Reviews

West Palm Beach, Florida

Cruzan Amphitheatre

June 26, 2013


[Mo Ritz], [KD]

Review by Mo Ritz



It was  summery, steamy, hot and sultry at the  Cruzan amphitheater in
West Palm beach on Wednesday June 26 and then there was the weather: 
muggy, sticky, and warm with an intermittent breeze and you knew it was
summertime in the South.

The AmericanaramA festival kicked off in south Florida to a decent size
crowd. AmericanaramA, is this a new word that will eventually end up in
Merriam-Webster ? I don't know but if it does I look forward to the
definition. Side note:   According to the website:  wordbyletter.com
ENGLISH WORDS ENDING WITH "RAMA" are as follows. brama, cinerama,
cosmorama, cyclorama, diorama, docudrama, drama, georama, hypermyriorama,
marinorama, melodrama, monodrama, myriorama, neorama, panorama,
panstereorama, polyorama, psychodrama, trama. So then I got to thinking
about Sports O Rama a place I use to roller skate. Which brought me to
this factoid: Briefly, diorama and panorama were popular in Napoleonic
times, if not before, and came into and out of fashion as such words do.
Specifically, they enjoyed a vogue after WW2, when film-makers were
looking for impressive names for their colour and widescreen films
(Colorama, Futurama, Technorama, etc- probably influenced by drama, but
not directly connected). The vogue led to many bottle stores, for example,
renaming themselves liquoramas to draw in customers, though there is no
plausible meaning for this, let alone etymology. Mercifully, the fashion
seems to have died away. (English.stackexchange.com) Ha! To the last
sentence I don't think so. Dictionary.com Unabridged offers up this:-rama
variant of -orama, occurring as the final element in compounds when the
first element is disyllabic and does not end in -r,  used so that the
entire word maintains the same number of syllables as panorama:, Cinerama;
telerama. I began to think about Hinduism.  One of the great dieties of
hinduism is Rama.  Rama's life and journey is one of perfect adherence to
dharma despite harsh tests of life and time. He is pictured as the ideal
man and the perfect human.  (Wikipedia) Rama is one of the most widely
worshipped Hindu deities, the embodiment of chivalry and virtue. 
(Britannica mobile) Well enough of this.  Some one has probably started up
a blog called Brainarama to decipher AmericanaramA.  Frankly I'm just
happy to be attending these Concert O Ramas. In town on a visit and
thought about what the odds are of being on vacation and having one of the
Never Ending Tour Shows roll through at the same time.  Is there a pool
for this ? My beautiful daughter-in-law in much need of a night out, I
invited her to the show.  Her first response was: " but I don't know Bob
Dylan. ". " Neither do I," I said, "but how about shall we go?"   She had
never heard of any of these wonderful bands but she does now! A 5:30 show
mid-week made for an impossibility to arrive on time. Thankfully we were
able to catch a few  of Bob Weirs strums which brought up memories of
attending many a Grateful Dead Show. Summery. We found our seats down
front some but decided to bag them until later.  We located some seats  in
the stands where we could feel the breeze and with enough daylight to
provide a decent view. My Morning Jacket amped up the theater as the crowd
slowly Grew.  Had the pleasure of seeing Jim James at the Newport Folk
Festival a few years back and was looking forward to seeing My Morning
Jacket.  Downright steamy! With a very brief intermission Wilco then took
to the stage.  A bigger gathering, the sun beginning to fade and the
volume turned up!  We were on our feet dancing to the beat of this amazing
band!  I was first introduced to this band a few years back while
attending a Neil Young concert in Worcester, Mass.  after they played I
got up from my seat went to the concession stand and bought their CD.  I
was hooked.  I caught up with these guys last summer in Rochester, NY and
when I saw them on the line-up for the AmericanaramA Festival I was just
tickled pink!  The best part for me from this band tonight was that my
favorite song was played !   Thank you gentleman!  Hot! The evening
settled in as Bob Dylan and his band took to the stage.  I've never seen
Bob's hair so big and so free! At some points during the show depending
where he was, the angle of the lights made Bob look like a down right
angel as a Halo  glowed over his big head of hair.  Nice! The
AmericanaramA Festival has brought out a new stage set for Bob and his
cowboy band.  On each side of the stage were torches with blazing
fire...citronella, the gates of hell, a luau, taking the humidity level
down for Bob's curls, I'm not sure, but I like it better than the mirrors.
After about the fifth song  I was drifting into thoughts that tonight's
show was going to be all of the same songs from the spring tour but in a
different order.   However, I remained optimistic despite the departure of
people in my row.  I  couldn't help to over hear some of negativity of
bafflement:  "why, why does he continue to do it like this with all that
he has got? "  "Really this is what we are getting? "  "If he doesn't step
it up I'm going to fall asleep." Had to tune out their static so I could
hear the band. You can't please everyone and I like to think that Bob is
smart enough to know that and therefore he continues to do it his way and
not their way.   Their loss.  The band sounds good!  Bob's played with
many a gifted guitarist who have each brought a certain style and value to
the songs and Duke Robillard does as well.  The  Duke was getting off some
nice licks tonight.  I like the new sound and position of the band.  You
could see all the players even Donnie!  Nice to hear Duquesne Whistle live
for the first time!!!!!  It for me is a standout on the Tempest
album/disc.   But tonight my pick's are:  She Belongs To Me, Tangled Up In
Blue, Cry Awhile and Thunder On The Mountain.  Sultry. I can't remember if
I have ever attended an opening night of the Never Ending Tour, I don't
think so.  Glad to have this opportunity and to introduce another person
to not only Dylan's music, but Bob Weir, My Morning Jacket, and Wilco. 
Until my next AmericanaramA Festival show Happy Trails! 		 	   		  

[TOP]

Review by KD



After another two year plus wait, Bob returned to South Florida.  The
scene was the large Cruzan Amphitheater.  As the show began at 5:30 the
crowd was rather small.  What was kind of cool about the night was that as
time wore on and we progressed through the acts the crowd grew and grew. 
By the time Bob hit the stage at 9:30 the reserved seating area and lawn
were pretty full.

Before moving on to Bob's set I make note of how great Wilco was.  They
are really a great band.  Truly enjoyed when Weir came out and joined
them.  Too bad Bob D does not seem to wish to do so collaborate.  They do
great versions of some of the songs he has written.

As for Bob, the stage was set up with a propane torch on each end of the
stage.  The lighting was kept rather dark.  Bob worked mostly in a kind of
shadowed stage.  Not spotlight ever hit him.

I rate the show as good.   The highlights for me were Love Sick, She
Belongs to Me, Simple Twist of Fate, Duquesne Whistle, Soon After
Midnight.  Band rocks.  Like the addition of Duke in the band.  Bob spent
quite of bit of time behind the piano, playing it in much the same fashion
as he did when he played keyboard in the past, which keyboard was set up
but never touched.

Wished I could have made the trip to Tampa to see the second show but was
not in the cards.  Hope that somehow someway I will find a way to see
again in the nearer future. 

KD

[TOP]

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