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Bob Dylan 2001.03.28 in Cairns

Date: Tue, 03 Apr 2001 16:05:48 +1000
From: Tim & Sue Robinson  timr@netlink.com.au
To: billp61@exexpc.com, webmaster@expectingrain.com
Subject: Cairns concert

Our Dylantrek to the corners of Australia now leads to our
first visit to the very hot & extremely humid Top End . The
locals just smile knowingly when you mention the unbearable
conditions & say we should come back in August - but Bob
won't be here then, so what's the point? We have a day
snorkelling at what is surely one of the wonders of the
modern world, the Great Barrier Reef, then spend the next
day preparing to see one of the other wonders at the Cairns
Convention Centre . Our seats are Row 7 in the sold-out 
5,000 seat venue. It is fairly new & promises good acoustics
& a rather more intimate feel than most of the other
concerts.

We're expecting The Man to be in a good mood after
reportedly being really chuffed over the Oscar, and are not
disappointed, lots of smiles tonight & he's really switched
on right from the start, as is the whole band. He's in black
again, thought the white suit may have re-appeared in this
tropical locale.

The performance is absolutely stunning from start to finish
& the audience responds accordingly - the warmth of their
response is almost palpable & has nothing to do with the
climate! Musical highlights are hard to pick out, it's all
so good - Larry plays violin for the first time & is great
(the instrument is usually left sitting forlornly in its
open case). We are treated to a fine "Soldier's Grave" & a
delightful Country Pie, familiar from the bootlegs but our
first time hearing them. The reworked Tryin' to get to
Heaven is interesting but still doesn't quite gel - he may
well keep reworking this song until it achieves musically
what it achieves lyrically. Magic Moments :  The first
encore sees the first post-Oscar performance of THC .

As they're playing, a devoted fan (Darren!) walks down to
the stage & tosses an Oscar statuette onto the stage. Bob's
worried look is soon replaced by the broadest grin when Tony
shows him what it is & they play the rest of the song
looking quite delighted. At song's end, Tony holds the
statuette up to wild applause from the crowd, then it is
proudly placed on the drum riser for the rest of the show.

This was probably responsible for the other Magic Moment -
after the usual Band introductions near show's end,  " ....
bass tonight  Tony Garnier" then a little throwaway line 
"You know Me" (yes he really did say it , I've listened to a
recording of it!) . For those who caught it, nearly brought
the house down.

All told, the best show ever - again! Was it worth all the
time & effort & expense?  Absolutely!

Sue


Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Subject: Oscar On Tour From: Ray Baldwin rayzon@ihug.com.au Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2001 15:54:43 +1100 The following is a review of the "Oscar" incident on Bob's Australian 2001 tour. It was sent to me by a member of the Sydney Jumpers after Bob's last Australian concert and I am posting it with her permission. It may go some way to clearing up the mystery of the on-stage "Oscar" now appearing on the US tour. Cheers. Ray Baldwin. The Mob Who Tickled Bob Pink Good God, this is amazing! This must be the coolest thing to have happened in the whole world!. On March 25th 2001, just one reflective day after his brilliant Sydney concert, Bob Dylan was awarded his first Oscar for the song Things Have Changed. My third concert in a week and I was alkready planning to go to Bobâs final Australian concert at Ballina via a late-night desire to get, more, more, more . . . A ãcertain to playä during his concerts in 2000, THC has been played only twice during the 23 concerts of his 2001 tour since the Oscar nominations were announced. First in Melbourne on March 21st, before the Oscars ceremony, and then a few days after his win, in Cairns on March 28th. Enter the Sydney Jumpers. The Jumpers are an elite cadre of dedicated ãtragicsä who have, as in tours past, followed that White Tarago from coast to coast in search of that one shining Bob moment. Despite being up front and centre for almost all of his shows the Jumpers had not had anything to go really ballsitic about. While hiding their nightly disappointment of a Silvio-free setlist, they battled on with their unique homage to The Artist: A sort of pneumatic leaping on the spot, with the occasional flail of the arms. Bob learned of his Oscar win on Monday night during an historical international hook-up from Sydney to the States, via satellite, when Bob performed THC. The broadcast invoked many passions and pre-empted the Jo Lo announcement that the winner was: ã . . . Bob Dylan . . . ã The following Thursday he played the tropical paradise of Cairns, a fast-growing mini-megopolis for wandering backpackers as they search the Great Barrier Reef and the rain forests of North Queensland looking for treasured memories to take back to their countries. Meanwhile the Jumpers, unwilling to let such a momentous occasion go unmarked, through great ingenuity and not a little expense, obtained a plastic Oscar replica statue. The replica had a plaque bearing the words "World's Greatest Grandma" on it and, now being considered superflous, that was removed to be replaced with a more appropriate inscription to mark this historic occasion in the life of Our Hero. Though standing in front of the stage was not an option in Cairns the Jumpers, miserably deprived of their usual front and centre position, had amongst their group an undeterred person called Darren. He found a way to the front of the stage when The Master began to play THC. It was the first song of the first encore. At the end of the song, Darren launched the plastic Oscar onto the stage, missing the sphere of Bob, but serendipitously landing at the shuffling feet of bassist, Tony Garnier. Many miscellaneous items get thrown onto the stage almost every night at a Dylan concert. They mostly go unnoticed by Bob, get kicked to the side by the crew and are usually never seen again. Not so the little gold Oscar guy. Tony picks it up and shows it to Bob who is clearly thrilled. If this story ended there, it would have been cool enough. But, wait! There's more. The very next night, at the Brisbane concert, the little plastic Oscar was sitting on top of Bob's amp, near where he keeps his harp and picks and setlists! In the world of Bobdom, this could be the sort of acknowledgement equivalent to Bob giving you a personal call at home with his thanks. Brisbane airport, after the show. Another member of the Sydney contingent runs into Tony Garnier and asks him about Bobâs reaction to the whole deal. Garnier says Bob was "tickled pink" by it. To have a ãhappeningä like this just once at a Dylan concert would be the epitomy of reassurance that Bob is still ãrealä. I travelled, sleepless for 12 hours, overnight in a bus to get to the final concert at Ballina on the north coast of New South Wales. After much merriment and story-telling as a precursor to the show, the Sydney group made its way to the concert and were amazed to see the little Oscar fella was making another appearance on Bobâs amp! With all the carrying on about Bobâs looks, performance, voice, telecast, lyrics, acceptance speech, his aversion to awards, et al, flying around the internet sites, these golden moments on this Australian tour say more about Bobâs attitude to his appreciation of his audiences than anything the Academy could come up with. The Sydney Jumpers were ecstatic. And Proud. I wonder what the future has in store for the little plastic Oscar. A song? Get outa here!
2001: February - March -

Tour