October 29, 2009
Review by Oscar Montes
There were three lines to access the Aragon Ballroom, 1 for the "hot seats"
which meant early entry to the venue, "pre-sale seats" which meant to entry
after the hot seats and before the regular tickets, what a mess!
10 different songs from the show in Rockford! That is great!
The crowd was wonderful, people from all over the world, Italy, Greece, England,
Mexico, etc. Bob was wearing a black shirt with purple spots and black pants and
a purple jacket as well., black hat too. He began with River Flow, everybody
including me tought it was leopard skin! Then a lovely Girl from the north
country with Bob on guitar, everyone just loved it. The time came for Behind
here lies nothin', great performance from together through life, Just like a
woman was next with Bob on guitar and harp, what can I say? Everybody loves this
song. The levee's gonna break was the following, Jesus it was so powerful, so
full of energy, everyone dancing on the floor, excellent! I feel a change comin'
on was the following with Bob on harp, sweet performance. Stuck inside of mobile
was next, great song, great performance. My wife's home town with Bob on guitar,
really rocky and bluesy. Tweedle dee & tweedle dum with Bob on center stage was
wonderful, Bob really enjoyed performing this tune. In the next song Bob was
playing the keyboard and then moved to the center stage to play the harp:
Working man's blues # 2. Highway 61, really powerful, some people in the third
row were showing stickers to Bob with the logo of highway 61 on it, Bob saw
these stickers and he smiled. Ain't talkin' was great as usual! Thunder on the
mountain was the following, everybody dancing rock n' roll on the floor. Ballad
of a thin man was great with Bob on center stage playing the harp.
The encore, the same as in Rockford. Like a rolling stone, the crowd just loved
it. Jolene, nice performance. All along th watchtower, this song is being
performed in this tour so powerful, great indeed!
Let me add something else, Bob was really enjoying the show, he looks so great,
so full of energy, so connected to the audience, smiling with his Band everytime
he could, specially when some saliva came out of his mouth! This man will never
stop amazing me. Thank you Bob, it was an unforgettable show! Can't wait for the
one of today!
Oscar Montes
forever_young74@hotmail.com
Review by Braulio Escobar
Bob was in Chicago tonight for the first of three nights at the Aragon
Ballroom. I came in from Oregon to catch 2 of the shows, then back
home for a college football game Saturday evening. I saw the Oct 8
show in Eugene and was impressed at how energized and engaged Bob is
at this stage of this tour. I credit the return of Charlie Sexton for
revitalizing the show.
The Aragon venue is in north Chicago next to a CTA station so getting
there was a snap for this out of towner. The room is elegant and a
better showcase than MacCourt, the basketball arena Bob played in
Eugene. What can be said about Bob that has not already been written??
This night Bob was ON. No prisoners. No regrets. He opened with a
muscular version of Watch the River Flow that was more aggressive than
the version 3 weeks ago. I was able to stand close enough to watch the
band’s interaction. Steady Tony and Stu watch Bob like hungry hawks,
doing their best to keep up with Bob’s shifts and changes. Donnie was
in good form sitting behind Bob’s piano and grinning like the luckiest
man in the world when the band hit a musical sweet spot. Charlie has
been turned free. To get him back, I wonder what deal Bob made with
him. Charlie is not in the background like the days with Larry
Campbell in the band. He usually stands stage center unless he draws
close to Bob and they then take the music to new highs. True team
work. No doubt, Bob is grinning and enjoying himself. Crouching,
pointing, dancing he is truly in charge. When he stands center stage
singing like the second coming of Frank Sinatra we witness a new Bob,
song and dance Bob.
Highlights? Just Like a Woman. Bob center stage, the band subdued and
Bob crooning and hypnotizing the crowd with his phrasing of the
lyrics. As Johnny Cash once said, that song alone was worth the price
of admission, the rest of the concert was free!! Workingman’s Blues
#2, I Feel a Change Coming On and Ain’t Talking were outstanding. The
music seemed to get disjointed during Stuck in Mobile with the Memphis
Blues Again and a few other songs. I think Bob was going in new
directions and the band had to struggle to keep up with him, just when
you thought it was all going to discend into musical chaos, it would
saved by Charlie or Bob and all was good again. Hwy 61 is also
evolving....it is much changed from the Eugene show now more sparse
and less in your face and down your throat rock and roll..... BUT the
real killer, worth the price of admission all alone is Ballad of a
Thin Man. No mention of turning in the ticket to see the geek....Bob
in front, arms wide pointing and directing and ...well something is
happening, but you don’t know what it is.....whew. Thanks Bob, see you
tomorrow.
Braulio Escobar
Review by Melissa Buckler
The joint was jumpin '... much to my surprise, really. It had been almost 30
years since I saw any concert at Chicago's historic Aragon Ballroom and 15 since
I had seen Bob . Frankly, I had really low expectations in general. I had read
the acoustics were worse than ever at Aragon, that Bob's tour was one big
commercial affair and that Bob's voice had "issues". My main objective in going
was to give my young daughter the opportunity to see THE legend and fulfilling
that objective alone would suffice.
Don't believe everything you read.
Because this venue offers general admission only , we set out for the Aragon
early afternoon. When we arrived , we were thrilled to see that only a few
people had lined up- a pleasant and mellow , but energetic crowd, ages spanning
40 wonderful, Dylan filled years .
A good 2 and half hours before we were even allowed to go into the theatre,
Andre' , apparently with the tour , comes out. He greets us all , asks to look
at our tickets and begins organizing people according to what they had
purchased. I've been to well over 100 concerts in my lifetime and I have NEVER
had that kind of personalized , professional, and reassuring treatment. The
antithesis of a "commercial" tour. Andre' , you rock!
We had a smooth and pleasant (though self- hurried) entrance to the grand
ballroom and easily secured an excellent viewing position that we were hoping
to earn with our wait.
Gone are the dingy carpets and metal folding chairs that I remembered from the
'80's -replaced by a new hardwood floor ( no doubt what the place originally
had). Besides that, the million dollar bash of a building built in 1926 was as
interesting , beautiful , and full of character as ever. In my opinion, a
perfect venue for Bob Dylan .
Before we knew it - there they were. There HE was ,Bob, in all his purple suited
glory. The joint WAS jumpin' , how could it not be . The band was smokin' . Bob
was Hot . I was... stunned ! He sounded GREAT! (playlist can , of course , be
seen here on boblinks ( https://boblinks.com/102909s.html ).
I have to admit , it's hard not to notice Charlie Sexton . He brings that
classic, wild eyed "rockin' roll DUDE extraordinaire element to the band. But
there is no question , this is Bob Dylan's band and he commands it wonderfully.
I just can't say enough about each and every member of the band - the total,
rich , sometimes mystifying sound they manifest as a whole - effortlessly
transitioning from one music genre to another, all classified as DYLAN.
What did I like most about the whole experience ? That Bob seemed happy .
Grinning like a chesire cat throughout a majority of the concert, he was clearly
having a good time and made us aware that WE knew what was happening there, even
if Mr. Jones hadn't a clue.
Review by Kevin Carolan
We arrived from England on Wednesday for the 3 shows at the Aragon Ballroom,
attracted by the prospect of seeing Bob up close at a real venue in a fantastic.
and for us, unexplored city. From the moment we first sighted the old Art Deco
ballroom from the conveniently positioned CTA train station close by, we knew we
were on the right track.This was to be my first sight of Bob since the fantastic
second show at The Point in Dublin 5 months ago, a show which went straight into
my top 10 seen over the past 30 years. Much has been written about the
reintroduction of C S to the line up, and the impact this has had on Bob and the
rest of the band, how Bob has somehow been rejuvenated, so when they took the
stage I was prepared to be blown away.From the opening bars of that eternal
clunker " river flow" my heart sank,this song should have been dispatched to the
never to be played again pile years ago and why He persists with it " God Knows"
! When it was followed by yet another vocal murdering of the beautiful Girl from
the North country ( partially saved by some lovely guitar from Charlie and Bob )
I was ready to pack up and leave. The first highhlight after a poor first half
was Wifes Home Town, a massive improvement on the album version. The star of the
how came shortly after with a totally fantastic Workingmans Blues, Bobs vocals
on this were nothing less than bloody amazing !!, it was quite rightly loudly
acclaimed by the crowd.Then the band tore into "61" they had a ball and took the
song to new heights. The end of the main set was Bobs Chaplinesque performance
on Thin Man. it was another stunning, vocal and visual masterclass.The de rigeur
encores were ok , probably the best being Jolene, which contained some fantastic
bass lines from T G ..Overall a good show, with enough highlights to give hope
for tomorrow night!Definately " work in progress though.
Click Here to return to the Main Page |
page by Bill Pagel
billp61@execpc.com
Current Tour Guide |
Older Tour Guides |
Bob Links Page |
Songs Performed |
Set Lists by Date |
Set Lists by Location |
Cue Sheets |