The Barking Crab!!!!
Date: Mon, 19 Jun 1995 22:00:05 GMT
From: nate (nates@LL.MIT.EDU)
Subject: The Barking Crab!!!!
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Good place to drink, after a war
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The Adventure of the Barking Crab
Friday, June 16th, 1995
in the beginning i wasnt sure i was even going to this concert. Scott, of
a previous review's "Which one's Dylan?" wit, was first to notify me of the
event. i called the number and reeled back at the cost. cost? 45 bucks?
what seemed so huge then seems so small now. and so long ago. initially i
passed. and kept out a third eye for a better deal. the date was right. i
am usually out friday night anyway. could i convince anyone else to come
along? maybe. it looked so. so then i saw a chance and bought the ticket
Bill Burns still had. Section 4, row H. A fair seat that ultimately i
never ever sat down in. and by then my friends had modified their plans
so that it was best that i drive in myself.
intending to get to the Barking Crab at 6:00, i tried to leave at 5:00. no
go! i wound up leaving at 5:25. then i needed a bank stop and had to fill
the car with _Gasoline_. and, to complicate matters even worse, my years
of living way out here in the boondocks had completely deprogrammed my brain
of all memory of Traffic Congestion. so i am driving alone in my car that
still has No Tape Deck and experiencing major traffic. as i closed in, i
threw overboard all my best intentions of contacting old friends in Cambridge.
the view of the Boston skyline coming down Rt. 2 from Arlington Heights was
its usual spectacular sight, still the same 20 years later. but the traffic
coming into the rotary was really intense! i looked at the clock. Danger!
so in the end i opted for the Alewife parking garage right then and there,
riding the Red Line all the way through Park Street to South Station while
wearing my Totally Ridiculous Safari Hat [tm]. i emerged in the stale
cigar-tinted air and in a matter of moments was crossing the bridge on foot.
i could see the Barking Crab on my right and the huge tent back on my left.
it was about 7 pm. i was an hour late.
quickly into the Barking Crab i was identified by Mitch Gart and soon was
sharing my name with everyone there: Kae, Jeff, Mitch, and George & Maureen
were still there, but Ron Mura had gone in. Howard showed up. i was barely
able to down 2 pints of Harpoon Alt before we headed off across the dirt and
the parking lot. one of those was courtesy of the fine inside connections that
certain person(s) had with the staff of the Barking Crab. Sadie Jane, due
to make the Crab after the show, had certainly selected a fine venue!!!
so we all meandered in. i said i had to find my seat and said i'd see mitch
back at the Crab. we split. i went around and came down the right aisle &
thought i'd have to find ron mura - see where he got seats. good excuse to
slip right by the stage where i could see the usual array of instruments.
i found ron again with that great hat. we chatted and ron showed me what
he was able to decipher from the sound checks. and that Silvio was on the
setlist, once i begged him. it bagen to look like the show would be late.
it was 7:40. i was still illegally in row 7 or so right up front and there
were still many empty seats. Kae & Jeff were right in front of me and we
also did some small chat. george & maureen sat down even in front of them
so there was a knot of us right there on the left side of the front of the
coveted section 2. i was just done telling kae that it was looking like
the band was planning for 8:00 and that then they would be fashionably late.
BUT! at 7:45 they came out! while there were still zillions of empty seats.
so i made the bold decision to stay right where i was for now. crowd still
erupting into a standing ovation. JJ in a white hat & grey suit, Garnier
in a black hat & jacket, bucky in a red jacket, winston with a black vest
over his white shirt, and our hero in a white baby blue silk light jacket with
wide lapels, something out of Miami Vice?, wearing Dark Glasses, probably
very cool attire in this unusually warm air with the summer-high sun still
beating down on the buildings of Boston, just a stone's throw over the
water away. "Ladies & Gentlemen - would you please welcome Columbia
recording artist, Bob Dylan!" eliciting more standing ovations and then
we settled down to business! wow....
Down In The Flood explodes out over us. up close your bones vibrate in
the intensity. Bob began the first line a bit quietly, but immediately
after launches into a power vocal - "aint you gonna miss you best friend
NOW" everytime so strong from the get go. JJ is having a ball. Dylan
is serious in his intent to make us hear him. the crowd rushes up to
the stage right away and i wonder if they will be there all night. somehow
i remember listening to every line and hearing every line, but it seems
over before i can hear it.
I Want You i first think i recognize from the intro. JJ has the Blonde-On-
Blonde guitar figure going in his own style, but the rest of pace is so
different and just before Bob starts to sing i ruefully erase my guess -
only to write it all over again. what a version this is! here he is
crooning in spots, everything seems easy. "I wait for them to interrupt
me drinking from _THIS_ broken cup and ask me to open up the gates for you"
simply beautiful. he says "thank you" to the crowd after, as he did for
several numbers tonight.
All Along The WatchTower was just about perfect! wow. they have it so well
polished by now. Dylan & JJ trading lines, JJ at the end especially. i
would not have thought it possible with this song forever entrenched as the
number 3 song for years & years, but this was really well done. although
he did remember to do his doubling up of the lines in the second verse, all
of it was delivered effortlessly this time, allowing him more time to pour
his heart into the words.
Just Like A Woman had JJ again doing his version of the Charlie McCoy lick
out of BoB. "til she sees finally that she's _JUST_ like all the rest"
delivered with pointed disdain. and on the final verse instead of "Yes
you do!" its "Oh you _Know_ you do!". ritchie havens may have a damn fine
version of this song, but nobody comes close to the way Dylan does it.
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues was delivered in driving style. my notes say
the rhythm went ONETWOTHREEFORFIVEsixseveightONETWOTHREEFOURFIVEsixseveight.
there was something JJ did at the end of each verse that reminded me of a
guitar lick from that old chestnut, "Poor Side of Town". it was at this
point that my illegal seating took a flase alarm, then a true alarm, so i
had to retreat back about 20 rows where i cheated again.
Silvio really rocked!!! i had a bit of trouble hearing it. and i couldnt
see the sweat dripping off his face any more. but the band really was
rocking out big time.
then he took off the electric guitar and people rose to another standing
ovation, which blocked my view of how they got ready for the acoustic
portion. somewhere in here Dylan had removed his Dark Glasses.
Mr. Tambourine Man with no guitar, again slow, like at Brixton. Bucky
takes position up front to the right side with the dobro. i had the
impression Dylan was walking on stilts at times, like an upside-down
metronome, between singing. he skipped the 2nd verse as is now usual,
instead of the resurrected 3rd verse. Harmonica hand held to the mike
was ***amazing***.
Masters Of War seemed a bit tired, like Tangled Up In Blue had on previous
occasions, not bad, you understand, just tired ("gimme a blow coach...i
can come back in the 4th quarter!"). ah but i have always heard this
song in this spot, so perhaps _i_ was tired of it. there was a new
scraping venom in the "an' i hope that you die" line i liked, and the
harmonica ending was very good, ala' Brixton again.
i got chased out of my seat again during this and was wandering all around,
but somehow i was doomed and determined not to ever sit down in my own seat,
catching a sit here, a sit there, trying out different points of view. the
box-seats, or whatever they are called, were mostly vacant. i spent a lot
of time right in front of the sound board, even peaking at the jewel-like
orange graphic equalizer. the sound there was well-balanced as you might
expect! but i missed the sweat.
Dont Think Twice had Bob put on his acoustic Martin and he & JJ & Bucky
really got their pickin' fingers goin'. very energetic music. but i felt
something missing - was he losing rapor with us? this song seemed to be
just delivered out, factually, except for spots, like the nicely slowed
down turn into "a child, i'm told". maybe i was too far away....
there was NO transition back to electric, none, no time to think. the
crowd surged up to the stage. i made that my plan too and got back to
the sweat at last.
Seeing the Real You At Last was really great. i wish i was more familiar
with the song, like i wish i knew all the words. except for Silvio i had
recognized every other word easy enough. this is a great version of this
song and the one i will look for in the tangle of the tapes up ahead. if
i had thought he had lost touch with the crowd, i was dead wrong!
I Believe In You tipped itself off by the 4th chord. really strong emotion,
powerful delivery, very nicely done. his singing all night has been superb.
he doesnt miss any of the notes as he has before.
Obviously 5 Believers began with an exact copy of an old blues standard.
he repeated the "dont let me down" verse nicely. by then i was having a
tough time keeping notes. i was sandwiched delightfully in the midst of
four young women who were gyrating right into me on all sides! :-) at
least 4 believers right there....
we all applauded & whooped to get the encore set started.
Like A Rolling Stone with the Unplugged chord intro - very nice. i was
getting caught up in the madness pressing into me from everywhere. he
was really getting into it, very animated. "when you got nothin, you got
nothin to lose!" not enough bandwidth to absorb all this.
My Back Pages was stunning - perhaps the best moment of the whole night.
at least when Mitch later told me he thought so, i had no problem agreeing
with that. the crowd pushing me closer to the stage where i could touch
it. and they all joined in on each chorus. i hear a neighbor go "Dylan
is God!" after the last verse he backs off and starts to unstrap the Martin
- whereupon i yell "yeah - you _BETTER_ go get that harmonica!!" all the
while Winston shaking his little cylindrical gourd-thingie the way he does
on Unplugged Times A Changin'. harmonica was really spellbinding....
so we all applauded and whooped for more. even i, notoriously reticent to
scorch out my lungs, gave in and tried some shrill whoops.
it works!
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 was a house burner. the crowd really was charged
and i was swept up in the madness, bodies pressed against me from everywhere.
this song was ok - not optimal - however, it didnt matter. he could do NO
wrong by now. it was dizzying. perhaps this stage crushing should be a
more regular feature for me! but it detracts from critical review! it's
hard to try for an objective angle this way. who cares! it didnt matter!
suddenly a huge buffeting behind me. a towering football-sized man shoves
through. then i see he is from security. one of the women against me has been
trying to get a photo. he grabs her and the camera. she yeilds up the
film. i ask if that was the fake film, but there's too much commotion and
she cant understand me. boo! on you security guys! big louts!
so we all applauded and whooped for even more, sillies that we were. i was
really getting good at it, making it curdle a couple of times. the stage
hands came out and began untaping everything, coiling, etc. the guitar
tuner (not cesar diaz, but the same guy from all the way, at least Detroit
in 94), is helping out. he appears to have a setlist. we are screaming for
it, like it was a broken guitar neck from the movie "Blow Up". he approaches
and just at the last second throws a hidden cup of leftover faint wine cooler
at the guy in front of me. he makes a terrific duck. but i dont. soaked in
the face - that's why i think it was a dilute wine cooler! yuck! the show
is over. i cant get a prized setlist. i catch the woman with the camera.
i explain the Craig Jamieson method of avoiding disaster - always have a
second camera or tape recorder or whatever - one that you can part with for
a while. you can almost always get it back later. she gives me a smile,
saying she's new at this but will remember! ok - now, time to go back to:
T H E B A R K I N G C R A B ! ! !
because, believe it or not, dear reader, the best part of the night was
still to come!
back across the parking lot, the dirt, the cars filing out, doing the rush
between cars to cross over to the other side, swifty picking up pace, down
the walkway, and into the Barking Crab where our old table is occupied.
the one next to it is free, so i drop my Totally Ridiculous Safari Hat - and
notebook of notes and useless chinese thermal shirt in case it got cold - on
to the table. howard joins up. we head for the taps. its gonna be Harpoon
Alt from here on. george & maureen arrive. mitch returns. howard cries out
"SADIE - IS THAT YOU I HEAR?" and sure enough Sadie Jane arrives with Beth
& her australian. we all get acquainted jubilantly. howard copies my setlist
which is hard to read in places owing to those pretty women pressed up tight
against me for what seemed like hours and, i must admit, a bit of unexpected
stale wine cooler. i do some translating of my henscratches. we all do
some quick impressions. mitch reveals his favorite is Back Pages. Sadie
agrees with my penciled note that "Silvio rocked!" pretty soon we are all
talking about man & god & law & things & stuff and just having a great time.
george gets a whole bunch of finger food for everyone. the night is young.
should i even attempt to describe us? everyone is beautiful people.
how can i recall all that went down? i cant. i was, afterall, one of the
leading hardcore gang of consumers of the Alt, which at $3.25 a pint cup,
was going to do serious damage to my wallet. & this is where i quit taking
notes! for it would have been quite the silly thing to do...instead i find
in the notebook attempts to show george the chords i use for Baby Blue. we
also touched on the folded umbrella in "Series of Dreams". we discussed the
best strategy to use against Craig Jamieson, who now seems to deserve it so
much. as usual i kinda did more gabbing than listening :-( :-( .
we talked about everything, in all probability. what great people. and you
know that almost any thing Dylan that you had been holding off gabbing about
to the Others, the Non-Afflicted, the Unbelievers, - whatever obscure thing
it was - it was all valid here, all welcomed. => we got there at 9:30. we
closed the place. some of us were smart enough to discreetly head back to the
subway before it shut down for the night, but not yours truly. :*) oh no -
this wasnt going to end! even the ragman drops by a couple of times to check
us out. they are making a bundle off us. damn good thing we didnt have Cheap
Guitar (my cheap guitar, aptly named) or an equivalent or we would have kept
the dogs across the wharf up all night. howard finds out that it was me who
sent him the list of possible good beers & ales.
indeed, 6 million Alts later, when we closed the place and stumbled out, i
was sure something monumental had transpired. :*) ...so that is why i say
that the best part was this part.
ok...but i had chosen to *Miss* the subway long ago and now, with no stove
to sleep under like a rat, found myself mooching off my new-found friends
for a ride back to somewhere. george & maureen were just unstoppable in
their generousity. howard needed a ride to the Milner hotel. they agreed
to take us back. in my case, as far as the Alewife T-station! wow. we
exit the Barking Crab. above to the left, Boston looms bejewled in the
night, 20 years later with some new buildings that are round - a fantastic
necklace of lights everywhere. new york now doesnt seem to have as big a
lead in sheer bedazzlement anymore. we move across the road and right away
we walk up to their car:
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Good car to drive, after a war
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i cant believe it :-D...so soon howard & i get rowdy in the back, demanding
beggars that we have let ourselves sink to, demanding a tape "right now!"
and we go twisted and slowly inching our way through the narrow streets.
we drop off howard. we proceed to move on through the city. and so forth.
they drop me off at the Alewife T-station, hugs & kisses, with the heavily
recommended plan that i take a nap in my car before driving. i stand there
watching them drive off. i go back to my car. its unharmed. i try to
take a nap. i suddenly snap awake and check my watch. 12:44 what? not
yet, more nap. . . . . suddenly snap awake. read watch. 12:54??? doesnt
feel right.... get out, walk around, go to top level and look out over
Belmont & Cambridge, etc. look at the sky. find a place to pee. wander over
to the other side, check the traffic. ok - i think i can drive. get back and
turn on the car. the clock says 3:36! my watch says 1:18! my watch decided
to pick that night to run its battery out. :-) :-) i get down to the toll
station. have to get out and wake up the attendant. jeez, too bad i cant
fit under the pole. i'm on the road. i'm heading back into the dark night
west. i dont have a tape deck. its WGBH late night jazz....i get home at
4:30 in the morning as the sky lightens up with the new day and the birds are
everywhere. i sneak in, crawl up to the bed and sleep straight to noon.
- nate
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 1995 23:04:32 GMT
From: "Sorabh Saxena; Masters" (ssaxena@COE1.ENGR.UMBC.EDU)
Subject: Re: The Barking Crab!!!!
Nate!!
Hats off (the Safari one...the big one) to you!! That was
*undoubtedly* the best review/write-up that I've ever read.
I had decided to put an end to my drought of postings with a
review of the 18th June show at the Giants Stadium but in
the light of this review I am not even trying - see what you've done.;-)
Now only something special, something unrivaled, unparrelled, unmatched
can get me out of the cocoon, only a magical, passionate event can
shake me out of my inertia......I sure hope the two Philadelphia
shows can do it!;-);-)
There are rumors that RMDers are landing in Philadelphia, from all
parts of the world, with all
their worldly possessions to trade for a single ticket. I got mine
through the goodwill of one of our own whose name will
be disclosed only after the shows -- its a tight security matter you see.
So, if all the RMDers who are landing for the show don't loose the
shirt of their back in trying to purchase the tickets maybe
we can get together for a drink or two - eventhough its a weekday how
many times do you see Bob at a theater with just 400-600 other people?
And, eventhough I wouldn't promise to replay Nate's role, except for
the part where he mentions some souls gyrating all around him;-), I
am sure we can find enough volunteers.
I'll be wearing my usual Dylan t-shirt (gosh, I need to buy new
ones at the show) - black in color, from the 92-93 tour with
Dylan's face on the front, and a negative of what's on
the front at the back.
Hope to see some of you at the show! (Nate, drop by...we need
someone to write a review).;-)
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 1995 18:02:37 -0800
From: "jules n. binoculas" (p00518@PSILINK.COM)
Subject: Re: The Barking Crab!!!!
>DATE: 20 Jun 1995 23:04:32 GMT
>FROM: Sorabh Saxena Masters
>
>Nate!!
>
>Hats off (the Safari one...the big one) to you!!
>
>I had decided to put an end to my drought of postings with a
>review of the 18th June show at the Giants Stadium but in
>the light of this review I am not even trying - see what you've done.;-)
i'm *shocked*! *shocked* that an EDLIS civil rights agent of your
stature would be stricken with such a pitiful attack of submissiveness
in the heat of touring battle.
>Now only something special, something unrivaled, unparrelled, unmatched
>can get me out of the cocoon, only a magical, passionate event can
>shake me out of my inertia......
sad, really sad....
>I sure hope the two Philadelphia
>shows can do it!;-);-)
you're not even *going* to philadelphia unless you get off your lazy
butt and pledge your time to your new jersey experience!
you're discouraging other reticent neophytes from even making an
attempt! the review is not really about bob dylan, but about the
perceptions, sensations, evaluations and random excrescences of the
observer!
(if it weren't for your lackk of your review, i'd be sure this post was
a put-on)
> >There are rumors that RMDers are landing in Philadelphia... >...how
>many times do you see Bob at a theater with just 400-600 other people?
with someone like you at the quill, i don't think too much longer... ;)
>And, eventhough I wouldn't promise to replay Nate's role, except for
>the part where he mentions some souls gyrating all around him;-),
may you need to get drunk, laid -- or bent, stapled, and mutilated to
spur your creative juices and get you out of this melancholy. history
is being performed before your eyes and you're acting bourgeois and
you're not even out of your second decade of life
>I
>am sure we can find enough volunteers.
>
yawn
>Hope to see some of you at the show! (Nate, drop by...we need
>someone to write a review).;-)
i pray to *vishnu* that this is joke
>
>--
>Sorabh
>
jnb
--(and for all the junk i send you, you better get back from the
land of la muzz, to your EDLIS desk -- and answer my email!) :)
Dates 1995
