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Bob Dylan 2000.09.19 in Newcastle, England

Telewest Arena (Newcastle Arena), Arena Way
Capacity: 6500



From: notdarkyet@eircom.net
To: "Karl Erik Andersen" ,
        "Bill Pagel" 
Subject: Newcastle review by Markus Prieur
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 10:39:41 +0100

This was a nice show to watch. We were standing all the way up
front underneath the left speaker. Bob was very animated, made
plenty of funny faces, danced around a lot and was clearly
enjoying himself, especially during the songs he plays often.
"LIKE A ROLLING STONE" was very intense and "TANGLED UP IN BLUE"
was crowned with the finest and longest harp solo on this tour
(so far).

Bob threw in five more songs into this tour, four of which I had
never seen him perform in the 25 shows I had been to before.
"DELIA" was delivered very plaintively (this was the first show
on this tour with three cover songs). "TELL ME THAT IT ISN'T
TRUE" was sung as if it was written yesterday. On good nights Bob
does that with certain songs. It's part of his gift as a
performer, and it simply amazes me when he does it.

The show stopper this time was another of his
first-time-in-Europe performances, a magnificent "STANDING IN THE
DOORWAY", which by itself was worth the price of admission.
Superb phrasing! It was the eighth (!) song from "Time Out Of
Mind" in five shows. This time Bob conveyed his conviction, that
even when the flesh falls off of his face, someone will be there
to care. Must be his Lord and Savior, who touched him so many
times with his nail scarred hand and who will lead him beyond
this burning sand. Bob sure is ready to go.

Even better was a brilliant version of "MAN OF PEACE", which had
been printed already on the cue sheet in Glasgow (see my review).
"RING THEM BELLS" at Vicar Street and this "MAN OF PEACE" in
Newcastle are the only two songs from the eighties performed on
this tour so far, fitting however thematically very well to some
of the cover songs and some of the "Time Out Of Mind"-songs Bob
did perform during the three other shows, especially "THIS WORLD
CAN'T STAND", "HIGHLANDS", "NOT DARK YET", "TRYIN' TO GET TO
HEAVEN", HALLELUJAH I'M READY TO GO", "I AM THE MAN THOMAS" and
"SOMEBODY TOUCHED ME". As "MAN OF PEACE" was performed for the
first time this year (and this warning about the craftiness of
the father of lies was performed masterfully), I do consider to
include this song on my website "Not Dark Yet", when we get home
to Ireland next week; and maybe "RING THEM BELLS" as well. But
first we shall try to find our way down to Birmingham, and
Sheffield, and Cardiff, and Portsmouth. This tour is like a gold
rush.

Markus Prieur / http://notdarkyet.tripod.com / notdarkyet@eircom.net


From: "Lottie Johnson" lottie@lottie99.fsnet.co.uk To: webmaster@expectingrain.com Subject: Newcastle Review Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 13:53:18 +0100 Hi Karl, Heres a review of last nights show, sorry for any typos etc. Jim Johnson Newcastle Review 19/9/00 This will have to be quick as IÕm just about to leave for tonightÕs show in Birmingham, the second of nine shows IÕm seeing over the next few weeks. Yesterday I queued for 7 hours to secure myself a spot on the barrier. Thankfully it worked despite all the stories IÕve heard about DylanÕs Management taking people from the back of the queue so they could have some fresh faces at the front! The show started at 7:50pm and first up was Duncan and Brady Great start to the show. Dylan looked on the ball from the first chord and I especially liked the way he sang Ōtoo longĶ after the rest of the band. Perfect. It also seemed much longer than on other versions of this song IÕve heard from this year. 8/10 The Times They Are A ChanginÕ This was dreadful. In fact after such a good start it would have had to be something special, something like Song To Woody. There were quite a lot of fluffed lines and the singing was sloppy. I was dreading the rest of the show after this but then...4/10 ItÕs Alright Ma was word perfect, brilliantly executed and the first of many highlights from the show. I love the first verse where it seems just Dylan and Campbell play before the rest of the guys join in. Lots of different light settings on this which made the whole song very atmospheric. 9/10 DeliaĘ was next and came as a great surprise. The most haunting and emotional version IÕve ever heard. At some points when singing the hook line his voice sounded on the verge of breaking. Amazing! Unfortunately I was distracted for the last verse and ending as a fight broke out behind me. You must here this version. The definite version you will ever here! Honest! Highlight of the night 10/10 Tangled up in Blue was just like the last version you heard. A rather awful one note harmonica solo turned into a blistering one and saved the song from being unexceptional. A good crowd pleaser. 7/10 Searching For A Soldiers Grave was pleasant with some excellent harmonies from the guys. Somehow it seemed to follow on from Delia. Not as mournful but full of emotion. This got the least reaction and reception from the audience for the whole show. 6/10 Country Pie woke everyone up. This song is really coming on. At last Dylan got to pull some silly faces and dances and Charlie rocked like hell. A great start to the electric set. If you get to hear the tape watch out for the way he sings Ō What do I care?Ķ in the most dismissive way. Excellent. 8/10 Standing in the doorway was one of the big surprises and featured DylanÕs best guitar work all night. Sounded very much like the studio version. Again, very sad and desperate which seemed to be the theme of the show up to this point. 9/10 Stuck inside of Mobile was not what I wanted next but it sure did rock. This was loud and again gave Dylan a good excuse to do some of his bendy knee, leg waving, and silly face antics. He seemed to enjoy this a lot but I hope he doesnÕt decide to make this a regular fixture. DonÕt get me wrong it was good but not that good. Larry played acoustic guitar on this. 7/10 Tell Me That it IsnÕt True was next and to be honest I canÕt remember that much about it. IÕm sure it was good and I remember Larry has got the ending sounding just like the album version. Also Charlie and Tony were in deep discussion through out and at one point were laughing very hard. I missed the joke though! 8/10 The Wicked Messenger was another tight performance and i love the way Dylan sings on his own throughout the verses before the band comes crashing in. The harmonica on this was wild and brought the house down. There were some amazing faces and expressions while he was blowing the harp. Riveting stuff. 9/10 Rainy Day was another crowd pleaser again complete with silly dance and faces. He cocked up on the last verse getting completely out of time but he didnÕt care by this point, he was enjoying himself immensely which was strange because all the other time in the show (apart from where IÕve noted silly dances etc) he looked like someone whoÕd just been told his house had been burgled. Also after nearly every song he took off his guitar and the ÔroadyÕ would run up to him to tell him to put it back on as he had another acoustic/electric song to play. 7/10 The formation then took place and they stood for a good minute, Dylan with one hand on hip before Larry exited the stage. The rest followed and they crowd cheered for a good 5 minutes before the encores. Things have Changed started the encore which very few people recognised. Perhaps thatÕs because Columbia have decided to release this single after the tour has finished. That makes sense! A good performance anyway. Pretty much the way you know it to be. 8/10 Like a Rolling Stone was next with an intro that was new to me and had me off guard for a minute. A huge reaction from the crowd and even the hard-core fans at the front were really digging this. Wonderful stuff complete with a great solo from Charlie. 9/10 DonÕt think twice had all the audience singing and Dylan kept this as close to the melody as he could. Lovely version but with some strange guitar soloing from Dylan. 7/10 Man Of Peace was another huge surprise but was also another big highlight of the night. This really rocked and Dylan barked every word out perfectly. A great rendition and one I look forward to hearing again on the tour. 9/10 It was then as the show started drawing to a close that IÕd thought IÕd try my luck and ask the stage security guy who was standing directly in front of me if i could take some photos. Amazingly he said ŌyesĶ and so for the last three songs i snapped away with Dylan only 10 feet away. The shots are being developed as I speak and I hope to have them up on my website (http://mx9.xoom.com/jwj007/) by the end of the Portsmouth shows. Forever Young followed which at the time I thought was the last song as it had been in the previous shows. It was another tight performance but not outstanding. I prefer the version I heard in 1998. 8/10 Highway 61 was another song that was really loud and featured some great guitar work all round. Charlie looks like heÕs really into these songs and you can tell heÕs having a great time. I might be wrong but I think Dylan only sang 2 or 3 verses of this song. Time will tell.. 8/10 BlowinÕ closed the show and was delightful but I was hoping for a harp solo like the one on the bonus CD for Greatest Hits 53 or whatever it is.7/10 And so with one last formation, hand on hip again, and a tug at his old grey hair he disappeared. Until tonight.. see you later. 148/190 Jim Johnson Jj007@ukonline.co.uk
Subject: Newcastle 19/9/00-review From: "paul.ryles" paul.ryles@ntlworld.com Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 16:50:41 +0100 Well, it's now the afternoon of the 20th, the day after the night before so to speak. I'd been waiting in anticipation for what seemed like an eternity for the 19th of September to arrive, especially considering in the time I spent waiting I had the small matter of my masters degree dissertation to finish. The Tuesday at work seems to drag, so much so that I leave early, and get the train to my native north east from my adopted home in West Yorkshire. I arrive home at about five o'clock, just enough time to grab a bite to eat and head into Newcastle for a couple of drinks with my brother before we head to the venue. The pub turns out to be a fairly dodgy heavy metal bar that for some reason my opera loving brother prefers to the other 150 or so bars in the city centre. The music consists of Rage Against The Machine and Iron Maiden, but in amongst this is 'Mr Jones' by the Counting Crows, "I wanna be Bob Dylan", I don't believe in omens, so we head down to the venue. As we get closer to the arena there is a steady increase in traffic and folks heading the same way through the pouring rain. We get to the venue at 7.20 and thankfully the doors are already open and we can go straight in. Once inside we head into the hall, which is by day an ice hockey arena, with about 4,000 capacity, which looked almost full. At 7.45 sharp the lights go out and the in the darkness we can see the band take the stage and then "Good evening ladies and gentlemen...". Into 'Duncan and Brady'. There were many striking things about the show the first that struck me was the quality of the sound it just filled the room, and I'm not talking about volume, the best way to describe it was it was a BIG sound, the next thing that struck me was the quality of Bob's vocals, both in terms of sound quality and singing, his singing was incredible. The third thing that struck was that I had a smile so big on my face that it was bringing tears to my eyes, this was going to be good! I can't be certain but I'm sure there was a false ending in the opener, the band seemed to be winding up the song in what seemed to me as the usual place, but we got an extra chorus, no doubt the boot will reveal whether I'm mistaken, possibly from my emotional state of mind. 'Times' was next up from what I can remember in was a really great performance but it got lost in between 'Duncan and Brady' and the third number, 'It's Alright, Ma', Wow, Awesome and Impressive were three of the words my brother used and I totally agree, one of my favorite songs and a absolute privilege to here it played and sung so well. If the show had of ended there I would have been satisfied, so when Bob sang the first lines of 'Delia' I though I was in heaven a delicate treatment to a song that would deserve no less, magic. 'Tangled Up In Blue' and the harp appears for the first of its two outings, really great to watch Bob as he jigs from one foot to the other, with his right hand out for what looks like balance but serves also to give the band its cue to end the song. If my memory serves me right there was something close to a light show here, well the footlights were used to project big shadows of the band onto the drape backdrop during the chorus. The fantastic singing continues into 'Searching For A Soldiers Grave', a very short song which I think I could listen to for a week. The electric set opens with 'Country Pie' followed by 'Standing In The Doorway', it seems for the first time that the band doesn't really know which direction the song is going in. It doesn't spoil the song one bit though, but it will be interesting to see if the song re-appears on set lists later in the tour. 'MBA' is the roaring blues tune that it is with some great guitar work. 'Tell Me That It Isn't True' sees the recent lyric change "...just doesn't sound right" changed back to "...just doesn't seem right". 'Wicked Messenger' is next up another strong performance and the second harp solo, this time the right hand used to lead the band up and then down to the close of the song. Band introduction follow and for readers of the Irish Times, Larry Campbell has been replaced by an exact lookalike and soundalike, and so Bob doesn't get confused in the introductions his name is Larry Campbell. For 'Rainy Day Women #12 & 35' Bob has his guitar up almost under his chin. I love this song played live purely to see the band cut loose and just go for it. So end of the main set and the band get into the formation, surreal, just lining up to take the applause. It looks semi-arrogant, but this band are so good and Bob is in such impressive voice they deserve the applause. The encore opens with 'Things Have Changed', the vocals are far better than the recorded version, and that's not to put the song down, I love it, it's just Bob was in great voice, I can't emphasise it enough. During the chorus to 'Like A Rolling Stone' bright flood lights illuminate the audience with an obvious response of the crowd going nuts, an excellent crowd a lot better atmosphere than two years ago when Van Morrison sharing the bill. A superb 'Don't Think Twice' and then the start of a song which I thought was going to be 'Gotta Serve Somebody' but instead turned out to be 'Man Of Peace', bloody brilliant. 'Forever Young' followed, with a blistering 'Highway Six-teee Waaan'. 'Blowin In The Wind' closed the show, I love this arrangement, an excellent way to end the show. But as the band took the applause in the formation and left the stage the house lights stayed off. Could we be in for some extra special, the lights stayed off for maybe two minutes, enough time for the applause to build and hopes to be raised, only for the lights to come on, end of show, I suppose we had already been spoiled, any more would have just been greed. The show lasted just under two hours, the good feeling it left inside will last a lot longer. Roll on Sheffield. Paul
Subject: Newcastle 2000 was bad ? No way it was a UK Higlhight!! From: Trevor Gibb ggne11018@cableinet.co.uk Date: Fri, 29 Dec 2000 15:34:59 GMT (feel free to contradict me or comment) I'm happy that you have commented on Del Mar and Newcastle. In fact I was at Newcastle and the sound quality at the show and some of the vocal performances were superb. he wasn't as tight as usual however every couple of shows he either peaks or drops. we cant expect him to be spot on all the time. basically Newcastle rocked. his vocals were pretty sweet and high pitched. Delia was just beautiful, as was forever young. Its alright ma was a real highlight. it was a good show, the Atmosphere was great aswell. bob was in good humour he smiled and pulled faces at the crowd. I was at the very front and one of the younger ones in the place, I myself only being 18. I was very close to Dylan, right on the first row. the lights on his face made him look as though he had his face paints on but thats just the light. in fact he looked extremely old, but as the light effects changed I started to recognise the man I have became totally obsessed with. In the middle of stuck inside of mobile, the crowd were screaming and rocking back and forth, clapping. bob played a little solo, and got down on his honkers. as he lowered himself on his knees, he played a so-so 3 note or maybe 4 note solo. I stuck my thumbs up at him and shouted, bob you fucking rock. he smiled at me, there was definitely eye contact, and this is no bull shit. He smiled pulled a face and nodded his head in acknowledgement of my comments. he then did the thing he does at the end of mtv unplugged. he started to survey the front row acknowledging screams from certain crowd members. he definitely saw me and I was pretty active for most of the concert, never stopped shouting. he was probably suprised to youth such as me at one of his concerts, he almost looked touched with emotion when he saw me. through most of the night we were all screaming at Tony and Larry. me and this baldy guy at the front were shouting at Tony during the line-up, his face just cracked up he looked over thinking "what nutters". Tony has that Goofy smile, he just looks cool. any way into the encores and after I think THC there was a pause, a silence bob went back stage, we thought it was over. he walked towards one of the roadies who handed him an acoustic. he came back towrds the crowds and surveyed the front row. my first feelings was "hey trev whats your favourite live acoustic song, think of one that rocks". well the song that came into my head had the whole crowd singing like angels. during the silence i loked at my pal, bob looked down at the first few rows and i jumped and screamed "Dont Think Twice, bob!!". well you know what happened next and of course you wont believ me because at the time it was so hard to believe anyway. most of the front row looked at me and a couple patted me on the back. i love the new guitar picking high pitched sopund of that song. its just superb. the whole crowd were singing. it was definately a highlight. although bobs performance lacked in some ways, in others he climaxed. His vocals are getting better. i thought he was losing the abitlity to sing since the sometimes monotone 80's and early growl of the nineties (although i could contradict this because both decades proved great dylan vocal styles). I think that the band werent on complete top form and therefore dylan felt a little nervy. plus all those gigs in the days previous prove that you cant always be at your best all of the time. it was a memorable gig, better than del mar i think. thats proably because i was there. 1 problem : my recording of this show is from much further back in the show, it lacks the atmostphere and quality of the few songs from this gig which were on John Nye's Highlights webpage. His recording were nearer my area in the crowd and therefore the full power was recorded on his copies. I recommend Newcastle Sept 19th 2000. it was a good show and there are a few grems in this show. Bob treated the geordie audience, no doubt about that. Trev Gibb Check out my webpage www.freezeout.8m.com (soon to be re-updated with 1976 concert audio) -------------------(original server deleted all my audiofiles-----------------
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