Strangest DYLAN gig I ever saw SAT AUG 9, 2008

[TimmyB]

Due to two reasons Saturday August 9, 2008 was the strangest Bob Dylan gig I ever saw. First, since Dylan was headlining this new festival the New American Music Union he was not able to stop people in attendence from bringing in cameras. So to counter the cameras that the fans were pointing on the stage during Dylan's set, the stage lights were kept getting turned down to the point where not one overhead stage light was on during "Ballad of a Thin Man." So Bob and his boys were essentially playing in the dark.

The second reason it was such a strange show since the tickets were so cheap I paid $64.70 and students paid $25 less for the two day festival put on by American Eagle and Anthony Keidis of the Red Hot Chilli Peppers that the crowd was the youngest I have ever seen at a Dylan gig. To put it more clearly it was the most non-Dylan crowd I have ever seen at a Dylan gig.

With other acts on the bill that Saturday including the Raconteurs, Spoon, Gnarls Barkley, Black Mountain and the Duke Spirit, the audience up front were not just there to see Dylan and for a General Admission show I saw less Dylan regulars around the front than I have ever witnessed.

So it did not help the gig when Dylan decided in his 13 song set to play 7 songs from his last two albums and only 6 songs from the sixties and seventies. The young crowd up front sang the opener and closers like I have never seen at a Dylan show (the songs were "Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35" and "Like a Rolling Stone". Yet when Dylan was doing so many songs they obviously were unaware of they attempted to stay in it by clapping through songs like "Spirit on the Water" and "Honest with Me" it was a little annoying, yet also funny at the same time.

To be clear I'm not complaining that Dylan was doing so much new material, I would love to still hear "Mississippi" and "Ain't Talkin'" it was just obviously hard for all the young fans that do not have all his latest releases.

All in all the strangest Dylan gig I have ever seen. I expect the gigs at SPAC and COPPS that I will be attending to have better lighting and to be longer.

Peace,

Tim

[Northern Wish]

Did he play Mississippi? One of my fav Dylan tunes of all time.......

Setlist?

[TimmyB]

Nope unfortunately no "Mississippi" I have yet to get that song, which is my favorite off of 'Love & Theft,' in the twenty-four shows I have seen Bob Dylan play since the album was released.

Here is the setlist from the New American Music Union Festival

Bob Dylan and His Band

Saturday August 9, 2008

Start time: 9:36pm

1. Rainy Day Music #12 & 35

2. It Ain't Me, Babe

3. The Levee's Gonna Break

4. Spirit on the Water

5. High Water (for Charlie Patton)

6. Tangled Up in Blue

7. Honest with Me

8. Beyond the Horizon

9. It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

10. Nettie Moore

11. Summer Days

12. Ballad of a Thin Man

Encore. 13. Like a Rolling Stone

End time: 11:08pm (total time 1 hour and 32 minutes)

Here's hoping for "Mississippi" and/or "Ain't Talkin'" at SPAC or COPPS.

Peace,

Tim

[Northern Wish]

High Water and Honest w Me... Nice!

I'll put in a good word for Mississippi at Copps with Bob next time I see him ;-)

[phorbesie]

in the twenty-four shows I have seen Bob Dylan play since the album was released.

hehe love it! i love how these little tidbits get thrown in and make me go 'wow'

[Esau.]

Thanks for the review and info Tim, the dim lights deal reminds me of the Hamilton show in '88.

As always, my fingers are crossed for a 'New Morning' (last one was in '06)

'Time Passes Slowly' (my biggest song wish) would be insane, although it will never happen in my opinion.

[Northern Wish]

Ryan Adams also pulled this low lighting thing off last June at the Toronto gig. So low you could barely make out what was going on...........