Bob Dylan 2000.09.16 in Aberdeen, Scotland

Aberdeen Exhibition & Conference Centre, Bridge of Don Aberdeen
Capacity: 7500

Subject: Thoughts on Aberdeen...
From: Peter Rice  PeterRice@ukonline.co.uk
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 00:53:52 +0100

Fine show tonight in Aberdeen. First Scottish date for a couple
of years. No he didn't play Highlands but we did get a nod to
Andy Stewart with Under The Red Sky and also got Cats In The
Well.

Venue was a square shaped tin box multi purpose thing but great
sound right from the start. No support, Bob on at 7.45pm (7.30
start on tickets), there will be a few disgruntled latecomers,
but there's a lesson for them!!

The band (and it really feels like a band now) starts with
Hallelujah I'm Ready To Go, same arrangement as we've heard for
the last while. Sounds really good.

Times They Are A-Changing up next. Lovely Bob singing on the
chorus starting way up high then swooping away down for
"chan---ging". Sang it this way each chorus. Seems like his vocal
range is really coming back. I'd felt for a long time now he's
learned to sing in a narrower vocal range, but tonight it seemed
he could do whatever he liked with that great old voice.

Desolation Row. Kind of martial rhythm he's used on this for the
past wee while. I think there was a minor lyric fluff, but I
can't recall what it was now. Pretty straight version.

Boots Of Spanish Leather. We got a magnificent version of this in
Glasgow in '98, but this surpassed it. Sang it in a low register,
but loads of emotion in the vocal. Why does this song sound so
great these days? Something about the arrangement sounding like a
constant journey reflecting the change in mood of the protagonist
with the passing of time in the story I think. And the way Bob's
voice conveys regret and resignation so well now. Anyway just
wonderful. Hear it if you can.

Tangled Up In Blue. Again familiar recent arrangement, but a few
vocal tricks. Great big long Taaaangled at end of first verse.
Sounded quite into it.

Searching For A Soldier's Grave. Great harmonies, melody so
similar to Deportees. Real Scottish ballad type tune, but the
lyric about "All the Americans who died true and brave" (is that
right?) seemed to just leap out to remind us all that this is an
American artist and great American music.

Under The Red Sky. Nice surprise even for us setlist watchers. I
couldn't see Larry Campbell much from where we were sitting, but
I'm pretty sure he played pedal steel on this. (I know it should
be obvious, but sometimes his guitar sounds like a pedal steel to
me.) I've always loved this song. Arrangement pretty similar to
the record. "Let the wind blow low, let the wind blow high" will
remind anyone raised in Scotland of Andy Stewart's song "Donald
Where's Your Troosers" complete with Elvis impression. I don't
know if this phrase (Bob reversed the order) was original to Andy
Stewart's song. If not I'd be interested to hear where it came
from.

Country Pie was the first electric song. The way the three guitar
players work together is great now. Charlie Sexton soloed a bit
on this, but for a lot of the time all of them seemed to be
playing lead together and it all came together. They sound really
tight now.

All Along The Watchtower. Charlie has changed the sound of this
quite noticeably. Big loud chords at the start and less of the
wailing guitar we used to get. I think this suits the song, and
it seems more than just the rocking out it used to be. On this
and other songs seemed less doodling than in the past. It would
be interesting to see if the song lengths are really getting
shorter. Seem that way to me.

Not Dark Yet and Cold Irons Bound back to back next. Both now
evolved a bit from recorded versions. In NDY Bob sang with a
wider emotional range angry as well as sad. I was struck by the
funny angle Bob held his guitar, sort of upright. Odd shapes with
his left hand moving slowly all over the frets, does he play
barre chords on this? Again Larry on pedal steel (I think). CIB
gets better and better. The jumpy rhythm at the start seem to
stay right through the whole song now with big slashing chords
from Charlie. Seems to fit the disconnected theme really well.

Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat. This band plays blues really well.
What a funny song!!

Encores.

Things Have Changed. Nearly all of the new songs over the past
decade have sounded like hard work to write, this sounds like it
just rolled off the pen. The melody rhythm images sentiment all
fit so perfectly. Great live song. Arrangement as per usual, but
Bob singing it so well and it'll be a bit different each time.

Like A Rolling Stone. Hard to say why, but it was like hearing
this song for the first time again tonight. Bob again seemed to
be very engaged in this though he's done a thousand times. Great
stuff.

Don't Think Twice. Pretty regular version of a great song. Funny
how familiar things jump out at you. "You could've done better,
but I don't mind". What a thing to say. Bob, tell us, how do you
think these things up?

Highway 61. Good old rock'n'roll. One of the few things that felt
a bit routine tonight.

Blowin' In the Wind. Charlie and Larry on the chorus. Bob
behaving himself with the phrasing. Nice straight version.
Wouldn't really think you'd need to hear it again, but you do.

Cats In The Well. Done pretty well spotting the songs early up
til now. Boogie intro, vocal starts, who'd have guessed it?
Sounds great. Right up Charlie Sexton's rockabilly alley.
"Goodnight my love, may the Lord have mercy on us aaaaaallllll."
Try to hear this too. The Red Sky album came out just after my
younger son was born and I used to drive around with it on to get
Lawrence and Matthew, who's two years older, to sleep. The
nursery rhyme songs seemed to fit the purpose. So there I am,
thinking about my children and he plays...

Forever Young. Again good harmonies on the chorus. Treated to yet
more of Bob's guitar, he's playing a lot and so well these days.
Sounds a lot like Willie Nelson's playing I think. Lovely.

So there we are. Great show from "Something for everyone" Bob.
That's not a criticism. Good playing, singing well, band getting
better and better, he seems to trust and maybe even like this
band. Doesn't make life hard for them like he used to with
others. Makes it dependable enough for him to take a few risks
which all come off now, I think. Nice to see him on his own. Last
couple of shows I've been have been with Van and Paul Simon, and
while that's fine, there's something special about Bob and the
boys just themselves. Nearly forgot, they did a funny line-up at
the end of the main set and encores. All (except Kemper) stood in
straight line gazing ahead (I think, I was off to the side) for
about 60 seconds. Charlie had his guitar turned round , not sure
what Bob was doing. Looked like they were lined up to have their
medal inspected, or to see if they'd washed behind their ears.
Then the line broke, no bow or anything, and they walked off, Bob
last to go. Funny.but I think effective wee routine. Reinforced
the notion of a united band which was certainly how they played.
Has this been a regular thing lately?.



From: notdarkyet@eircom.net
To: "Karl Erik Andersen" ,
        "Bill Pagel" 
Subject: Aberdeen review from Markus Prieur
Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 16:45:34 +0100

It is nice to stay in an old farmhouse B&B east of Glasgow, where
they kindly let us use their PC. My wife and I did not plan to go
to Aberdeen at first, but after "The Point" we had little choice.
If we would not have found fuel or tickets or simply would have
stayed in Glasgow, we definitely would have regretted it soon. We
took the scenic route, passed through some Scottish ski resorts,
and arriving at the venue, it was a matter of minutes to buy
tickets for a sold out show and to stand amid friendly people we
had met in Dublin. This time we were again quite close to the
stage, enjoying good sights and sounds. Being able to breathe and
not being pushed and shoved to and fro made the evening even more
enjoyable. And enjoyable it was, as the setlist might probably
suggest, with Bob throwing eight more songs into this tour. But
even the repetitions were brilliant, especially "DESOLATION ROW"
(this time even seven verses) and "THINGS HAVE CHANGED", the two
he had only performed at "Vicar Street". The band is as tight as
can be and Bob Dylan prooved once again that his voice is the
finest instrument in music history. And he played it great, right
from the start, opening with the only song of the night I had not
seen before and was actually hoping to see last night,
"HALLELUJAH I'M READY TO GO", which he performed for the second
time in Europe. This time there were more than 550 "sinners"
present (like in Horsens last May) who were advised: "Don't wait,
before it's too late, he's a wonderful savior to know". Bob Dylan
chose to tell us last night, that he let his savior in and he
saved his soul from sin, and that he fell on his knees and his
savior answered all his pleas. ( For all the lyrics of this jewel
see the relevant page of my website "Not Dark Yet" :
http://notdarkyet.tripod.com/ready.html )

"TIMES" and "BOOTS" are always nice for me (I was born in October
1963), and "WATCHTOWER" even comes across as a nice surprise
nowadays. The finest electric songs of the night for me were the
two each from his last two original-material-albums: "UNDER THE
RED SKY" and the new "COLD IRONS BOUND"-version with Tony on
Tambourine, as well as the first (!) performance of "NOT DARK
YET" in the English-speaking part of Europe (and a nice one it
was) and a strong version of "CAT'S IN THE WELL", with Bob
checking left and right to make sure that the band stopped before
he delivered the last line: "Good night, my love, may the Lord
have mercy on us all."

This time the closing song "FOREVER YOUNG" had Bob raising his
eyebrows (see my point review) when singing: "May you always know
the truth." This concert was just beautiful. Three hours left
until showtime in Glasgow, so I gotta go and gather some more
nuggets.

Markus Prieur / http://notdarkyet.tripod.com / notdarkyet@eircom.net 



Subject: Aberdeen Scotland 16 Sept
From: Ben Swanson  ben.scot@talk21.com 
Date: 17 Sep 2000 14:48:32 -0700

Top the best of my recollection the Aberdeen concert went as
follows, the track listing might not be perfect, to explain why,
I went to the bar and bought a round of 3 pints of beer and a
diet cola, also 1 quick whisky which I drank while I was at the
bar, so I headed back with the 3 pints for me and my family only
to find that  the steward wouldn't let me take the drinks into
the hall, so I either had to loose the drinks or down them there
and then, so I downed them except for the cola, and went straight
into to hear ' Columbia proudly etc ' . Within a minute I had a
nice wee buzz going on in my head.

1 Hallelujah (Im ready to go)
2 Times they are a changin
3 Desolation Row


All along the wotchtower
Not dark yet, with a lyric change on 'Whats on her mind' - What
must be put by. My daughter thought there was a change on
'Beautiful face' - beautiful thing Cold Irons, delivered in real
rock band style with Bob picking out a lead Leopard skin PBH

Things have changed, first time I've heard it, I was most struck
at the time with lines which now seem so obvious ' I used to
care, but things have changed ' also ' Cant win with a losing
hand '

Rolling stone
HwSix1 Rev, with a twangy lead from Bob
Blowing ITW, acoustic, raised the roof of the place with the line 'Allowed to be FREE'
Cats in the well
Forever young

Thats the listing that I wrote down, there were other tracks
which were there, but I'm sure where, my other daughter says that
  Boots of Spanish Leather was track four, and that Dont think
twice was the second last song. Bob also did Under a Red Sky &
Tangled UIB, but we just cant remember where. TUIB was missing
verse 'She was working in a topless place' went straight to 'She
lit a burner on the stove' . Bob also changed the narrative sense
of TUIB, it was all he, she and them instead of the first person
tense except for 'I became withdrawn'

Thats all I have on it, he was great, the audience loved it all
and was very responsive, Bob seemed jovial and I was so glad that
I traveled the 440 miles round trip to see him with my family.

Yours aye Ben 



Subject: REVIEW ABERDEEN
From: IdhamR  idhamr@aol.com 
Date: 17 Sep 2000 18:18:31 GMT

Aberdeen the city of Granite.  This review is a tad late mainly
because I've just got back home (London) and am writing this
review having just finished taking a long deserved shower.  The
set-list was taken from Bill Pagel's site and thank him for
aiding me (somewhat) with this review)

Bob came on at approx. 19:50, in Dublin after 20:00 so to me it
was a surprise. Lights down, "Ladies and Gentleman, please
welcome Columbia Recording artist - forgot what his name is - "

Halallujah, I'm Ready To Go - a song that I didn't recognised but
was told by Philp.B what the opener was.

The Times They Are A-Changin' - opening chords gets a cheer from
the crowds since its easily recognisable.

Desolation Row - I LOVED this, it was strong, and well played. 
Fantastic.  By this time Bob thanks the crowd with his well
known, "Thank-you".

Boots Of Spanish Leather - A surprise addition.  Cheers when Bob
sang the lines, "Boots of Spanish Leather".

Enough of the acoustics, yet? Aberdeen wasn't and the crowds were
pumped when the opening chords of Tangled Up In Blue were
strummed.  Nice lighting for this song, dimmed the on the band
and the lights moved from larry to Bob and to the rest of the
band.  Hard to explain the lighting for this.  Oh, did I mention
that Bob played the Harmonica during this song?

Searching For A Soldier's Grave 

Country Pie the electric set starts.  Love this song.

The following two songs were, IMHO, unpredictable additions:

Under The Red Sky 

All Along The Watchtower 

Both were marvellously played.

Then came two songs from Time Out of Mind‰¥Ïpeople were predicting "The
Highlands" since their hometown were referred to in the song.

Not Dark yet 

Cold Irons Bound - Alas, the crowds didn't get what they had expected. 
Witnessed a new dance craze A.S.J.U.I - A "Scottish Jig" Under the Influence
(of something).  The song definitely got the crowds jacked up.  

BTW, through out the gig, it was clearly visible that Bob was enjoying himself,
dancing, doing a kind of Elvis right leg back, left foot forward, left knee
bent and pretend to step on a cigarette type dance.  

Then the main set ended with Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat - kinda short, but time
was made up with the encore.

Things Have Changed - a surprise addition.  Best sound live.  IMHO.

Like A Rolling Stone - oh how great it FEEEEEELS to be at a Dylan show. 
Wonderful.  Bob/Dylan whatever you want to call him going down on one knee
during solos.  He's digging it, and so too were the fans of Aberdeen.

Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - I love this song.  Well played, and great
to hear a personal favourite live.

Highway 61 Revisited - Excellent (don't want to over use adjectives/describing
words)

Blowin' In The Wind - Just like the album version (CD2 of Best of Volume 2) but
live sends chills down everyones spine.  As Ali G would put it, WICKED!!

Cat's In The Well -  I've used excellent, and marvellous in this review
so - this song was excel-marv.

Forever Young (acoustic) - Another personal fav. Again played live.  

I wished I could have heard though, Rainyday Women 12+35 (because everybody
needs to get stoned) and Duncan and Brady which I've remembered the words too
because I'd thought it might have been the opener (maybe because I've been on
the job too long?).

Anyway, I'm tired but fulfilled.  To my regular UK traders (people I have
traded with before) - e-mail me because I have a surprise for you (yes, its
something to do with Aberdeen)

BTW, the concert got a kind of a review in the Scottish Sunday Times which
promotes the SECC gig, so enjoy GLASGOW.