Bob Dylan 2000.07.16 in Clarkston
Subject: Pine Knob Review 7/16/2000 From: tom usbe@usbe.com Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2000 16:57:24 -0400 OK. I've seen lotsa Zimmy shows since 1988 (at the tender age of 17!). Here is my review of 10/16/2000: 1. Duncan And Brady (acoustic) A song which I have NEVER heard. Nice piece, reminiscent of the Pancho & Lefty he whipped out in 1991. Mellow opener. Bob looking healthy, sounding healthy. 2. Song To Woody (acoustic) (Larry on mandolin) Mellow, good, sung w/conviction. Sweet. 3. Desolation Row (acoustic) Ok, now I was beginning to dig the show a bit more. VERY clean reading of this tune. Bob into it good.Band playing on. 4. Girl Of The North Country (acoustic) The barnburner for me! Bob almost whispering the lyrics. I'm getting goosebumps now just thinking about it. VERY moving & intimate version of one of my faves. 5. Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic) A good solid version, but it seemed to have the consistency of molasses with regard to tempo. Not the usually bouncy version that I've heard in the past few years. Not too hoppin.... 6. Searching For A Soldier's Grave (acoustic) (Larry on mandolin) (song by Johnnie Wright, Jim Anglin and Jack Anglin) First time for me. OK piece. 7. Country Pie Good n goofy. Needed a little pick me up at this point. Band rocked thru it. 8. Positively 4th Street Another high point. Beautiful version. 9. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight Good sweet country. 10. Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You See #9 11. Drifter's Escape (Bob on harp) Finally the band REALLY starts rocking. IMHO this was necessary. Not much energy up to this point, so this highly electric version with guitar dual rocked good. 12. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat A classic. (encore) 13. Things Have Changed Not a great replacement for Love Sick, how about "Up to Me" for encore #1 ?? :) 14. Like A Rolling Stone QUALITY version. 15. One Too Many Mornings (acoustic) (Bob on harp) Not one of my faves, but solid. 16. Highway 61 Revisited Good, but again not really full tilt rocking. VERY LOUD, but the rhythm to me was just a bit syrupy. 17. Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic) Fine closer. Overall for me, I still REALLY miss John Jackson!!!! He seemed to push Bob & have a certain grittiness that the 2 current guitarists lack. While this band was obviously constructed to be the TIGHTEST touring band Bob has had, they just don't have the edge that the early 90s band had (just Tony is left....). In those days, when I went to shows, I liked not knowing what I was gonna get. Now, its always a GOOD SOLID PERFORMANCE. This is not a formal complaint, but...... things have changed. They always will, thank GOD! Cya, Tom
From: "Brandon Zwagerman" brandonz@egl.net To: billp61@execpc.com, karlerik@monet.no Subject: Clarkston 7-16-00 Review Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 00:03:35 -0400 Well, I haven't been reading newsgroups for the past month (I know, you surely all missed me dearly :-) because I got tired of using my slow modem while home from college for the summer, but I thought I would just drop by and pop out a late review of sunday's show, taken from memory, as I didn't take notes. I was running on 4 hours of sleep after a night of wine and 2-hour backrubs (don't ask) as I drove with a Chevy Lumina full of 17-19 year olds from Holland to Clarkston, with another group of my friends in another car also. Most are just varying degrees of casual fans,but my good friend Pete is a definite Dylanoholic like myself. 3 hours of listening to Bringing it All Back Home, Blood on the Tracks, and a Wilco album, with a Wendy's/Arby's stop along the way. This was my 4th Dylan show, and my second at Pine Knob, where I saw him with Paul Simon last summer. We arrived around 5:30, and the doors weren't yet open, so we wandered around the Shakedown Street of the parking lot, where one could pruchase various goo balls, "tobacco-only" smoking implements, peasantwear, jewelry, and and edibles, though the sherriff was sure cracking down on vendors. The scene at this show was such a contrast to last summer-- Deadheads and Simonites are quite different crowds. Well, we went in around 6, staking out a prime locale in the center of the economical lawn. My old high school math teacher happened to be there-- I guess he used to follow the Dead back in the day. The vendors were hawking the usual almonds, snow cones, bottled waters, and beers as the band walked out and the ladies and gentlemen pleasingly welcomed Columbia recoring artist Bob Dylan. I was amazed at how many empty seats there were in the pavillion-- it looked only half full, and the lawn maybe 2/3 full. I guess everyone was still having too much fun at the parking-lot fair. Anyway, it was right into "Duncan and Brady," which was quite a departure from Leadbelly's version. For one, Leadbelly doesn't have the nice "He'd been on the job too long" chorus, which was a fine touch of harmonization. Next, "Song to Woody"-- it was Guthrie's birthday a few days previous, and this song had as much feeling as if he was still with us, if it was still 1962 and a young Bob was playing next to his hospital bed. "Deesssolayshun Roww" came next... the arrangement with the sparse beat of the verses, and then more complex guitar work in between really works well. "Girl of the North Country" blew me away... such a sad song of times past... I bet he still think of the one who "once was a true love of" his as he sings those words. "Tangled Up in Blue," though it is the one song I have heard at every single show I have gone too, but I am not tiring of it in any way-- who needs electric guitars? This song rocks acoustically just fine, and the crowd sure agrees. I couldn't concentrate on "Searching for a Soldier's Grave" all that well, as I was paying too much attention to the change in the crowd-- they seemed suddenly disinterested, as if they just wanted this unfamiliar song to be over with so they can hear something they know. I heard "Country Pie" in Denver in April, and it was good to hear again-- it has made a fine fixture in the electric set-- it is so funny to hear him sing "Saddle me up my big white goose-- try picturing it... "I didn't in any way recognize "Positively 4th Street" until the the lyrics began-- what a massive change in sound and mood from the album. The biting words have lost their anger, and now have only a an air of bitter sadness about them. The next two songs, "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" and "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" seem to indicate that Bob was in the mood for some lovin'. Heh, I don't know if he got any after the show, but maybe next time he should throw in "Lay Lady Lay" too, just to be safe. Holy Drifter's escape-- amazingly hard rocking stuff-- certainly not the usual John Wesley Harding sound-- but that's not a bad thing in any way. "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" isn't one of my favorites, and I was wishing he'd do something else instead. But he didn't and it was, like the Denver show, very barn-burningesqe. Then, the band got into formation, which is the wackiest thing I have seen yet at a Bob show, basking in the glow of applause so stoically-- accepting it, but at the same time indifferent. "Things Have Changed" kicked off the encore, very cool, wheelbarrow and the whole deal. "Like a Rolling Stone" is always a highlight for me-- I am always transported to some black and white world of 1965, when Dylan was on top of the world... it looks like he is ready to stand there again. For the first time this tour, he whipped out "One Too Many Mornings" which I completely did not expect, then on to the usual driving "Highway 61 Revisited." I am glad he didn't end with that one-- the ethereal "Blowin' in the Wind" worked better-- the band and the crownd joining in on the refrain, leaving everyone in a communal spirit for Lesh and Friends. Lesh was better than I thought he'd be, though not exactly my cup of tea. The first half of his set was aimless fusion-jazz sounding jams. Once he got to "Friend of the Devil" it was uphill from there, and they really started rocking out. I didn't know any of the other songs, but it was fun to join in with the whole hippie vibe for a while. Dylan still shouldn't open for the guy-- but I have nothing against him. Well a 3 hour drive home to Holland, 4 hours of sleep, and a 9.5 hour day of work monday was killing me, but all was worthwhile, and I can't wait for the next show. Until then, Brandon Zwagerman
