Bob Dylan 981018 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Subject: Saskatoon, SK 18/10/98 From: (vic.begrand@sk.sympatico.ca) Date: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 07:03:53 GMT There wasn't quite the amount of excitement in the city as I thought there would be as I prepared for my first ever Dylan show...Saskatoon, which is a totally puritanical, right-wing, un-hip city, could only muster up around 4 to 5,000 people for tonight's show. Needless to say there were plenty of empty seats in the upper reaches of the arena. And they weren't all there for Bob. Opening act Jann Arden had about as much drawing power as the headliner, and the crowd was very excited when she started her 45-minute set. Arden has a very loyal following on the Prairies, and almost all her songs were greeted with enthusiastic applause. I'm not totally into her music, but she won me over with her charm and hilarious banter with the crowd (looking at the hordes of needless security lunkheads along the edge of the stage, she said, "Do we really need all this security?...well, I am sick to death of being mobbed."). Her best line was directed towards Bob: "So you're wondering how I got this gig, huh? Well, me and Bob have been involved for quite some time now. It's sooooo heavy...we're spendng all our time on a great big brass bed...It's fuckin' amazing!" After a too-brief intermission (the crowd was caught unawares and were scrambling to their seats for five minutes) Bob & the guys made their way to the stage. GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY I was delighted to hear this song...I was hoping it would be this instead of 'Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat'. I've never heard the current version before...it had a more driving beat to it than the original version. Bob came out reserved...the crowd sat. I'LL REMEMBER YOU The only one I wasn't familiar with...was excellent, though. The crowd sat. COLD IRONS BOUND Amazing performance. Bob started moving around a bit, but the dead Saskatoon crowd sat some more. JUST LIKE A WOMAN Beautiful version of the classic song...Bob played a two-minute harp solo at the beginning, to lots of cheers. I thought this version was a whole lot better than the ones done at MSG back in January. It was obvious Bob was in a good mood, and the crowd cheered appreciatively, but still sat. SILVIO Was Silvio. Great song...I still love the tempo change near the end. I'll never get sick of that song. Bob started dancing around like he does, but to no avail. The crowd sat. IT TAKES A LOT TO LAUGH, IT TAKES A TRAIN TO CRY Wonderful surprise! One of my absolute favorites...the band slowed it down a touch, and ground it out over about six minutes. Very loud, VERY tight, and brilliantly mixed: the sound guy deserved a lot of credit tonight. Amazing song. The crowd sat, unfortunately. THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' Another harp solo at the intro. Great performance. Nicely enunciated! Went over very well, but the crowd sat. And sat. And sat. MASTERS OF WAR Fierce performance. The last verse was vicious, with Bob growling the last lines. Crowd sat. DON'T THINK TWICE, IT'S ALRIGHT Another very pleasant surprise! I love the song, and so did the majority of the audience. Not enough to make them stand, however. Tony ditched the upright bass and went to the regular (and infinitely smaller) acoustic bass guitar. David had the brushes going, and the song had more of an upbeat, country feel to it. TANGLED UP IN BLUE Was TUIB. My absolute favorite. Just like all the other performances recently, which is just fine with me! Crowd cheered exuberantly, but sat. BALLAD OF A THIN MAN YET another big big surprise! Once the LOUD guitars started, they seemed to ignite the crowd. The crowd stood. The crowd cheered. The crowd rushed the stage! When Bob wasn't sneering the lines of the song, he was grinning at the crowd triumphantly, seeming to say, "Aha, NOW I got you up!" He really started hamming it up from then on. The performance was incredible. Still sounds as acerbic and angry as ever. HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED Obviously Bob didn't want to lose any momentum. He had worked hard enough getting the audience involved, so the band chugged away fiecely at the classic tune. Bob really started moving during this one, looking like he was enjoying himself. LOVE SICK Was Love Sick. Great version of the best song on TOOM. RAINY DAY WOMEN I don't have to say this had everyone moving...not my absolute favorite, but it did raise the roof. BLOWIN' IN THE WIND Nice version...Bob now had the crowd in the palm of his hands. 'TIL I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU There had to be at least one more new one...awesome bluesy performance. FOREVER YOUNG The seventeenth straight brilliant performance...we were all begging for more at the end, but much to our dismay, the house lights went up. All in all, a wonderful time was had by all, and it was a night I'll never forget. Although I wanted to hear new stuff like 'Can't Wait' and 'Million Miles', I should consider myself lucky Bob whipped out a couple more classics instead. Clearly this was more of a "best-of" show...the reserved crowd, which is constantly fed a diet of geezer-pleaser classic rock on all Saskatoon's subpar radio stations, were not familiar at all with Bob's wonderful TOOM. As I walked out of the arena to the car, looking at the vibrant, swirling turqoise northern lights ahead covering the entire northern sky (beatifically hearing vague traces of skipping reels of rhyme), there was no doubting I had the time of my life. Adrien Begrand
