I told her I don't want to be a problem, and
she was very understanding. The show starts with a rollicking I'LL BE YOUR
BABY TONIGHT and a sensational IT AIN'T ME, BABE. Bob played guitar on
both. But before IT AIN'T ME, BABE ended the usher tapped me on the
shoulder and said I needed to sit down after the song. I did not want to
argue because that would have meant missing most of the next song, or two,
squabbling with her, so I begrudgingly sat down for I CONTAIN MULTITUDES
(not the greatest version tonight). I was dancing in my chair as best I
could while Bob/band were belting out FALSE PROPHET, when the usher tapped
me on my shoulder again, and said, 'You can stand and dance if you want
to'. WHOA! Cool! And perfect timing too because WHEN I PAINT MY
MASTERPIECE has quite a swinging groove using the PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ
melody. As I danced and grooved I could sense the people around me wanted
the same thing. Over the next several songs, about a dozen people,
including my wife, Jacqueline, made their way out of their seats and over
to the wall next to me so they could groove as well. The ushers let it go
with no interruptions. After the show, I asked the usher why she let me
dance... she said one of Bob's crew members came down and told her to let
me dance! WOW! She was told by the crew member that Bob feeds off the
energy of people dancing and grooving! That obviously means Bob sees me...
cool!

Enough about me and my dance party. The show was peaking and I was
ecstatic. BLACK RIDER has lost some of its doom and gloom from previous
tours, but still carried just enough of an ominous tone to make it work.
MY OWN VERSION OF YOU was dialed down... you needed to stay in the moment
for this and a few others as Bob slows things down. A rocking ALONE WITH
YOU was followed by a bluesy/boozy CROSSING THE RUBICON. DESOLATION ROW
was fantastic... Bob's piano lessons have paid off well! KEY WEST was
the moment the show became unbearable for some. Sung slow and deliberate,
it was quietly moving, but you could feel the natives getting restless.
You know the kind... they came to see BOB DYLAN CIRCA 1965-1975 and not
2025 Bob Dylan, nor 2015, 2005, 1995, 1985... nope... it's gotta be
60s-70s Bob or they're not happy. During a sprawling version of WATCHING
THE RIVER FLOW you could hear the peanut gallery upstairs crying for
something else. During the next song, IT'S ALL OVER NOW, BABY BLUE
(sensational!) and into I MADE UP MY MIND TO BE WITH YOU, a drunk girl in
the balcony started calling over and over again for LIKE A ROLLING STONE.
Several of us in the audience yelled for her to  shut up, and at one point
she pleaded to Bob, 'Play something good'!. Funny as hell, because he was
playing one of his greatest hits, and playing it well, when the alcohol
took over for her. Anyway, at one point during I MADE UP MY MIND TO BE
WITH YOU, I heard applause as she was being thrown out of the theater.
Never a dull moment at a Bob show. The show wound down with a great MOHTER
OF MUSES, with a bit of THE MARCHING HYMN thrown in by Anton on the drums
when Bob was singing of the generals from various wars. A slowed down
JIMMY REED and another exquisite version of EVERY GRAIN OF SAND to close
out the tour. Bellisimo!

Very glad I decided to go to this show. It was nice to say goodbye to
ROUGH AND ROWDY WAYS. Looking forward to the Outlaw Tour this summer...
Bob on guitar and Anton on drums could lead to some good rockers!

It was nice to see some of the usual Bobcats and some new faces. In the
order of people I saw that I know -- Sue, Jayne, Greg, Dylan, Gary,
Barry, Mangala and Mike... it was good to see you all...hope to see you
this summer. New faces, Madelaine, Kate, Patty, and Graham.

Thanks, Bob.

Thanks, Bill Pagel