Bob Dylan 2001.10.14 in Santa Barbara
From: "j c" j_w9@hotmail.com To: webmaster@dylanite.com Subject: santa barbara review from james coffey Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 08:08:04 +0000 I just got back from the show in santa barbara and its near midnite.First off i want to apologize for theÊmissed key strokes in my review of the san jose show friday night. i was so tired i failed to use spell check, it was a long day with over 6 1/2 hrs. of driving, and i dont travel well, i was exhausted. But with a days rest and less travel time to Santa barbara (Ucsb campus) appx. only 1 1/2 hrs. each way from san luis, i was ready for the day.ÊÊÊ2nd, id like to thank Bill Pagel and Karl Erik andersen for there hard work in bringing us news and information on Bob's public life and his work. i know im leaving others out,Êthanks also to the rest. If Friday was a typical warm october day in california the weekend was downright hot. by the way i mentioned the summer fog being gone in my last review, for the record I love the coastal fog, it keeps us nice and cool, and when i left san luis headin south i ran into it in Pismo beach, the heat had brought it back.. I just missed seeing bob in jan. 74 at the chicago stadium, i was 15. but close doesnt count. my older sister took her best friend after her husband couldnt make it. we drew straws, i lost.ÊIÊdid get to go with her to see Elvis the following year.ÊThe first time i sawÊBobÊin concert was 5 years later i was living in Phoenix, i was 20, and it was Nov.26th 1979 at the Gammage auditorium on the Arizona StateÊUniversity campus. "you want rock and roll, go see Kiss".ÊRight on Bob, i cheered him on from the balcony. ive always cheered for the truth seeker. That was a special night, not only with what Bob was saying but with what the music was saying. I couldnt believe people were walkin out, leave? how can you leave this? if you want something in a package go to the supermarket. If you want the real deal; thenÊgo see Bob Dylan. the one thing that bugs me still, is that i didnt get up and move down to one of the seats by the stage that were vacated by those who left, i stayed in the balcony. oh well maybeÊi'll get over it tomorrow.Êwhile the first time we seeÊBob is alwaysÊa special one we remember, ive never tried to draw comparisons, wouldn't think of it, every moment isÊunique to itself. but ill admit, it would be a treat to see him play piano again. So, almostÊ22 years to the month i headed for another unversity campus. UCSB onÊIsla Vista. this was a much easier driveÊas iÊmentioned, than friday's, easier because its much shorter, and i was able to make the drive later in the afternoon. the last time i sawÊBob in Santa Barbara was in 88 and 89 at the county bowl. a completely different venue. Tonights show was in the "thunderdome" thats the nickname for basketball gym. similar to the cal poly rec center, standig on the floor bleachers on the sides and rear. I pulled into the parking lot about 6pm. and got in line about 6:40 i chatted briefly with the gentleman on my left, he commented on the new cd, he said he liked it better than Time out of mind. i smiled and said i thought they were both pretty good. Security at the door was tight, and i was glad to see it that way. they had you empty your pockets and looked through any handbags, and gave you a through search. i thanked them. Once inside i found a seat in the back bleachers about halfway up on the isle.A nice couple came up and asked me if the space next to me was taken, i said no, and they slid by and sat down. I struck up a conversation with them as we waited, I told them i had been to the show in san jose and we talked about that, they asked if Bob would play some of his older songs and i assured them that they'd hear a nice mix. the crowd took its time filing in but the place was full by showtime. Bob took the stage at about 7:45 and once again played for a good 2hrs and 15 minutes. Opening with waitin for the light to shine.It took awhile for Bob and the boys to warm up tonight, this was there third night in a row and i think they were a bit tired. they deserved to be. That and the fact that the crowd took awhile to get warmed up too. you know how Bob feeds off the crowd and this audience was a bit relaxed at the start. Bob missed a word or toÊat the start of "times are a chagin" but closed it strong with a nice harp solo. i like slow beginings because they build to energetic closes. and tonight was no different. Bob and the crowd warmed up together, and by the time he got to "Stuck inside Mobile"Êthat bridge had been crossed and he had a second wind. Bobs voice although a bit tired tonight was very well used. He went from low to high and back again, taking his time with the words. "Girl from the north country" was done very sweet and soft and was very well received. "Summer days" was once again an all out dance number, the fun one in the bunch, and the sound man finally started to turn up the guitar in the mix. "to be alone with you" was one of the highlites the energy from Bob was at peak for the evening and they gave it everything they had, the smiles were out.Ê"things have changed" was nice, "rolling stone" still kept the energy level, and the closers were warmly delivered and received. I like hearing "forever young'" and ''blowin in the wind' so close together, i think they fit well. at the end we were his, and Bob and the band stood to a thundering and giving appreciation. The lady to my left leaned over to me and said to me "it must really make him feel good to hear this loving acceptance" I smiled back at her and replied '"im sure it does".Êanother great night. looking forward to many more. God bless see you next time, james
From: "Leslie Eisner" leeisner@socal.rr.com To: webmaster@dylanite.com Subject: Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 07:13:20 -0700 I went to the show last night in Santa Barbara. The highlights for me were Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again (a total rocker) and A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall (very intense). I thought the new songs were also very well done and well received by the crowd. Positively 4th Street is my personal favorite..he did it, but I thought it lacked certain conviction. Overall, a great show. I look forward to Staples Center. Nothing like 2 shows in a week. If only I didn't have to work.
Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 07:43:06 +0200 From: Sven Lewandowski Sven.Lewandowski@stud.uni-hannover.de To: billp61@execpc.com, webmaster@dylanite.com Subject: Santa Barbara review Dylan at the UCSB events center, Santa Barbara, Oct 14, 2001 Every time you travel to a series of concerts there will always be one shitty day and this tour it was the day of the Santa Barbara show. When I planned my journey I found out that a trip from San Francisco to Santa Barbara would take 10 hours with Greyhound and 12 hour with Amtrak. So I chose to spend some more money to take a flight. A flight from San Francisco to Santa Barbara usually takes about 50 minutes and I tought it would be nice to arrive there still being fit and without having spend the day on a bus. But as I already said: it was the shitty day of the tour. Due to technical problems my flight was delayed - for four hours (!) which meant that I arrived at 6 p.m. and had to take a taxi staight to the venue. I arrived there some minutes before the doors opened - carrying all my baggage !!! And as you can expect I had a lot of problemes with a my baggage at the entrance. At first they told me that they wouldn't let me in with it and it took some time to explain the situation to them. And for they didn't have lockers (and for the whole thing wasn't organized very well) they had no place where I could leave all my stuff. After another quite long discussion I persuaded the guy at the merchandising desk to keep an eye on my things which he allowed me to leave behind this table. Thanks again !!!! To so-called "events center" at the UCSB turned out to be a sports arena and the sound was very poor - especially at the first half of the show. The audience was even worse than the audience at San Francisco. Since the show was at the University of Santa Barbara they reserved 1000 tickets for students (who didn't even have to pay the full price) and so there were a lot of people at the show that weren't commited Dylan fans at all. And again there were a lot of people talking, laughing, cheering, singing and clapping while Dylan performed. The crowed was rather restless and the way they behaved could just be called had habit. The show itself wasn't good either. It turned out to be the weakest show of all six shows in California. As already mentioned the sound was quite poor and that's also true for the set-list. The show began with the same five songs as percormed at San Jose and each of them was performed in a much weaker way than before. Dylan wasn't very concentrated and seemed to be tired (maybe his day was as shitty as mine ?!). Sometimes he didn't even sing to his microphone. At least his voice wasn't very clear tonight and not only because the sound was so poor. "Positively 4th Street" wasn't that bad but not impressive. Dylan's voice still lacked of commitment. "Stuck Inside Of Mobile" is a song I always liked (although it wasn't performed at my first real good...) and it now featured Larry on acoustic guitar. It sounded quite nice but like all the songs before it was a substandard performance. The show's only song that I haven't heard before followed ("Moonlight") but I don't really like the song. For me it was a kind of a "tick on your list song", like I always call them- (you hear a song, that you don't really like, make a tick on your list and forget about it). It featured Dylan on harmonica (being the only new song performed with harp so far) and at least the sound got much better by now. The usual "Masters Of War" followed and I repeat myself by saying that it was much better the days before. "Girl From The North Country" was the first song that sounded really good to me and by now the sound-crew managed to create a sound that was quite good. Dylan's singing had also improved and now he seemed to be in a song for the first this that night. Once again "Hard Rain" followed and it was hard to stand to hear it for the third time in a row. "Summer Days" was pretty much like the nights before - Dylan's voice still not fitted the song. "Sugar Baby" was sung very concentrated and was the usual highlight while "The Wicked Messanger" was rather poor. "To Be Alone With You" was a nice choice as the closing song - not only because it was neither "Leopard-Skin" nor "Rainy Day Women". It featured Larry on fiddle and Dylan's voice got the aggressivness that lacked "Summer Days" as well as the performance of "To Be Alone With You" at Braunschweig (07/05/01). As on the nights before the encores were the usual ones and we all have already heard performances of them with much more commitment than at Santa Barbara. So it's easy to sum up the show: Not only because of severe sound problems at the beginning the show was the weakest one in the six California shows and I was rather glad that the next two days were non-concert-days. For a long time I had hoped for an additional show but now I tought that a two days rest would be quite good for Dylan (and for me too because I couldn't stand another decline). Cheers Sven P.S.: The day ended in the same shitty way it began. After the show there was no public transport, so I had to get me a taxi for $ 25 to get to my hostel. Santa Barbara has no Youth Hostel and therefore I had to chose "Banana Bungalow". And it turned out to be rather a mixture between a hut and an old garage with a roof made out of sheet metal. And it was cold inside and very dirty and ugly too. Most probably it was the ugliest hostel I've ever been too. It's not necessary to mention that the service was also poor. So if you ever happen to be at Santa Barara, which is a nice town build in Spanish style, don't spoil your holiday by staying at Banana Bungalow ! comments are welcome, please email to: Sven.Lewandowski@stud.uni-hannover.de
