Bob Dylan 2001.10.19 in Los Angeles

Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: Highwater tonight!
From: Delia hansens789@mediaone.net
Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 07:48:43 GMT

It was just a great show.  The Staples Center was nearly
full.  It was nearly half an hour late starting, mainly
because security was so tight. They were wanding everybody. 
But frankly, in these times, it's fine with me as long as
someone got a recorder in.

And High Water was to die for.  You know, on the album, the
banjo in the opening makes the song sound somehow ancient
and remote to me.  I like it; but that's just how it feels
to me. Straight from Genesis.  Tonight the tone of the song
and the instruments was much more immediate and menacing. 
The humor in the lines almost disappeared into Bob's deadly
intelligence and precise, ominous delivery.  Straight from
September 11.  Just to listen was an emotionally draining
experience.

And that's just one song.

--
Delia

You can always come back, but you can't come back all the way.
"Dan Erickson"  wrote in message
news:3BD11820.2C34DA72@earthlink.net...
> Great version! Great show! Sugar Baby was a gem as well. Bob made an
> interesting comment while introducing the band tonight. Something like,
> "Madonna was here (Staples Center) a couple weeks ago telling you to
> think globally. I want to tell you to rethink it." Saw UCSB last weekend
> and tonight was a lot better IMHO.
>



Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: Highwater tonight!
From: Ze 39steps ze39steps@aol.com
Date: 20 Oct 2001 07:59:20 GMT

Incidentally, from tonight's performance of Highwater, two things became clear:
-he is saying "panties"
-he is not saying "Bertha Mason"

Check out my goddamn website:
www.mp3.com/montgomerycleft



Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: October 19, 2001 - Los Angeles, California - setlist
From: Ze 39steps  ze39steps@aol.com
Date: 20 Oct 2001 07:12:53 GMT

Great show, the best I've seen (my 4th Dylan show).  I
thought the first half was stronger than the second, but a
few songs in the latter half, most notably "Sugar Baby" were
excellent.  "Highwater" was better than the album version.
His harp on "Mama You Been On My Mind" was the best I've
heard in awhile.  His guitar solos on "It's Alright Ma" were
amazing, the reason people put up with his hit-or-miss solos
(he did a lot of soloing tonight--actually, I've never
minded his solos, I think they're funny).  I generally
prefer the acoustic part of his show, and it was flawless
tonight.



Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Staples LA 10/19 yipes!
From: Caldecot Chubb cotty@chubbco.com
Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2001 21:39:13 -0700

As I'm told, I'm not alone in feeling boned by Ticketmaster. Went to
bobdylan.com within an hour or so of ticket availability and the best
four I could get were way across the arena from the stage. Never having
been to the Staples Center, I didn't know if that was just regrettable
or really dreadful. Contemplated $200/pop scalped seats (legal in CA),
but stuck with the luck of the draw.

Staples Center, for anyone else who hasn't been, is a brand-new utterly
sterile arena, skyboxes piled high. There's not much rake to the seats
so if you're up off the floor, you're pretty far from the action. Clean,
of course, but how much of a virtue is that? Enough gear in the roof,
including a set of video screens that weren't used, to make you feel the
Death Star is overhead and far off.

But the great thing was, though I could not see much of Bob except when
the fellow in front of me handed back his binocs, which he kindly did
often, the mix was fine and the music was extraordinary.

A lovely start with "Wait For the Light to Shine," a touching "Song for
Woody," and some timely deathly  ("Searching for a Soldier's Grave") or
melancholic ("It's Alright, Ma") acoustic music, particularly, "It's
Alright, Ma."

The Staples Center, though, just seemed a little too much like a UFO,
flat, round, that was not going to quite get off the ground. The crowd
was polite, enthusiastic even, but the damn building just weighed too
much.

Until "TweedleDee and TweedleDum"...  From then on it seemd like the
band -- drums and four guitars -- was simply not going to rest until
everyone had to submit to their authority. Guitar madness, Spectacular
playing between Mr. Sexton and Mr. Dylan.

Somehow in the forty years I've been listening to Mr. Dylan, he's
figured out how the hell to play that thing. It was exhilarating. Others
have mentioned the harmonica playing. He was always quite brilliant (I'm
told that a Harry Belafonte record that he played harmonica on in what,
1962?, has just been released on CD), but the solo on "Mama You been on
My Mind" was beyond haunting, and on "Drifter's Escape" he stepped over
into transcendant.

By the time he crashed "Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat" to a close, the
audience was screaming and we got plenty of encores. I thought surely
he'd have to end with "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" but he went on. Again,
I couldn't imagine,  how can you follow "Blowin' In the Wind"
(especially these days)? But "Rainy Day Women" was the excellent answer.

Perhaps all of you adepts know this already, but I hadn't ever heard him
use the device of going from the one to the five, which I guess he's
adopted to keep the songs fresh. "Oh, you masters of (leap up five
notes) war..." He did that a lot. The effect was refreshing and elegiac.
Songs that I heard him do tough as steel knives ("Most Likely" in MSG
with The Band on the Before the Flood tour mid-seventies) were softened
by time, bitter still ("I'm not going to tell you why that is...") but
almost floating in their new melodic variants.

Though I'm sure (and I hope) someone was recording it, the ephemeral
quality, the momentary brilliance, the passing chord, the
this-night-and-never-again quality of the perfomance was just so movng.
Live long, Bob, and kick ass.

I wasn't sure what to make of hearing "Masters of War" and "Blowin' In
the Wind" in this new time of conflict. He was never one for answers,
though, even when the questions were more one-sided. Any thoughts?

Well, this is my first post, and I hope I've acquitted myself.  The show
was amazing, if the venue was not, and the songs resonate still. If
anyone has a CD and wants to trade something, I'd love to be able to
hear it again.

  Cotty Chubb



Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Re: Staples LA 10/19 yipes!
From: Alistair Hunter  alistaire@earthlink.net
Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2001 06:50:53 GMT

Excellent post..... 
I had great seats at Staples.... 
the sound was great ...
but that was really Bob's soundman... 
the lighting was super too.... 
also Bob's guys...... 
hard to make Stapes an intimate arena....
not exactly like his knock out stuff at the El Rey Theatre... 
I had no clue what song "Honest With Me" was..... 
I don't  think I've heard it before........ 
I figured the tile was "4 guitars rule the world!" ... 
Charlie Sexton and Bob were hot.....
but they all were..... 
the audience did not seem as appreciative...... 
althought they were all on their feet...
maybe it was the hollowness of the venue.... 
heck I'd see him there again!....... 
I guessed beforehand that he would close the show with "Blowin' In The Wind"...... 
the answer always has been....... 
did not expect the 2nd encore at all.... 
but "Rainy Day Women" had to be the choice..... 
well done Bob and all the Bobcats!



Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan
Subject: Staples Center 10/19 (very long)
From: Howard Mirowitz miroheel@pacbell.net
Reply-To: Howard Mirowitz howard@mirowitz.com
Date: Sun, 21 Oct 2001 12:43:43 GMT

I talked my wife, Ellen,  into going with me to the Staples
concert Friday night by threatening to take our son, the
hockey goalie, who had 3 games scheduled on Saturday, the
first of which was at 10:00 AM.  She absolutely put her foot
down.  "He'll be exhausted! ... I'll go instead."   Heh, 
heh. I'd dragged her to Irvine last year and she admitted
that she liked it. Maybe this time I could push her over the
proverbial edge ...

I gathered up a few choice CD'R's and other needful supplies
and we hopped in the Jeep and headed up the I-405 to pick up
LeeAnn Hansen  and Becky Dalton, esteemed members of the
famed Orange County Dylan Fan Club.  They had been at the La
Jolla/UCSD concert the previous night.   We planned to try
to rendezvous at Staples with the rest of the Club.  Becky
was totally flying, having just won the Sony
mother-of-all-freebies, the entire Dylan official release
corpus on CDs -- over 50 discs in all -- not  to mention
coming first overall in the dylantree.com pool for the La
Jolla show AND winning $1500 in  August at the Hard Rock
Cafe show in Vegas!

Becky quickly ushered us into her "Dylan Room", where we got
to see the actual box from Sony -- an amazing sight. 
Unfortunately there weren't any back-stage passes included. 
 (Sigh. Just when you finally reach the top you find out
you're on the bottom ...)  We shared a quick meal of
lasagna, salad, wine and Beattie Zimmerman's Banana Bread
and we were off, reviewing the La Jolla show and Becky's
marvelous luck on the way up.

We arrived at Staples around 45 minutes later at 6:15 PM,
too late for the soundcheck, but too early to step into the
arena.  For those of you who have not been to Staples
Center, it's the sports venue where the Lakers (basketball)
and the Kings (hockey) play.  It's located right next to the
L.A. Convention Center, where all parking within 2 blocks is
either controlled by the Convention Center or Staples, and
thus ridiculously expensive, or else part of a hotel, and
thus also ridiculously expensive. We paid the typical
exorbitant fee of $20 to park the Jeep and just looked at
Staples for a while.  None of us had seen it before.  It's
surreal. There are practically no straight walls in the
building -- it's a bunch of immense slanted ovals stacked on
top of each other, sliced at odd angles by tilting glass
wedges, with giant TV screens and neon signs sticking out
here and there at odd angles.  It looked like the offspring
of mating a 25th Century shopping mall with the alien 
spaceship from  "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind". 
Across the parking lot, on the back walls of  the three
parallel wings of the Hotel Figueroa,  a gigantic 20-story
high, stark black-and-white tryptich loomed over us,
depicting the three immortal L.A. Laker centers -- Wilt The
Stilt, Kareem and Shaq -- Nike's way of telling us to "think
different" ... an appropriate state of mind for a Dylan
concert in the world's capital of mass entertainment.

Since we were early, we decided to head for the sports bar
at the concourse level of Staples and ran into a line of
people waiting to go through security.  This was not a
perfunctory thing -- it took about 1-2 minutes per person, a
full body scan with metal detectors, emptying all pockets,
etc. We wondered whether anybody would be able to get any
recording equipment past that intennsive check, although
none of us tried.  (I did manage to sneak in a plastic
bottle of liquid refreshment hidden in Ellen's purse,
though.  Har de har har.)  After hanging around in the bar
for a while, we entered the Staples concourse through the
back door, and shortly ran into two other Orange County Fan
Club members, Ronnie and Pam.   Ronnie's boyfriend was
working as part of the stage crew, and somehow they had
heard from him that a banjo had been seen being carried in
with the other equipment.  We all looked at each other and
-- our eyes locked as our minds snapped in unison: 
Highwater!  Could it be true?   Only time would tell ...

We spent some time at the souvenir stand: "limited edition
of  1000" concert posters for $10, T-shirts for $20 to $30
... of course we all sprang for our own mementos, even
though we sort of knew that they had way more than 1000
posters, and that they'd all be available out on the street
and in the parking lot after the concert for $5 and $10.  
Ellen commented on the number of women she saw wearing
leopard-skin pill-box hats, and was roundly congratulated by
the rest of the group for her budding Dylanological prowess.

When we finally decided to find our seats around 7:45 the
arena was practically empty, with the usual classical music
playing -- Wagner's "Ride of the Valkries" from "Apocalypse
Now" was kind of jarring.  We guessed that the security
checks were taking so long that people weren't able to get
in. As 8:00 came and went, and the audience continued to
trickle  in, we knew the concert wouldn't start on time. 
Our seats were about halfway back, 5 rows up from the floor.
 Not great, but a good view.  As we waited,  we decided to
take out our binoculars and see if we could spot the banjo
on stage.   All the instruments were tilted up behind the
amplifiers and stage monitor speakers, and all you could see
was their necks, so it was hard to tell.    Periodically a
roadie would pick up one of them to tune it -- he would turn
slightly -- and one of us would shriek out  "I see it! 
That's the banjo! .... arggh, no, it's Larry's mandolin
...".  There wasn't enough light to see clearly  and we were
just a little bit too far away.

Frustrated, we suddenly heard a cheer go up, but nobody was
on stage. That's when we remembered where we were: 
Hollywood.  One of the big advantages about goinig to
concerts and other public events in L.A. is the game of
celebrity-spotting.   Obviously some Dylan fan like Jack
Nicholson or Tom Hanks had been recognized by the crowd.

Staples, inside, is like a hugely scaled-up version of
Shakespeare's Globe Theater, which had several stories of
balcony seats for the wealthier classes rising above the
floor where the  plebeian "groundlings" clustered. At
Staples, in addition to the floor seats, between the second
and third stadium tiers, there are three tiers of "sky
boxes", which are individual balcony sections rented by
wealthy individuals and corporate sponsors.  Each sky box is
an enclosed room, like an apartment, equipped with several
large screen TV's, a wet bar, catered refreshments and
seating outside the apartment, overlooking the arena.   
Huge Lakers and Kings championship banners and the retired
numbers of their heroes' jerseys hang from the rafters
above.   We aimed our binocs at the sky boxes to see who
else we could recognize.  Was that Steven Spielberg? 
hmmm...  We saw that Jakob and Sam Dylan and their kids were
down next to the left side of the stage.

8:30.  The concert still hadn't started.  By now Staples was
 practically full to the rafters.  All the sky boxes were
occupied with people hanging over the balcony railings.  The
crowd was getting restless, clapping and yelling whenever a
roadie's head poked out from behind the side stage
entrances.  Suddenly one roadie came out with the nag champa
and a big cheer went up.  Then the opening chords of
Copeland's "Rodeo" rang out on the sound system and the
lights went down ... we waited ...

WOW! The stage lights came up and illuminated Dylan and the
band wreathed in swirling clouds of incense, lit by
spotlights trained on the stage.  And they began to play
"Wait For The Light To Shine".  Dylan was wearing a black
suit with white piping around the lapels, and a matching
black and white acoustic guitar slung down, pointing at the
front rows like a grenade launcher hanging from the shoulder
of a Delta Force ranger about to hit the Taliban HQ.   Larry
was cooking on the mandolin and we were off on Dylan's magic
swirlin' ship.

Before we could catch our breath some strange chords sounded
and we all wondered ... what song is this?  Then Dylan
started singing -- "I'm out here a thousand miles from my
home" ... it was "Song To Woody"!  His voice was masterful,
powerful,  rock solid.  We all whirled around and looked at
each other in awe.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think
I'd ever hear this live at a concert.  I lturned to Ellen
and tried to explain with my eyes what this meant.  Dylan
sang "Here's to Cisco an' Sonny an' Leadbelly too" and the
crowd cheered!  You could feel a sense of history begin to
gather itself and descend over everything as Dylan's lyrics
linked him to every wandering minstrel and troubador who
ever made a living by singing the themes of his times in
verse and song.   Dylan ripped out a tremendous acoustic
lead, and as the song ended, Larry and Charlie came in to
round out a perfect 3-part guitar harmony.  Whooeee!

No time to think.  The spotlight narrowed down to shine on
Dylan alone as he began strumming the opening chords to
"It's All Right, Ma".  The crowd cheered every famous line. 
At "Others say don't hate nothing at all/ Except hatred",
Kemper cut in hard, and the song began to drive  with a
sinister, rockin' beat as the lights came up on the whole
band.  Dylan's voice curled around the verse: "even the
President of the Yew-nahted States/Sometimes must have to
stahhhhnnnnd ..." -- he came to a stop --- and then he
ripped out the last word: "Naaaaked!"  And the crowd surged
to its feet, roaring.

Whoa, gotta slow down.  Larry's mandolin began to pluck out
the familiar tune to "Searching For A Soldier's Grave".  
The band's harmony was beautiful, in a kind of crystalline
perfection, like a diamond turning slowly in the light of
the setting sun.   Dylan's guitar was loud, at times
overpowering the other instruments.  And it continued to be
turned up loud throughout the rest of the concert.

Time for a song from "Love & Theft".  The boys reached for
their electric axes and we got: "Tweedle Dum And Tweedle
Dee".   This was lively, but the acoustics of the huge arena
made it sound a little like the boys were playing in a big
echoing warehouse.  Kemper rolled out a nice tom-tom beat as
Charlie whanged out that nice little looping, ringing riff
-- "duhduhdeedleduhduhdeedleduhduhdeedleduhduhdee" --
looking at Tony, grinning like a maniac. And  at the end,
Dylan pulled off another little vocal twist: "Said Tweedley
Dum ..." -- full stop -- "To Tweedley Dee."

The next song's sliding, triple-repeat intro -- 
"whah-dee-da-daah, whah-dee-da-dah, whah-dee-da-dah
da-da-dah" -- let us know that we were in for "I Don't
Believe You".  This started out as a fairly canonical
rendition, but when Dylan got to the end of  the second
verse he went somewhere else entirely.   He let out with:
"Am I still dreamin' yeeeeeaaaaahhht?" and the crowd
responded with a yell like Shaquille O'Neal had just slam
dunked a game-winning basket.   And then Dylan walked to the
rear of the stage and came back with a HARP!  And he took
that harp and just god-damn grabbed the audience and twisted
them right out of their seats.   A long, rockin', rollin'
solo, moving all over the instrument's range, with slow,
sexy parts, loud wailin', and fast chuffin' honkin'.  This
performance was as good or better than any I've heard,
including the studio version.

What could be better?   Larry went to the back and came back
with ... THE BANJO ... YEAAAH! Highwater!!   This was, as
LeeAnn already wrote in another post, a tremendous effort.  
The song projected, even more than on the studio version,
that deep, sinister, looming aspect of impending doom that
we've been discussing on rmd.   On  the studio cut, that
feeling seems to come from the soft, low "hooo-ooo-ooom"
voice-overs at the end of each verse.   This night, without
that voice-over, Larry's relentless banjo and Tony's
growling bass carried that load.  Before the last verse, the
band inserted an instrumental break that dropped down
gradually to nothing but Kemper's drums; super effective,
super menacing, like the footsteps of something huge
following you into someplace dark and scary.  And after the
last verse, they slowly retarded the tempo until the song
came to a final, crashing end.   Unbelievable.  Most of the
crowd did not appear to realize the significance of the
song's live debut, but it was well-accepted.

OK, by now we were all just looking at each other with
shit-eating grins. He can't possibly top this.  Well, the
band launched into "Most Likely You Go Your Way And I'll Go
Mine" and here was an absolutely definitive performance of
this "Blonde On Blonde" rocker.  Kemper's brr-umping drums
laid the foundation and, unbelievably, the guitars somehow
sounded like organs!  We peered intently through our
binoculars trying to see if Augie Meyers had somehow sneaked
on stage without our noticing it.  Dylan's voice was dead
spot on, he hit all the ups and downs and all the little
twisty curly sneering line-enders  that made the performance
totally nonpareil. "You say you got some other... kinda
lover, and --Yeeaaaahhhhsssss ... I believe ya do".

Back to acoustic equipment and the stage lights went to deep
orange and green as Dylan began to sing "Masters Of  War". 
The lights shimmering on the 15-story-high curtains hanging
at the back of the stage made it look like fire and
brimstone was cascading down on the band as Charlie's dobro
whanged and the damning verses pounded their nails into the
war profiteer's casket.   At the end, they repeated the
first verse, which pulled our thoughts from the graveside
and zoomed us back out to the meaning of technology in war,
to the distancing from the reality of death and destruction
that modern weapons afford; that, perhaps, it is that very
distancing, that ability of such weapons to make war seem
like nothing but a video game, that actually makes it
possible for the weapons industries to get the political
support they require to profit from their manufacture.

"Mama, You've Been On My Mind":  Another classic, well sung,
with beautifully intertwining guitar work, and Dylan's
vocals beautifully walking a razor's edge between perfect
wistfulness and longing, and perfect cracking and breaking. 
The crowd's excitement surged again as  Dylan pulled out his
harp for a brief, but passionate solo; all too quickly he
stuck out his right arm and waved his hand at the band, and
they brought the song to an end.

Then, Larry moved over to the pedal steel, at the far right
side of the stage, and the stage lights went to deep red. 
Naturally, with  the lighting, what song would you expect? 
"It's All Over Now, Baby  Blue" was what we got.  This was a
nice, slow, country version, with lots of side-to-side knee
wiggling by Dylan.

Now, having calmed the crowd down, Dylan decided to pump
things back up with "Summer Days".  The stage lights went 
to bright yellow, and the band really got into it.  Charlie
was hummin' on lead, Larry was smiling and crankin' away and
Tony was literally dancing with his upright bass, leaning it
from side to side, spinning it around and around.  And Dylan
made it very clear who he's singing about when he's
"standing on the table, proposin' a  toast to the King". 
When he sang that verse, he sounded EXACTLY like Elvis, down
to the vibrato in his voice.  It was uncanny, and the crowd
noticed. Everybody was clapping with every line and at the
end there was lots of noise.

The lights went down and came back up as a deep blue and
green that shimmered on the backstage curtains like the deep
water of a country lake on a hot Southern day ... and here
came "Sugar Baby" with Dylan back to his "Love & Theft"
craggy, Louis Armstrong-like voice .  A sudden hush quickly
spread over the audience as the elegiac lyrics swept through
the arena. Dylan seemed to assume the aura of a character in
a play, maybe acting out some internally idealized version
of  himself.   It was like watching Hal Holbrook play Mark
Twain in "Mark Twain Tonight".  Whatever part he wanted to
play, he played that  part so well; changing his voice to
deliver a line here, emphasizing a phrase there.  When he
wheezed out in an old, cracked croak, "Some of these
bootleggers, they make pretty good stuff", he got a big rise
from the crowd.   And he got another one when he intoned,
"There ain't no limit to the amount of trouble women bring".
   Before this night, I'd always felt that "Highwater" was
the highlight song of "Love & Theft"; but hearing this
performance, and seeing the way Dylan delivered those lines,
I have a completely different appreciation of "Sugar Baby",
and I now think it's the pick of the litter.

The electrical  equipment  came back out and we got a very
interesting "Drifter's Escape".  This version was similar to
the one he played last year, which I heard at Irvine, but
Charlie's "bolt  of lightning" was more noticeable, like a
high-voltage shriek of pain.  In the middle of the
instrumental break, Dylan walked over to have a chat with
Charlie that lasted at least 30 seconds; then they played a
really nice duet lead that brought the entire crowd to its
feet.    Then Dylan went back again to get his harp -- three
times in one night, a new record for concerts I've attended
in the last few years -- and ended the song with a brief
solo.

With the crowd still standing, the band cranked up
"Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat".  By now, the audience was pretty
beered up, as the concession stands had been left open all
during the performance, serving not only brews but also
mixed drinks (at $7.50 per glass!).  So Staples wanted
old-time rock 'n roll, and Dylan gave it to them.. 
"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" was REALLY LOUD, and REALLY
ROCKIN', although marred somewhat at the beginning by Dylan
seeming to play in a different key and tempo than the rest
of the guys.  But they pulled it together and Bob got ready
to introduce the band.  Before he did, though, he had  some
words of wisdom to share:  "A couple of weeks ago someone
(referring to Madonna, but I don't think he actually said
her name) told you to think globally.  I've got some advice
to give you.  Rethink it." After the band intro, they went
into a terrific windup where Charlie, Tony, Dylan and Larry
all stood right next to each other with their guitar necks
pointing out over the crowd, banging out the final chords in
unison, and then they went into the Formation, and Bob gave
the teeniest little bow, just nodding his head, and then
they were walking off  the stage.

Well, the crowd was roaring, and the candles and lighters
came out.  The venue security tried to make everyone sit
down, and  stop lighting up lights (and recreational smoking
materials), but they couldn't hold back the flood, and Dylan
and the band came back out for encores, with everybody on
their feet throughout.

"Things Have Changed" was great, and he even sang  the verse
about Hollywood which I had thought he might leave out, as
he did on the Oscar performance. The crowd noticed that with
a kind of surging noise.  "Like A Rolling Stone" had the
joint singing and clapping for all it was worth.   "Knockin'
On Heaven's Door" was a masterful, moving hymn to the heroes
who died  on 9/11, with the new chord pattern, absolutely
perfect harmonies and a third verse: "Mama, wipe these tears
out of my eyes/I can't see through them anymore". "Honest
With Me" kept the energy level high and Larry was whanging
away with the bottleneck and a big grin.  And, finally,
"Blowin' In The Wind", so appropriate in these new and
dangerous times, with the whole audience singing along.  
Another formation,  this time no bow from Dylan, and off the
stage they went.

But the crowd wouldn't give up, the candles and cigarette
lighters came back out, Staples rocked with rhythmic
stomping and clapping, and Dylan and the boys returned one
last time for a crowd-pleasing rendition of "Rainy Day
Women" with Larry on pedal steel  and Dylan muffing a verse
and recovering, making up something about driving a truck,
and nobody  cared because it was such fun, singing
"Everybody must get Stohnnnnned",  and waving their hands in
the air, and out on the floor girls were sitting on their
boyfriends' shoulders and the whole stadium was vibrating
and and so happy.  So happy. Somehow the band left the stage
again and the house lights came on and it was over.

But what a concert.  What a night.  On our way back to the
Jeep we didn't even mind that the posters and T-shirts we'd
paid $10 and $20  for at the Staples concession stand were
being hawked by street vendors for $5 and $10, just as we
knew they would be.  The extra money we paid seemed to be
our gift to Dylan, our tiny way of saying thank you.  As we
passed through the crowd I overheard someone say, "You know,
he's not a rock and roll performer at all.  He's a national
institution."  And it's true.  Seeing Dylan in concert is
like touring Washington D.C.  or the historic district
around Independence Hall in Philadelphia.  Every song is a
monument, every tune is a landmark, every famous lyric an
icon of American contemporary expression. You recognize
Dylan's tunes within the first three or four notes, before
he even starts singing, just like you recognize the Capitol
or the Washington Monument or the Lincoln Memorial by the
merest glimpse in the distance.  And what's even more
amazing is that this institution, Dylan as a persona and the
corpus of his work, is still under construction; like it
says on the back of that other national institution, the
U.S. dollar bill:  "Annuit Coeptis" -- "Continually
renewed".

H.



Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 07:43:13 +0200
From: Sven Lewandowski 

To: billp61@execpc.com, webmaster@dylanite.com
Subject: Staples Center/Los Angeles review



Dylan at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, Oct 19, 2001

First of all: I'M DESPERATELY LOOKING FOR A RECORDING OF THE L.A. SHOWĘ!!!!
(I can offer recordings of the four previous shows for trade !).

The show at the Staples Center in L.A. might have been the 
best of all six California shows but it was spoiled by the security !

People were not only searched at the entrances but also
checked with hand-held metal detectors. So I wonder if there
will be any bootleg at all- As I was not only going to the
concerts but also visting and exploring the cities I had my
camera equipment and my hotpack with me. I tought that such
a big venue would have lockers or else I could leave my
stuff at the securtity check-in. Some hours before the doors
were opened a security man assured me that there will be a
check-in. But when they opened the doors I was told that
there was no check-in nor any lockers and that there was no
way to get inside with all my stuff. So what to do ? The
security manager suggested that I could give my ticket back
and get a refund ! He was not joking- (how strange it would
be - flying from Germany to the US to visit a concert and
then giving back the ticket !?).

After some fruitless discussion I made up my mind and went
to the Holyday Inn hotel near the venue, explained my
problems and asked them to keep my things for some hours.
First they told me that they couldn't do it but at last I
persuaded them that I had no bombs with me and that I was in
a real difficult situation. Okay, they took $ 10 but I'm
thankful to the gentleman at the reception and like to thank
him once again !

So I went back to the venue, was checked and finally got
inside. There was no general admission and all seats were
reserved. Mine was quite far away from stage but I had quite
a good starting position for a stage rush. But things turned
out to be very different.

In the beginnig everything was fine - somehow I was able to
get in the first block and I was standing in the second row
for the first four songs. But as soon as the show had begun
the security started to get people to sit down on the seats
they'd reserved. And much to my surprise: I worked ! I
really can't remember that the security has been able to
make people sit down at any show I've ever been to in
Europe. But the Americans didn't even really try to rush
towards the stage ! I mean the security would not have any
chance if 150 or 200 people would try to rush forward...

But the security did their job and while the band played
"Tweedle Dum" even I had no more chance to escape the
security and so I had to leave the first block and sit down
on my seat. But my seat was at the aisle and in the aisle
some securtity stood - right in my field of vision ! So I
stood up and stood near the mixing desk (with was at the
opposite side of the aisle where my seat was). But almost
immediately a security guy came and told me to sit down
again. I told him to tell his collegue to sit down too so
that I could see Dylan. I worked for some time and then my
field of vision was blocked again. I stood up again, the
security came and so on- All the time securtity was walking
around, crossing your field of vision and they really did
their best to distract you and to spoil the whole show. Fuck
them - and never go to a show in America where there are
only reserved seats !

The show itself was a very good one and if the circumstances
hadn't been that bad I might say it was the best show of the
six California shows I've been too. The set list was quite
inspired and all songs were performed with commitment.

"Song To Woody" and "It's Alright, Ma" were very enjoyable -
maybe because I was so close to the stage.

"Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee" were very well done, fine
percussion and Dylan's voice was great.

"I Don't Believe You" followed again - now not a real
surprise but a nice choice. It was extremly well done with a
lot of good guitar work and Dylan on harp again.

Then I say Larry reaching for the banjo and I was happy and
sad at the same time ! I felt it was a pity that there won't
be no bootleg of the show and on the other hand I was glad
that he debut of "Highwater" took at the Staples Center - my
last American show (and also my 40th !!). I have to admit
that I would have been quite frustrated if he'd did
"Highwater" for the first time at Denver- (like I'm now a
little bit frustrated that he did "Floater" two shows
later).

But so I got another first live performance of a Dylan song
(my others being Love Sick, If Dogs Run Free and Cry A
While)

What to say on "Highwater" ? It's most probably the best new
song on L&T but the live performance was even better than
the album version. Dylan's phrasing was phantastic, he
really leaned into the song and the song featured also a
much longer and much better intrumental part than on the
album. The band really seemed to enjoy playing the song and
Larry on banjo sounded great. And I think it was a good
choice to perform the song electric instead of acoustic like
it was to be expected. So the mixture of electric guitars
and the banjo created a terriffic and thrilling sound. There
is no doubt that "Highwater" was the highlight of the show.
But other highlights were to follow.

"Most Likely You Go Your Way" was surely another one ! Fine
vocals and fantastic guitar work by Larry and Charlie !

"Masters Of War" was good, but the usual choice. "Mama, You
Been On My Mind" was no surprise either, but as I already
told I like this song because it was perfor- (you might know
the story by now).

"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" was a quite predictiable
choice at the following slot that usually featured a well
known song. And "Bby Blue" was a standard song Dylan hadn't
performed at this tour yet. Once again we got a great
performance - all performances at Staples Arena seemed to be
great that nightĘ!

"Summer Days" proofed that Dylan had now found out like it
that song has to be sung and so we got another great
performance. People were dancing to the song - even in the
aisles and there was nothing that the security could do
against it ! But as soon as Dylan started with "Sugar Baby",
that was like always treaten very well, the people sat down
again... It was unbelievable how well-hehaved they were !

There's nothing to be said on "Drifter's Escape" and on
"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" besides they were also well
done. "Leopard-Skin" featured the band introduction but
before he introduced the band Dylan told us that he
remembers the venue because he was rewarded with the Golden
Globe here (or something like that). He said something about
Tony too and made his usual joke on David Kamper.

The encores featured the usual song with "Knockin' On
Heaven's Door" as the changing acoustic song. But after the
usual encores the band came back (for the first time on this
tour) and did "Rainy Day Women". The audience loved it and
it was also a good performance of a song every fan has heard
at least twenty times before (for me it was the 25th time).
Especially Charlie provided some strange guitar licks that
made the performance an unique one.

Then they were all gone and the it was all over - at least
for me because the show at Staples Arena was my last one and
the next day I flew back home to Germany.

So now that I'm at home for some days it's time to sum up
what the (Californian part of the) tour was like. My aim for
this tour was to hear about five songs from the new album,
two or three cover songs I haven't heard before and one or
two older Dylan songs he never performed for me- What I got
was only one new cover. I expected to hear "Hummingbird" but
instead I saw some hummingbirds (and learnd a new word in
English)- And I didn't hear any old Dylan songs I haven't
heard before. But on the other hand I got all eight (!) new
songs he performed (so far). I don't think that he performed
so many songs of any new album only shortly after it's
release in the last fifteen years ! So I was quite
satisfied. But still it was a pity that there were a lot of
songs he performed every night ("Wait For The Light To
Shine", "Searching For A Soldier's Grave", "Masters of War",
"Summer Days", "Sugar Baby" and three out of five of the
encores). So a lot of slots in the set-list were "blocked"
and therefore the varation index was not as high as we like
it. So I got 48 different songs in six shows. That's not bad
but neither outstanding (better than Germany in spring 2000,
but less than UK 2000 and one song less than Germany 1998 -
even with longer shows nowadays).

The quality of the performances was mostly high. Especially
Dylan's phrasing turned out to be very fine (at least most
of the time) and Dylan seemed to be very concentrated on his
performances. His harmonica solos were better than ever
before and he treated the harp as a real instrument not just
as a crowed pleaser to be blown when nothing else was left
to do.

Out of six shows three were very good or outstanding (San
Jose, La Jolla and Los Angeles), two were good (Sacramento
and San Francisco) and one was rather weak (Santa Barbara)
(tell me if you don't agree !!). But all in all it was a
very good tour with a lot of highlights although I would not
rate any of these shows as one of my top five. La Jolla and
Los Angeles were quite near to make it but my top five (out
of 40 shows altogether) are still: Bournemouth Oct 1, 1997;
Leipzig June 2, 1998; Kšln May 11, 2001 (only from Gates of
Eden onwards); Glasgow Sept 17, 2001; Cardiff Sept 23, 2001.
But as we all know: the personal rating of a show depends
not only on the musical quality of the performance but also
on other circumstances, for example the venue, the day, the
kind of people that are standing next to you, whether you
liked the city, had a good day etc etc. So if there hasn't
been a security problem, i.e. a lot of problems with the
security at Staples Arena, maybe the show at Staples would
have made it into my top five. And if "Mississippi" had been
sung with more commitment maybe La Jolla would have made it-

Let's wait until bootlegs come out and maybe I'll have to
change my mind then.

But anyway: I enjoyed my (first !) trip to the USA much more
than I expected and I had to give up some of my prejudices
but I got news ones by now and some of the old ones turned
out to be quite true too.

But what was more important to me: One fear didn't turn out
to be true at all. Dylan's performances weren't as weak as
in Europe in July ! And that was the one of the most
important thing too 'cause it would have really spoil
everything !

And there was also a change on the list of songs I have
heared most often. Since "Tangled Up In Blue" was not
perfomed in California "Like A Rolling Stone" now overtook
the top of my list (performed at 31 out of 40 shows I've
been to). I wish he'd drop it at the next tour -

See you in Europa next year !

Cheers

Sven

comments are welcome, please email to:
Sven.Lewandowski@stud.uni-hannover.de