Bob Dylan 2000.03.15 in Santa Cruz, CA

Subject: Santa Cruz, 3/15/00
From: Lee Tyler 
Date: 16 Mar 2000 20:04:32 GMT
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.


I haven't seen any comment on the show last night other than
the set list.  Here's a quick one from a very fotunate attendee.

The show overall was wonderful and chock full of surprises (at
least for me).  I counted 7 tunes that are new to the current tour 
and I've gotta' believe that Hootchie Cootchie Man and Pass Me Not
Oh Gentle Savior are first time ever debuts.

The Santa Cruz Civic turned out to be a nice venue for the show. 
At just under 2000 capacity, you're reasonably close to the stage
even at the back of the bldg.  Sound system and acoustics were
excellent.  

The band is really tight and hit the groove on nearly every thing
played.  I'm really impressed with both guitar players and would
like to see Dylan give each of them a bit more soloing space.

Highlights for me were Don't Think Twice, Hootchie Cootchie Man
(killer guitar licks by the other guy (not Larry)), Positively
4th Street, Highway 61 and Silvio were both blazing rockers.  It
Ain't Me Babe was beautiful - nice arrangement and great dynamics.

I don't know how this compares to other shows to date but I sure
felt we all saw something special last night.  Bob was in fine
form, the song selection was really fun and the band is impressive.

Lee



Subject: Re: Santa Cruz, 3/15/00
From: Zardoz 
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 23:36:03 GMT
Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net
X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300

...
I agree with everything above except maybe in regard to "Silvio," which was
well-played, though.

On "Hootchie Cootchie Man," Charlie Sexton's guitar-playing was some of the
most interesting and exciting I've ever heard at a Dylan show -- wild but
sharp. Leads from Bob both immediately preceded and followed Charlie's on
this song if I remember correctly, and while Bob's were perfectly OK, they
paled in comparison to Charlie's brief moment in the spotlight.

"Positively Fourth Street" was done quite slowly with a country feel -- at
first I thought it was going to be a half-speed "You Ain't Goin Nowhere" --
and I think Bob inadvertently played the "master thief" verse twice. He came
back with it after a long instrumental break when I imagine they only meant
to play the final verse. Also, someone was wondering a while back if he is
singing the "paralyzed" verse these days. He sang it last night.

"It Ain't Me Babe" included an exceptionally long, mostly muted harmonica
solo. The whole performance was slow and quiet for the most part, before
speeding up and getting louder for a bit toward the end.

I would also add that much of this show was definitely aimed at an audience
filled with old hippies who used to follow the Grateful Dead and whose
tastes run toward a mix of country/blues/boogie. And there were many more
outside who couldn't get in -- it was definitely a seller's market last
night.

There were also a lot of "John Wesley Harding" fans in the audience
apparently -- "Drifter's Escape" got a big response (or does that have some
Dead connection, too?).





Subject: Re: Santa Cruz, 3/15/00
From: Gil Walker 
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 16:27:30 -0800

     Nope.  Pass Me Not Oh Gentle Saviour played twice last
winter (2/23, 2/24); Hootchie Cootchie Man played once last fall.

Check out my NeverEnding Tour page

http://pages.whowhere.com/arts/gwiii

for more detailed information, with current charts coming as soon
as lycos clears up some technical problems.

GW3




Copyright 2000
First time print publication
rights in circulation area only
850 Words

When You Got Everything, You Got Nothing to Prove: 
Bob Dylan Visits Santa Cruz
By Don Monkerud

When Bob Dylan stepped onto the stage, the crowd went wild. And
no wonder - some of them had been waiting in line for 16 hours to
push to the front of the stage and bask in the glow of their
demi-god folksinger, rock n'roller, America's greatest living
poet and song writer.

One friend described this as the best concert she'd ever been to
and I have to agree - Bob Dylan's show in Santa Cruz on March 15
opened my eyes anew to this great performer. There were many
notable aspects including his artistry, musicianship,
songwriting, emotive poetry and performance.

I've been listening to Dylan songs since I hung out in a
coffeehouse in 1964 on an alley in Oak Park, the black ghetto of
Sacramento. With high ceilings, a plain interior and a mixed
clientele of old beatniks, hipsters, college students and
intellectuals, the coffee house brought us together to read
poetry, discuss civil rights, argue about existentialism,
religion and politics, and explore ideas that couldn't be
discussed in college.

Simon de Beauvoir, Sartre, Herbert Marcuse, Camus, Dostovesky and
other avant garde thinkers inspired the ideas we discussed over
coffee, while scribbling poems and figuring out how to act in a
world fixated on money and success. When "Like a Rolling Stone"
and "Masters of War" thundered down from the speakers, we all
nodded in agreement, warmed by the thought that we weren't alone
in our ideas and beliefs, even if we were isolated in far away
and seemingly irrelevant Sacramento.

But Bob Dylan is far more than a nostalgic trip into my early
college days. His genius lies partly in his ability to change,
transform, and adapt to the times while preserving the heart of
his music. One can't point to a single aspect of the concert for
the mixture creates the experience.

Starting with the crowd ... from a three year old to people in
their sixties and seventies, mellow, dressed in tie-die, suits
and ties, long skirts, mini-skirts, high heels, tennis shoes,
Tevas, Birkenstocks, logging boots, cowboy boots, shorts,
T-shirts, leather jackets - they represented every part of
society, as if the 60s created a Diaspora that was returning to
its roots. By the time the crowd reached their seats, lighters
went off here and there like campfires in the night, puffs of
smoke exploded from the crowd and drifted upward. A sweet odor of
incense filled the auditorium for the rest of the night.

Dylan's tour visits places like this, a small town auditorium
that allows people to see him up close and intimate. Seeing him
in the Oakland Coliseum is like viewing a postage stamp from
across the room. Any chance of seeing his face requires powerful
binoculars. When his set began, I walked to the front of the
crowd for several songs where I can see his every facial
expression, then retire to my seat in the back that had a great
view. On my trip to the stage, I saw one woman collapse, but
throughout the whole evening saw no drunkenness, heard no ill
words or saw any aggressive behavior.

Now to the aspects of Dylan that made this an outstanding
concert. He began with an acoustic set that included "Mr.
Tambourine Man," "Don't Think Twice It's All Right" and "Highway
61 Revisited" that stamped the show - call it "Bob Dylan, the
guitar player." A combination of the soundboard mix, his
direction and the way the band accompanied him, his guitar
created a space within the music - a physical space surrounded
his playing and showcased his apparent love for the guitar and
the music itself.

Much has been made about Dylan's failure to enunciate his words
clearly. He slurs words into unintelligible sounds - the words of
one song, "Silvio," were undecipherable. The true genius of his
work - and it is a "work," an artistically created oeuvre -
includes the words, how they are assembled and the emphasis with
which he expresses them on stage. When he cries, "tangled up in
blue," or "I'm sick of love," I feel it in my gut, not just in my
head. And he's not robotic . . . the intensity and emphasis of
the words change with time, with each performance.

While I favored the acoustic set, the electric set rocked out,
mixed the older music with the newer - "Things Have Changed,"
"Not Dark Yet" and "It Ain't Me Babe," among others. The
thundering guitars and drums drove into the audience like a
bulldozer, scraping emotions with it, tying us into the music to
encompass the whole crowd. Lighting also played a role to include
the crowd. At several points lighting up the whole crowd, making
it as important as what was happening on the stage.


My only regret is that I didn't get to see both shows. The
following night Dylan only repeated three songs as he covered
such classics as "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)," "Stuck
Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again," "Maggie's Farm,"
and "Blowin' in the Wind."

Perhaps because a critical article castigating him for only
playing 70 minutes in Orange County, perhaps not, but Dylan
played almost for almost two hours giving the audience everything
they came for. Taken together, the performance, the crowd, the
words that resonates in memory and the music itself combined to
make this a great event.



Dylan Set List:

2000.03.15, Santa Cruz, CA
   1.   Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie (acoustic) 
   2.   Mr. Tambourine Man (acoustic) 
   3.   Masters Of War (acoustic) 
   4.   Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (acoustic) 
   5.   Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic) (Bob on harp)  
   6.   Pass Me Not Oh Gentle Savior (acoustic) (Larry on pedal steel)
   7.   Hootchie Cootchie Man (song by Willie Dixon) 
   8.   Positively 4th Street (Larry on pedal steel) 
   9.   Drifter's Escape 
  10.  Things Have Changed 
  11.  Not Dark Yet 
  12.  Highway 61 Revisited (Larry on pedal steel)  
     (encore) 
  13.  Love Sick 
  14.  Silvio 
  15.  It Ain't Me, Babe (acoustic) (Bob on harp) 
  16.  Not Fade Away 


2000.03.16, Santa Cruz, CA
   1.   I Am The Man, Thomas (acoustic) 
   2.   Song To Woody (acoustic) 
   3.   It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (acoustic) 
   4.   One Too Many Mornings (acoustic) 
   5.   Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic) (with harp) 
   6.   Rock Of Ages (acoustic) 
   7.   Big River
   8.   Highlands
   9.   Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again 
  10.  You're A Big Girl Now 
  11.  Highway 61 Revisited 
     (encore) 
  12.  Love Sick 
  13.  Maggie's Farm 
  14.  Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic) (with harp) 
  15.  Not Fade Away 



Subject: Santa Cruz Civic Center Dylan Review 3-15-2000
From: acffh 
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 04:55:22 -0600

I'd like to get my thoughts down and share them regarding the Dylan
shows at the Santa Cruz Civic center.

The first night of Santa Cruz, Wednesday, March 15 was an intense show,
as if Bob was playing to some folks who hadn't seen him in quite some
time, or who had never even seen him play live.  This hunch was
confirmed to a degree as the Sentinel published a bit about some fans
who had been wanting to see Bob ever since Monterey Pop Festival.  Ain't
no Lie and Tambourine Man were solid and engaging, and moderately but
not overly loud, Masters of War was extremely stinging, especially since
there's a Lockheed missile plant up the hill from Santa Cruz. . .Bob was
slinging his linguistic missiles at the peace and love crowd who had
abandoned their principles and taken well-paying war-machine jobs.  But
Don't Think Twice, soothing is it can be for a bittersweet sentiment
seemed to keep the concert flowing.  Bob never introduced the band, or
even spoke to the audience on Wednesday, although Thursday he was
downright jocular.

Tangled Up was it's ususal rockin' self, Bob drew the words out really
long, in a different way than ever before, no doubt.  He's got a
seemingly infinite amount of creativity at drawing subtle meanings out
of his multilayered lyrics. . . the way he changes up TUIB illustrates
his genius at keeping fresh, reinventing his own work.  Pass Me Not 'O'
Gentle Savior was a very sweet spiritual, perhaps included to soothe the
souls of those who he stung during the Masters of War or the Don't think
Twice.  I thought it was the most dramatic moment of the show, when Bob
channeled the intensity of the Tangled into one more acoustic number, a
thought-provoking reminder that Bob was saved, and some of his beliefs
haven't faded away completely.  What does Santa Cruz refer to in
Spanish, huh?  Let me take a stab- Sainted Cross, Holy Cross, or
something like that???  Hmmm. . .Praises to Jah that I could be there
with Bob at that time.

From the religious to Willie Dixon's voodoo blues masterwork- Hootchie
Cootchie Man-  a reminder for me that Phil Lesh was celebrating his
actual 60th Birthday- That boy-child sure turned out to be a
sonofoagun.  Dylan played the song last November- was it on Kurt
Vonnegut's Birthday? 11/11?  Back into hardcore word-flinging with the
Positively Fourth Street, that song makes me check myself, and make sure
it's not too much of a drag to see myself- shoot, I hope it's not *me*
he's so bummed about!  After that came Drifter's escape, which I should
haverecognized, since I have heard a live tape of it, but that tape was
from a 1995 show, and Bob changes his arrangements up. . . furthermore,
I could hardly understand a word of that one.  Then came Things Have
Changed, which I could understand the words to perfectly, and I enjoyed
very much.  That song is so good I think I am going to have to buy the
Wonder Boys soundtrack just to have it.  Nice going, Bob, I think TOOM
is fantastic, and this new one is even cooler!  Bob still has a lot of
life left in him, if this new song is the tip of the creative iceberg he
might be starting to draw from.  I'm glad the lyrics and sound-sample
are on the web, there's just enough of the song up there that you can
get the tune in your head, and sing the lyrics off the page while you
surf Idaho setlists &*}

Not Dark Yet is a great song, and I don't get tired of hearing it
(almost) every show.  It continues to take on new meaning.  Silvio seems
to be played as the deliberate ass-mover for a motionless crowd.  It
makes the Deadheads dance, and that's at least some response.  Highway
61 is still beyond me allegorically,sometimes I think I understand a
shadow of it, but it proves to each audience how cookin' Bob and his
band are.  It was either here or in the Willie Dixon song (I didn't take
notes at this show during Bob's set, I was enjoying it too much) that
Charlie took a super-loud guitar solo, one that truly cranked.  Did I
mention that Tony Garnier is now playing a Five (5!) string bass- it has
a lower string than a four-string, maybe a low B, that really vibrates
the floor, and also my guts, in a good way.

The encore was eerie.  On a personal note, I used to go to school in
Santa Cruz, and that's where I was living  in 1984 when I first found
out about AIDS.  Santa Cruz has a large gay community so it always
seemed like the area was well aware of issues surrounding HIV.  Lovesick
can be interpreted as referring to AIDS, and Wednesday night, it seemed
like the mood of the song was very somber.  The It Ain't me Babe was
crisp and clear and lyrically on the mark.  Bob paints a perfect picture
of the ideal maintenance-free mate, practically hands the world to his
lover, then *yanks* it away at the last line- It Ain't Me!   Not Fade
Away was an intense retro-love ending to a emotional rollercoaster of a
show.  The crowd ovated and was stomping and yelling, and Tony's guitar
tech was met with Boos when he picked up Tony's bass to take it off the
stage.

the sentinel printed a review and a cover story


and a cheeseball fake interview:

Pre-concert hype

readers reminisce

Dylan tour feature

sentinel finds some other reviews

story about a fan with no SC tickets


I will continue this two-part review later.


-tom



PS to BillP- please feel free to post this on you excellant website.
Thanks for all your work to keep it current.



From: "Patrick K." 
Subject: Dylan URL'S
To: karlerik@monet.no

Hey Karl Erik, including quiet a few "recent" URL's I came across while
searching for Dylan reviews within the Santa Cruz area:


...
Few tickets, and bad math

Bob Dylan will perform in Santa Cruz

Internet, phone sales shadow Civic ticket sales

A hard rain falls on Dylan fans

Dylan tickets will be sold by lottery Sentinel

Trouble in Line
 
Dylan blows into Santa Cruz