Last night Alex, suegra and I hopped in the McBonemobile and raced over at warp speed to Fifth Third Field in Dayton, Ohio. The Bob Dylan Show featured another pair of legends, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cougar, and the venue was the cozy home of Class A ballclub, the Dayton Dragons (currently languishing at 6-9 in the Midwest League). While we love Willie Nelson (and are 100% indifferent to Mellencamp), Bob was the reason we made the three-hour drive. Full of hotdogs and beer and piss and vinegar, we found a good spot and parked ourselves on the outfield grass. Here's the set list from his completely awesome performance:Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
Lay Lady Lay
Lonesome Day Blues
Love Sick
The Levee's Gonna Break
Beyond the Horizon
Honest with Me
Make You Feel My Love
Highway 61 Revisited
If You Ever Go to Houston
Summer Days
Like a Rolling Stone*
Jolene
All Along the Watchtower
This marks, by my calculations, the 9th time I've seen Dylan in concert. How does this one rank? Pretty near the middle, I'd say. I'm not sure he'll ever surpass a certain night in Columbus in 1996, when he redefined the meaning of transcendence, but this was really, really, really good. Mostly he stuck to his post 1999 output, a pretty even mix of songs from the last four albums with a few classics thrown in for good measure. The band, a bit loose at the beginning, was in top form by the time they cranked out Lonesome Day Blues. From there it was a rollicking good time. Great crowd, great band, and the ultimate musical genius pounding the keyboard and blowing harp. Why, he even picked up his guitar for a couple of numbers.
*Like a Rolling Stone--it's the song that made me fall in love with Bob Dylan. Has it become a cliche? I would say yes, if Bob didn't refuse to let it become cliche by constantly finding new ways to deliver it to us. Honestly, I don't think I've ever heard a better performance of the song, and several other equally stunned people around us were making similar comments.
Official McBone Rating: 4.0 McBones.
The evening also provided an unexpected delight from Alex's Dayton years--an encounter with old friends Fran and Ralph.
nwb
4 comments:
Was this planned or spur of the moment? Bob really must love Ohio; he seems to perform there every year.
Planned for months! Did I not tell you? Bob seems to always play a few dates in Ohio every year.
nwb
That looks like an interesting and good setlist. All of the Bob shows I have seen had an equal balance of old and new songs (or more old than new, in some cases). It's interesting to see that he is playing predominantly from the recent catalog. Glad it was a good show. And since I was at that mecca of all musical moments in 1996, I can understand the relative comparison of measuring all Bob shows with the divine concert.
I'm proud to have shared that special evening with you, my friend. Hard to believe it was 13 years ago. Cripes.
nwb
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