Bob Dylan 2001.05.05 in Nashville, TN
X-Sender: mrothfuss@pop.prodigy.net Date: Sun, 06 May 2001 17:55:49 -0700 To: webmaster@expectingrain.com From: "R. Mark Rothfuss" mrothfuss@prodigy.net Subject: Review of 5/5/01 May 5th, 2001 at Nashville's River Stages will go down in history as the worst concert experience of my life. Which is especially odd considering the brilliant performance of its featured act, Mr. Dylan. Here's the thing guys. . .general admission is a bad, bad, bad, awful idea. The single worst way to do a show. When you only charge $25 dollars a head (which is practically a free concert), the beer is a- flowing, the temperature is a-rising, and you have what seemed to be a Spartan army of rude, testosterone driven, beer fueled idiots all fighting there way up the head of a needle to see that "Bob Seeger" guy, it gets messy. It gets monumentally messy. All that waiting around you did all day just to have a decent view of your boy, "Bob Denver," goes out the window the second the neo-hippies and rednecks decide they deserve priority seating. It seemed as though there were at least ten times as many people at this festival than there was space on the ground. Truly a miserable thing. But not Bob's fault...as I said before, from what I could see and hear he was in great form. Ok, ".....Columbia recording artist...Bob Dylan" I flip the switch on my mini-disc as Bob and band walk up to there instruments to the tune of a symphony. 1. Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie (acoustic) Looking good! Sound is clear and crisp from the third row and Bob's vocals are right up front. He is, of course, dressed to the nines...black suit and huge hair. 2. Mr. Tambourine Man (acoustic) (Bob on harp) I figured it out on the way home last night that in the thirty five shows Ive seen over the last 5 years I have gotten "MR. T" 4 out 5 times. I'm not complaining though. This was an extraordinary performance with fantastic phrasing by Bob (machine gun style) and a truly pleasant harmonica solo at the end. 3. Masters Of War (acoustic) (Charlie on dobro) I'm partial to the old mandolin arrangement. But this was just fine and quite well received. Maybe a little sloppy around the edges. 4. Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic) This song is where the trouble really started. This fat, bearded, 20-something asshole in a green shirt was overcome by, I guess, the violent message of TUIB, and he took it upon himself to start a one man mosh pit right down in the middle of the thickest wall of people you've ever seen. Sadly, I was exactly the person in front of him and since I was holding all this recording equipment I was basically immobile. By the end of the song, I had been squeezed out to a point just left of the last spot of the entire festival grounds. Not really, but I was from "This World" on, out of stage sight and had lost my prime taping position. I kept it rolling until the end of the show, but sadly the audience chatter from the "Bob who?" permitter can be somewhat distracting. So for the rest of the show I only heard, I didn't see. All that waiting around all day for nothing, just to get bumped out (literally) by a fat guy who got there ten minutes prior and a whole bunch of self-centered neo-hippies whose motto is "Peace, Love and get out of my way". There were flashes of genius I could make out (from way up in Greenland) now and again. A spare and sorrowful, but totally unappreciated, "Teardrops." A rip-roaring "Crash" and a incendiary funk-rock "Messenger." A ragged but right harmony exchange on KOHD. Not to mention a better than average LARS with little firecrakcer licks from what I assume was Charlie's guitar. But it was no use, my night had been ruined by rudeness and generally inconsiderate behavior. . .this world can't stand long, indeed. Ah, well...there will be other shows (hopefully, PHISH (pronounced FISH) will reunite soon, or a dog-meat-burrito famine will strike the hippy-dip community and thin them out a bit) . Happy birthday, Bobby!!! Mark mrothfuss@prodigy.net
