Bob Dylan 2000.07.07 in Bonner Springs, KS

Sandstone Amphitheatre, 633 North 130th St.
Capacity: 18,000

Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 10:40:35 -0700 (PDT)
From: Laurie Lampe  llampe78@yahoo.com 
Subject: Bonner Springs show
To: karlerik@monet.no

Hey man,

I know it's three days later but I hope you enjoy my
comments.
Laurie

Dylan Was Hot!  Really!
Laurie L Lampe

Imagine my shock when my kid brother asked me who it
was that sang Like a Rolling Stone.  I thought for
sure he was joking. He wasn't.  In an effort to
educate the boy, I loaned him my Highway 61 Revisited
cd and took him to the Dylan concert in Bonner Springs
Kansas.  

The show didn't start well because we ran late and
missed the first song.  We came in at the bridge of To
Ramona. Dylan was wearing his standard black suit with
the coolest boots.  They were white with black trim.
(a little like those fifties saddle oxford shoes) 
The temperature was in the nineties with high Kansas
humidity.  Sweat beads were pouring down my back and I
was wearing a tank top.  There were two sizable fans
focused on Dylan.  The heat didn't hinder Dylan's
performance but the crowd wasn't very responsive
during the first few songs.  Most people were sitting
in their seats and politely clapping at the end of
each song as though they were watching their kid's
piano recital.  I feared there would be no encore.
Dylan finally brought fans to their feet for Tangled
Up in Blue. He brought out his harmonica and did his
little Chuck Berry strut which I have grown quite fond
of.  He seemed to have a desire to communicate with
the audience and bring them into the fun that a Dylan
concert should be.
  
The sun was going down and the lights came up as Dylan
got out the electric guitar for Country Pie and that's
when the crowd (and Dylan) really took off.  This was
the point where butts didn't return to seats. For the
first time on this tour he played Seeing the Real You
At Last.  It came through with a kind of pissed off
snarling quality that gives the feeling this woman
scorned him an hour ago.  It was great.

When introducing the band he said that drummer David
Kemper had gone golfing and wore two shirts in case he
got a hole in one.  

The crowd finally did  incite an encore.  Dylan
started with Things Have Changed.  This version had a
little less jazz and a little more blues than other
times I've heard it.  My Back Pages was slow and
sweet. With Larry Campbell playing the violin it had
an almost romantic feel.  

Dylan and the crowd had overcome the heat very well as
he closed with Blowin' in the Wind.  Afterward he
stood holding his guitar and surveying the audience. 
Even with the slow start I thought we might convince
him to play one more song.  However Dylan proved to be
just as big a tease as ever and was gone.

=====
No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn.