Death was on my mind for a silly and embarrassing reason yesterday. Back
in 1999 I took my first Dylan road trip to see him in Birmingham, Alabama
with Brian Setzer on the tour he never said out loud was the commemorate
Buddy Holly's Winter Dance Party tour, but clearly was. Outside of that
show there was a guy peddling bootleg tie-dyed shirts that said "Bob
Dylan 99" over a picture from 1976. It was so hideous I wasn’t sure
one would be enough. When I wore it to high school the next day the
teacher affected not to recognize me in something so distinctly un-goth.

Well, now it's my MOST goth shirt. Before the Hartford show I saw a
woman wearing that exact shirt, and excitedly asked how the hell she had
that same bootleg shirt I got in Alabama years ago. "It's my
dad's," she said.

Everyone around me cringed on my behalf, and I looked to see if the
concession stand would sell me a big bowl of fiber or something, feeling
the hot breath of death on the back of my neck. 

So, feeling older than dirt and reeling from the Powerball loss, the next
morning Britt and I went to the grave of Emily Dickinson, and I read some
of her many death poems (you can sing "Because I could not stop for
death" to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun.") The cemetery was
lovely, full of 18th century graves that seem to have been very well
restored (most of them should look like a lump of wet sugar by now, but
were totally legible). Dickinson's grave was well kept, and while I was
there I read her poem about knowing there's been a death in the house
across the street. What great imagery there is in that poem! The mattress
being thrown out the window, the preacher arriving like the Man in the
Long Black coat, the milliner coming, the reference to "the dark
parade…." It gets to you the more you think about it. Someone in the
house has died, and the family called for hat maker right away?

Several stones in the cemetery has epitaphs that were variations on the
"prepare for death and follow me" poems  common to headstones of the
era,  but one stone had a far simpler  "Amidst of life we are in death /
Stop, reader & learn to die." This of course made me think of "Let Me
Die in My Footsteps," "Some people thinking the end is close by /
stead of learning to live they are learning to die / let me die in my
footsteps / before I go down under the ground."

That's good advice. I shook off the morbid feelings and just enjoyed a
drive through Massachusetts, enjoying the early fall scenery, a stop at a
place that made blueberry cheesecake wine, and the adventure of seeing new
places.

After all, even though Dylan is doing these shows dressed like Death
incarnate, as Death appears in The Seventh Seal and Bill and Ted's Bogus
Journey, the music coming from the stage isn't notably somber or
death-haunted. Hartford seemed less jaunty than Wantagh a month ago, and
"Highway 61" had a new dark undertone that we all commented on in the
pizza place parking lot after the show, but overall the visual vibes
don't carry over into the music. It was just a great show that happened
to be a show where Bob was doing something weird. On the balance I'd
rather see his face more, but I do love seeing shows where he does
something weird.

Outlaw show venues aren't exactly new places; if you've seen two,
you've seen them all. This one reminded me of Pine Knob more than
whatever the one in Phoenix was called, but they're all the same. The
vibes among the crowd can differ a bit by region, though. The overall vibe
for the crowd at this venue was "muted color hippies." Everyone looked
like they were going to a pumpkin patch but didn't want to make a whole
thing of it. The amphitheater had about 60% of the capacity of the one in
Hartford but felt far more crowded somehow. And in contrast to making me
feel old, I kept meeting people who mentioned something from the 80s and
added "Of course, that's before you were born." Glad I can still
pass in the hall.

From our angle far to stage left, we were actually able to see Bob fairly
well as he sat at the piano. He was still in the hoodie, but in a venue
like this it's worth noting that few people could have seen him no
matter what he had on. Most of our section didn't realize he had a
hoodie on at all. I mean, he COULD have gone up center stage now and then
and let people have a look, but I kept thinking if Richie Havens in
"Hearts of Fire" saying no one at the oldies show wants to hear the
music, they just want to see how old the singers look. This way, everyone
has to just listen.

So all there was to do was enjoy the music, and Bob made that easy
tonight. If hiding under a hoodie and behind a music stand is a reflection
of some dark mood on Bob's part, it sure didn't come off in the music.
His voice seemed slightly rougher than in Hartford, which stands to reason
on the third straight night, but he was leaning into the vocals,
experimenting and playing, and often even giggling. More than last night,
I felt like he was delighting in hiding away, getting a thrill out of
getting away with something.

"Masters of War," now with an echo effect, made for a strong opener.
"To Ramona" was especially playful, with Bob seeming to find a new way
to do every line.

Back behind us was a guy in a Skynyrd shirt who wasn't into it. "Play
some Hendrix!" he shouted. A second later Bob broke into a strong
"Watchtower" with a particularly good "wind began to
howwwwwllllllll," but the guy wasn't satisfied. "It's supposed to
be the OUTLAW tour," he said. I have to figure that if people complain
that you're not being an outlaw correctly, you're doing it right.

"'Til I Fell in Love With You" was once again positively thunderous and
should have shut anybody up, but the guys behind us walked out around this
time. More fool them. "Desolation Row" had a bit more of a Chuck Berry
beat to it, a bit more of a punk edge, and became a real highlight of the
night, even though it was missing even more verses than usual (normally he
does the Casanova verse, sometimes swapping it out for the Einstein verse;
the last two nights he didn't do either of them). Sometimes the song is
apocalyptic, sometimes it's a comedy routine, sometimes it's a
travelogue. Tonight it just rocked.

A howling "Love Sick" and stately "Share Your Love" followed. 
During "Blind Willie McTell" I had one of those moments where, like a
Dickinson poem, something new jumps out: the recently-added line goes
"some of them died in battle / some survived as well."  Is he talking
about the same people? Some survived as well as died?

The descending guitar line kept the new "dark" vibes in "Highway
61" going, with Bob appearing to lean more into that side of this
arrangement. It might have been the coolest "Highway 61" I ever saw,
and led to one of the most emotional readings of "Don't Think Twice"
yet; since Phoenix the song has really evolved into a proper closer.

Bob never lowered the hoodie, but seemed to be in a downright playful,
enthusiastic mood the whole night. He didn't seem like he was hiding; if
anything he seemed like he was more relaxed knowing that no one was going
to get all that clear a photo of him. Honestly I had my phone out a lot; I
had a better view if I zoomed WAY in. But the hood and the lights have
become like a yondr pouch to Bob.

Of course, to many in the crowd, it was simply irresistible to claim that
it wasn't really him. After the set I heard one guy after another loudly
insisting that it was an imposter, and anyone who believed that was really
him had "blinders" on. Everything seems like a conspiracy if you're
really stupid.

My favorite take was a woman who said "That couldn't have been him.
His voice was way too clear!"

So that's show number 90 for me, and I'm all done thinking about
death, thank you very much. Thanks to Britt for the ride, and to Ray,
False Prophet Michael, Harold Lepidus, and all the good people who
traveled with me. Follow along as I continue on my road to 100!

Adam Selzer
www.adamchicago.com

--- After last nights' show in Hartford, CT. Jacqueline and I made the 2hr
drive from Riverton, CT. to Mansfield, MA. We decided to leave a bit later
to avoid the morning/early afternoon rain. We arrived around 5pm and once
again went into the venue at the end of Sheryl Crow's set. Tonight our
seats were closer to the stage than I expected. We were in row G, but the
way the venue was set up, row G was basically 1st/2nd row. Jacqueline and
I were able to stand at the rail and dance all concert long. And tonight
we were far to the right side of the stage which gave us a view of Bob...
yes it was Bob!

Once again before the show I saw the Dad/Son combo of Barry and Dylan
(nice to see you guys again). I also saw and talked to the famous Al
(Susan and Al... over 500 Bob shows). We spoke about past shows and about
our friend and web host Bill Pagel. Enjoy your time together guys. As the
previous night, the crew put ornamental Christmas lights on the piano
and upright light poles surrounding it so that the lights kept out prying
eyes. Tonight Bob was shrouded in the hoodie. But as I said, our vantage
point gave us a nice sight line to Bob. We were about 50' away from him
and he was mostly looking towards Bob Britt tonight which felt like he was
looking directly at us all night long... very cool! The crowd was
invigorated this evening, and so was Bob. 

The show was a notch up from last night which was hard to beat. Bob
sounded even better than Hartford, CT. and the Band was tighter and looser
at the same time. Although there was a bit of a car crash to start
FORGETFUL HEART, and some repeated lyrics here and there, the concert was
stellar. Bob's piano and harp playing were superb. He sang with gusto and
elongated many lines tonight. Standouts were many... MASTERS OF WAR, I CAN
TELL, TO RAMONA, EARLY ROMAN KINGS, DESOLATION ROW, LOVE SICK, BLIND
WILLIE McTELL (better than last night if you can believe it), HIGHWAY 61
REVISITED, DON'T THINK TWICE, IT'S ALRIGHT. The highlight was another
deconstructed version of 'TIL I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU. The crowd loved
it. As last night Bob Britt and Doug Lancio had many great leads/fills and
Tony/Anton were rhythmic genius.

This was show #28 for Jacqueline and show #93 for me.

Spoke to a guy named Josh from Connecticut after the show. Like the woman
last night... he said he sees me at every show. I told him, that if he
sees me at every show, then that means he goes to every show. But
he denied that he was a Bob stalker! Also saw and said hi to Jayne Watson
as we were leaving the venue. 

Another great Dylan show (I know I say that all the time... but it is what
it is... he does not disappoint this fan)   One last show for us next
week on the Outlaw Tour... Camden, NJ.

Don't you dare miss it!