See copyright notice at
 http://www.expectingrain.com/dok/div/copyright.html

Bob Dylan 2000.10.01 in Münster, Germany

Halle Münsterland
Capacity: 4100



Date: Mon, 02 Oct 2000 01:15:56 +0200
From: Carsten Wohlfeld  office@carstenwohlfeld.de 
To: billp61@execpc.com, webmaster@expectingrain.com,
        rec.music.dylan@carstenwohlfeld.de
Subject: Münster, Germany - October 1, 2000 - a review


	Bob Dylan
	MŸnster, Germany
	Halle Münsterland, October 1, 2000
	A Review By Carsten Wohlfeld

So there it was most definitely my last Dylan show for this year, maybe
even for longer, as I finally have come to the conclusion that finishing
school and getting a degree at long last may make more sense that
wasting time & efforts on Bob. In the long run at least (it's about
time, I hear my Dad sigh, but that's a different story). So what can I
say? MŸnster was a blast!!! Frankfurt two nights ago was an  outstanding
show simply because Bob was having more fun than ever before (well, I
for one never have seen him having so much fun on stage anyways), but of
course there was a little room for improvement as far as the setlist was
concerned. "Frankie Lee" maybe or "Tell Me That It Isn't True" is what
Gunter and I were hoping for. Then again, what do you really want if you
travel to faraway places to see Bob? Here's my idea what I'd want to get
from a good tour of say seven or eight shows. 1. Perfect renditions of
old warhorses, 2. Some surprising songs from Bob's "once a year"
rotation (maybe "I&I", "Masterpiece", "Lenny Bruce" or "John Brown"), 3.
See "Tangled getting dropped or at least a new verse for it, 4. A live
debut, 5. "extra songs" 6. "Vision Of Johanna". Well, that's what I
would've wanted to see and hear in the space of seven or eight shows.
MŸnster had all that within two hours and even more. But let's begin at
the beginning. The show started at 8.05, all four guys dressed in black
(a first time on this tour!) with Bob wearing a new jacket that kinda
looked like a navy uniform. 

	Duncan & Brady (acoustic)

Was first and what a great rendition it was! The sound was great, even
though were were in front of the "iron curtain" in what was maybe the
fifth row. Bob's singing was very strong right at the start, even though
this voice itself was a bit rusty - no wonder at the end of the tour! It
was funny to hear how he waited with his "...too long" until Larry &
Charlie had finished their part. Unlike other songs and versions where
he's clearly singing against the two guys and not WITH them, this was
still fitting in very nicely with the song. To everybody's surprise
Larry then reached for the bouzouki. What song would be next? "Fourth
Time Around" maybe? Certainly they wouldn't do "John Brown"!? Why? Well,
to the best of my knowledge he has played the song only twice in Europe
over the last ten years, one in the very same venue in MŸnster in 1996
and then again in Bremen, only about 100 miles away from MŸnster. So
playing it again here would either mean that he strongly connects the
song with this part of Germany for some unknown reason or that it would
be a very, very unlikely coincidence. Well, he did start

	John Brown (acoustic)

Which made everybody who knew of the above mentioned fact smile. Pretty
good version too, even though I believe he skipped a whole verse (the
"letter ceased to come..." part). I might be wrong, but it definitely
seemed shorter than usual too, despite a pretty good solo courtesy of
Larry on the bouzouki, who was playing exceptionally well throughout 
the whole show. Last time I'd heard "John Brown" in a  by far inferior
version was in New York City at Tramps last summer and at that show he
followed it up with "Visions". I have to admit that I was hoping that he
wouldn't do it again, because, hey, if you've travelled to Portland,
Maine in a fucking snowstorm to see Bob do this song and then hear him
do it at an 800 capacity show, you kinda hope he won't do it when
everybody and their dog is in attendence. My hopes rapidly vanished
though when Tony told David that "Visions" would be next. Sometime I
hate it when you can read his lips...

	Visions Of Johanna (acoustic)

It was a sublime rendition though. I guess it has been featured quite a
bit over the last two years, but this must have been by far and away the
best version he has done in ages. Larry's rhythm guitar part was
beautiful too, very laid back, yet perfectly suiting Bob's singing. A
real showstopper, just like you except it to be. It obviously couldn't
get any better from this point onwards, but Bob still tried hard, giving
us

	One Too Many Mornings (acoustic)

Which opened with a gorgeous and pretty long pedal steel solo by Larry.
Bob's singing was much better than on the pretty bad version in England
a couple of weeks ago. He ended the song with a funny riff on the guitar
(I guess it was supposed to be a full-blown solo, but it really was just
a little riff he played over and over again). He then even reached for
the harmonica and repeated the same riff a few times on the harp again.
Nothing terribly exciting, but a lot of fun to hear nevertheless.

	Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic)

Followed a long discussion between Bob and Tony, but if they even talked
about dropping this song, they clearly weren't ready yet. It was a nice
version though, especially since Bob changed a few lines again. He sang
something about "being self employed" and changed the next few lines
too, but I didn't catch it. The guys in the taper section will let you
know soon, I'm sure.

	Searching For A Soldier's Grave (acoustic)

With Larry on mandolin was the usual version with all three of them
singing. A nice song, though you tend to get tired of it after a handful
of renditions. Well, I do anyways. To make it a little more exciting for
people like me, they played a new a-capella endimg, similar to the "This
World Can't Stand Long", which was nice.

	Country Pie

Same old song, same old routine with Larry and Charlie trading solos.
Not much change there.

	Standing In The Doorway

Not a million miles away from previous renditions either, except for the
fact, that Bob seemed to have gotten all the lyrics right this time,
instead of repeating certain lines like in Hamburg. I know quite a few
people had hoped to get to hear the new lounge version of "Trying To Get
To Heaven" in this slot, but we were in for a very loungy surprise of an
alltogether different kind later on. This could've been my first tour
without "All Along The Watchtower", my alltime favourite song, since
early 1998. Well, it could have.

	All Along The Watchtower

It RAWKED, man! Larry messed up the intro, because his arm got stuck in
his jacket (that's what it looked like from my point of view at least),
but as soon as David came in, it just ROCKED, ROCKED, ROCKED. Did I
mention it RWAKED already? Well, it did! The last time I hear them tear
this song to pieces like this was in in May 1996. And that was only on
tape. I person I don't think I even heard the JJ/Winston line up rock
harder. Bob's phrasing was very weird too, almost like the slow 1998
versions.  Larry was going absolutely MAD on lap steel and just when you
expected David to slow down after the last verse for the "quiet" solo
part (you know what I mean), they just kept racing through the song
without ever slowing down. It was fast and - it RAWKED!!!

	Dignity

Was sort of an anti-climax and the only song all night that we'd heard
in a better version the days before. The intro was kinda messed up and
it just didn't flow as nicely as it did the previous nights.

	Just Like A Woman

With Larry on pedal steel was a welcome surprise. Not because I
desperately wanted to hear the song, but because it was very well done
indeed. Bob put a lot into the vocals and seemed very concentrated.
After the "happy" Frankfurt show he seemed to be much more into his
playing and singing than into smiling and having fun tonight.

	Drifter's Escape

Was a semi-surprise, as this meant we would be getting a 13-song mainset
tonight. Rocked even harder than usual, even though it was the "regular"
driving "We remember Jimi Hendrix" arrangement with Bob on blues harp at
the end. Band intros followed... "some of the best players all over the
place..."

	Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat

Was the last song before the stood in line to greet the raptous
reactions from the audience stone-faced as usaul. "Pillbox" gave Charlie
to show off a bit at long last, even though Larry still took the better
and longer solo. This song as well rocked harder and had longer jam/solo
parts as usual. A perfect end to an extremely high-energy show.

	(encore)
	Love Sick

But of course they returned and gave us another semi-surprise by
replacing "Things Have Changed" with "Love Sick". A rather slow version,
but Bob's singing was strong and clear and Larry's solo even better than
usual. Bob did the improved "ploughed under" version, even though you
could see that he had to think hard to remember the lyrics, now that
he's not on auto-pilot anymore not doing the song every single night.

	Like A Rolling Stone

Huge cheer from the crowd behind the "iron curtain", a crowdpleaser for
the first-timers and tourists. Sounded a bit tired, maybe it was just a
regular version after the previous ones that I'd heard actually were
above average. But it was what was next that completely made the night.
And I say that knowing that we had heard  "Visions Of Johanna" earlier
in the set already. I had to laugh out loud at Dylan shows before,
usually at stupid mistakes or crap jokes Bob made. Tonight for the first
I was laughing about the song choice and the arrangement of a song. In
fact, I was laughing so hard, I completely missed the first verse of the
song and tears were almost rolling down my cheeks. Picture this: Big
discussion before the change to the acoustic instruments. Then they
finally decide on a song. Everybody on stage is smiling already! Bob,
Tony and Charlie go for the acoustic guitars and bass guitars
respectively. Larry however goes for his electric white Telecaster. I am
thinking: Larry must be daydreaming again. It's not yet time for
"Highway 61". Larry plugs the guitar in. Looks over to Tony and Charlie.
Now he must notice his mistake, I think. He doesn't. Instead: More
smiles. Bob's only an arm length away from Larry. Surely he must tell
him that he better gets his acoustic guitar fast??? No, Bob doesn't say
a thing. What are they gonna do? Play "Fourth Time Around" backwards?
The only other song with a mixed lectric/acoustic arrangement part from
"Fourth Time Around" is "Highlands"!!! The song finally starts. It's
jazzy bar music, with Larry playing a funky lead riff. If the new
"Trying To Get To Heaven" is Frank Sinatra, this is Dean Martin done
badly. Hilarious though! Las Vegas hear we come! They play a looooong
intro. Bob looks over to Tony and laughs out loud - people in the first
rows are looking very surprised.... what the FUCK is this????? Then Bob
finally moves closer to the microphone....and sings the first line: "If
dogs run free, then why not we". 

	If Dogs Run Free (acoustic)

I wish I could tell you what happened next, but I was basically lying on
the floor laughing. It was fucking amazing, it was awesome, beautiful
and ridiculous all at the same time. After every verse Bob stepped back
a bit and laughed out loud!!! He was LAUGHING at himself, probably
thinking: Am I really doing this? Playing an acoustic live debut of one
a song that was released thirty years ago?  It was good to see that they
obviously weren't taking themselves or the song too seriously. At the
end Larry played a great jazzy solo on electric guitar which topped it
all off. Bob was laughing again. A great, great moment!!!

	Things Have Changed   

 Followed and brought back things to an earthy level. This rendition
seemed to be a bit faster than usual (EVERYTHING seemed to be faster
than usual tonight) and the funniest moment was when Bob stepped back a
bit when he came to the "far from myself as I can" line.

	I Shall Be Released (acoustic)

Every bit as good as the nights before, again Bob sang the lovely chorus
WITH Larry and Charlie rather than AGAINST them like so many times
before.

	Highway 61 Revistited

Came as no surprise and gave Charlie his first (and last) chance on the
german dates to really show what he's able to do on the electric guitar.
He Bob and Larry were trading solos longer than usual, rocking harder
than any other night. Smoking version, even though David kinda lost
control once and Tony had to help him back into the right rhythm. It was
fun to see how he was looking at David, nodding his head and rolling his
eyes as a way of telling Kemper how to get back into the song. 

	Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic)

Was the 20th and last song. Bob seemed to be singing louder than usual,
but unlike the previous versions, this one didn't seem to have started
off with a guitar solo. Maybe I just missed it. A nice song to make the
tourists happy once more and to close a show that lasted a bit over two
hours, meaning that it was more than 15 minutes longer than Frankfurt.
Having seen as many shows as I did, it probably would look a bit silly
if I'd say now that this was the best Dylan show I've ever been to, but
with the possible exception of Dortmund 1995 and the first Miami Beach
show in 1998 it probably was. As I mentioned before, it had everything
you could possibly hope for and more. It was a great night and even
though I'm sure Bob won't be able to top this - if anybody is willing to
offer me a ride back to Essen or the western parts of Germany directly
after the Brussels show, please get in touch: office@carstenwohlfeld.de
Thanks a lot for reading, you really had to be there to fully appreciate
it, I assume, but this really was Bob at his very, very best. Many
thanks to Gunter for the ride and the great time! Goodnight.

Carsten Wohlfeld

--
http://carstenwohlfeld.de
"i look like robert de niro, i drive a mitsubishi zero" (billy bragg)


2000: March - April - May - June - July - September - October

Tour

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Path: Norway.EU.net!uio.no!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!cpk-n ews-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.gtei.net!newsfeed.us.ibm.net!ibm.net!news2.prs erv.net!139.92.165.116 Subject: Re: October 1, 2000 - MŸnster, Germany - setlist From: Hans Langhout Date: Mon, 2 Oct 2000 09:37:48 +0200 Organization: Global Network Services - Remote Access Mail & News Services X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.5 It was stunningly beautiful with a very long intro that kept us all eagerly wondering what was happening and it was a very bluesy/jazzy rendition. At the end of the song, Larry and Bob were looking at each other with some very big smiles on their faces. They had fooled them all and had lots of fun doing it. That«s how it came across to me. I had my five year old daughter and eight year old son with me standing right there in the first line and even they had a blast. Greetings from Muensterland Hans. PHyatt1962 heeft geschreven in bericht <20001001194543.27609.00000075@ng-fz1.aol.com>... >"If dogs Run Free" really makes me think that someone in Dylan's camp reads >this newsgroup... > >or just that Bob really has a great sense of humor. > >Can anyone describe how he played this? I never dreamed he would...it makes be >believe that he will, someday, give us "All the Tired Horses"... > >what a setlist! >PH