Bob Dylan 980118 in New York, New York - Madison Square Garden - The Theater
Address: 7th Ave. & 32nd St.
Capacity 5610
Double bill with Van Morrison
Ticket prices: $75.00 and $45.00
Subject: Review: 1/18/98 (Long)
From: Eric Moore (emoore@openix.com)
Date: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 11:36:54 -0500
Before I start, this is my first review so please bear with me. Also,
if anyone has a tape of this show, I would very much like to trade for
it.
Van opened and was excellent. Bob came out and they did one number
together, but I really didn't think too much of it. They both played
guitar (the only time Van did) and they both sang into the same mic
throughout the song. Van is a much louder singer than Bob and has a
much stronger voice so you really couldn't hear Bob. I was expecting
them to trade off verses so we could hear Bob, but it didn't happen. I
can't say enough how impressed I was with Van and his band. I was
thinking to myself that it would be hard for Bob to top it.
It only took 15 minutes to switch gear. They just wheeled Van's stuff
back behind a curtain and wheeled Bob's stuff out. Then they proceeded
to spend 15 minutes making the people who had gathered around the stage
go back to their seats. So 1/2 hour later, "Ladies and Gentlemen,
please welcome Columbia Recording Artist..."
1. Absolutely Sweet Marie - in my opinion rushed and a warm up. It
ended fairly abruptly and during the song I was starting to get worried
that after Van's killer set, Bob was going to be a let down...this was
not to be the case.
2. I Want You - Done in the way slowed down arrangement. Musically,
aside from the tempo change, quite similar to the album version. Very
nice, but still subdued. The band seemed to be still warming up.
3. Cold Irons Bound - Let's say things changed quickly...this is the
song I came to see. Cold Irrrrrrrrons Bound. Rockin! This band is
tight and the new songs are even better live than on the CD. The crowd
is now starting to get into it.
4. You're A Big Girl Now - A surprise for me (the first in a string of
surprises) as I was hoping for Not Dark Yet, but they played it very
well. Quiet, delicate and lovely.
5. Silvio - Surprise number 2...where was Can't Wait? I wanted to hear
as many TOOM songs as possible, and this one is excellent live...also we
are now a song short of the other recent shows...perhaps his duet with
Van counts as a song? Anyway, Silvio rocked and the crowd loved it.
The lights turned down and they switched to acoustic. A few chords were
strummed, but not enough for me to figure out what it was.
Then..."They're selling postcards of the hanging..."
6. Desolation Row @ - Another surprise for me. I love this song and
Bob played it very well. He seemed to be into every word. His guitar
was turned up so that you could hear it very loudly when he strummed
hard and wanted it loud. His voice was also loud and clear in the mix
which I thought was very good all night from the back of section 205 on
the left side where I was sitting. The band laid down a nice driving
drum and bass thing which fits with the rhythmn of the song very well.
Bob played some nice lead, in fact he played nice lead stuff all
throughout the show, but he seemed to really be into it on the acoustic
numbers.
I'm now expecting a cover, maybe roving gambler...again a few strums I
don't immediately recognize (not surprising since I'm expecting a cover)
and another surprise...
7. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue @ - Again Bob's guitar and voice were
quite loud in the mix (hooray!) so it seemed the rest of the band was
just there to provide some rhythmic background. Another of my all time
fav's and again I thought he hit it just right.
8. Tangled Up In Blue @ - no surprise here. I know a lot of people
think he should hang this one up for a while, but the arrangement moves,
everyone can sing along and his playing and singing are so good I really
enjoyed it. It is perhaps a bit too fast for him to get all the words
in properly, but he sang the verses in correct order tonight! This band
rocks on acoustic as much as they do on the electric instruments and I'm
now wishing they'd play a couple more acoustic numbers. The acoustic
set was absolutely fabulous.
9. Million Miles - I was hoping for this and I got it. Again they
absolutely rocked! The crowd was into it, lots of dancing. Again, as
good as the album is, the live versions are better.
10. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again - Essentially a
straight reading of the album version, with a couple verses left out.
The band was good, but I thought this was a bit of a letdown after the
rocking Million Miles. I love the album version of this song, and this
one was good, but not up to the level of the rest of show after Cold
Irons Bound. Of course this could just be because I was really hoping
for Blind Willie McTell...
11. Till I Fell In Love With You - I'd read that this was an unlikely
closer, but that they made it work. And they did. Bob is still taking
plenty of leads and while he doesn't have the smooth lead technique of
Larry, he is much better than I expected and all through the show it is
obvious he is having a ball. He's leaning into the crowd and posing.
In fact, all night he was sort of ambling around the stage and looked
very relaxed.
Encores
12. Highway 61 Revisited - I'm beginning to sound like a broken record,
but this song rocked. Lots of dancing, etc. Bob and co. don't let up.
I am now figuring on Don't Think Twice, It's All Right, or possibly
Tambourine Man, but I hear three chords and I know what's next...another
pleasant surprise.
13. Knockin On Heaven's Door @ - The band begins with the ooooing in
harmony and Bob's vocal begins softly...again his guitar and vocal are
high in the mix, which I think is just great. I'm again wishing there
were more acoustinc content to the show. Every acoustic number was
excellent and Bob seemed to be into every one. With him being high in
the mix you really get a chance to appreciate Bob.
14. Love Sick - This one is also great live, though I would say its
only as good as or slightly better than on album. The other TOOM songs
clearly come to life in the live setting while this one gains a little,
but not as much in comparison. Still rockin.
Bob now thanks Van and introduces the Band and then...
15. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 - I've heard a lot of people say this song
should alse be retired, but again I am taken by the excellent playing by
the entire band. Lots of time for tasty soloing, etc. Everyone is
dancing and having a great time.
All in all I thought the show was excellent. I've only seen Bob one
other time...11/6/90 in DeKalb, IL and he was rushed and lackluster.
This is a man clearly at the the top of his game. Given the song
selection of the previous 2 nights, it would have been hard for me to
come up with a better set list. (Except for Blind Willie as mentioned
above). And the band is tight and rockin, Bob was into every song
and...well I'll stop there. I loved the show. Did I mention I'd like
to get a tape?
Subject: 1/18/98 Watching Van with Bob
From: Michael Roos (roosme@ucrwcu.rwc.uc.edu)
Date: Wed, 21 Jan 1998 09:48:56 +0000
Well, Sunday night was another Dylan night to remember. Not because I
think it was one of his best performances. It wasn't. Having seen him
now five times in the past 14 months, the setlist didn't blow me away.
Desolation Row and Baby Blue were great to hear, nicely done. And
You're a Big Girl Now would have thrilled me except I thought his
delivery was passionless. In fact I thought the whole first electric
set was passionless. Things got better with the acoustic set, when,
during Tangled Up In Blue, Dylan himself seemed to recognize the need
for some kind of kick. A lone blonde female was dancing in the fifth
row center, while the rest of the audience sat sedately. Dylan pointed
to her and others around her, motioning them to come forward, which they
immediately did, bringing the rest of the crowd to its feet, where it
remained through the rest of the concert. An interesting moment.
Thereafter, Bob went into his prancing and mugging routine for those in
front of him, but it just all seemed forced. It wasn't coming from
within him on this particular night. I never felt like he was able to
connect with the emotional core of any of the songs. Oh well, can't
have it every night.
But this was all after the most intriguing occurrence of the evening.
As you've read, during Van Morrison's great, impassioned set, he called
Dylan onstage to do some old country waltz, which they both enjoyed much
more than the audience, but it was nice to see them together, having a
good time, clearly liking each other. Dylan then left the stage. Now
our seats (my wife and I), were in about the 9th row, extreme right, two
seats removed from the aisle and directly next to the door backstage.
Women came and went (no barefoot servants), roadies came and went, but
no one noteworthy until...
The door opened and out came Bob, with four body guards. They took up
residence in the cross aisle three rows directly behind us and remained
there the rest of Van's show. Now, of course, it was all I could do to
keep from moving back there with him and pumping him with questions
about the show, but I suppressed any urges toward groupiedom and limited
myself to occasional furtive glances back into the darkness. He was
still there, watching, unsmiling. (My wife claims she made eye contact
with him more than once, but I suspect it was wishful thinking on her
part. It was too dark for me to see his eyes that well.) When the
house lights came back on, he and the guards moved quietly back through
the door and were gone. Later, I scolded myself for not wishing him
well, flattering myself to think it would have made a difference in his
performance. At the time, I thought, 'Leave him alone. Don't say
something stupid.' So I didn't. Funny thing was, no one else around us
gave any indication that they were aware at all that he was there. And
I haven't seen any mention of this little moment by anyone else writing
here.
At any rate, for my money, I got to spend an hour silently watching a
great Van Morrison concert with Bob Dylan. I'd pay to do that any time.
Mike Roos
From: ScoobyT999
Date: Thu, 22 Jan 1998 22:55:15 EST
To: van-l@NIC.SURFNET.NL
Subject: T's Story - I SAT WITH BOB!
Sender: owner-van-l@NIC.SURFNET.NL
After lurking for about a year, I finally decided to come forward with my
first post to the list. Yes, I am more than DocSurf's imagination (and great
dinner hostess!). I have had a lot of fun meeting many of you at the Fleadh
(NYC) and this past week at MSG. I had a great time sharing experiences (ok, a
few beers and vodkas, too) with many at Kavanaghs. I can't even hope to
remember y'all (probably the results of the beers and vodkas!), but: Carlo
(did you like the back rub? I swear that wasn't a pick-up line, I really
thought you were someone else! But what a great way to make new friends?!),
Wanda & Hubby, THE MONK!!, Tony, Kevin, Bob, Ben, Linda, Simon,.... This is
silly, you know who you are.
Thanks for all the fun!! You guys are great!!!
Now my reason for the post:
I SAT WITH BOB!!! I SAT WITH BOB!!! I SAT WITH BOB!!! I SAT WITH BOB!!!
As Van & Dylan began their duet, Doc and I had to run down to try and get a
closer view (sorry if I stepped on any feet - I was on a mission!). I lost
Doc somewhere (probably performing chants with the monk again...), but I found
a spot in front of the divide to the Orchestra Section on the floor (after
being escorted back to my seat numerous times the night before, I didn't dare
try to get any closer and risk having to return back to the "nose-bleed"
section -- all that begging Doc did, you'd think we could've gotten seats down
in civilization! Ah well...beggers really can't be choosers, huh?) - anyway,
back to my post.
While watching VTM, some clown tripped over me. I was
annoyed as hell over the disruption, I mean, hey, I was watching Van. As an
earlier post mentioned, Dylan came out into the audience on Sunday to watch
Van after their duet. I'm sure you've probably guessed where this is
going...as I turned to glare at the "clown", I immediately noticed the stripe
up the leg of his pants, then I was staring eye to eye with Bob Dylan.
Yes, HIS BOBNESS!! Of course, I was no longer annoyed and moved over to let
Bob have his space (as long as it was no more than an inch or two from me!hee-
hee). As I sat there awestruck, I noticed that Bob (yes, we are now on a
first-name basis - at least in my world!), anyway, Bob seemed annoyed as
people approached him (he seemed very intent on the show), So I kept my mouth
shut..(of course I was unable to speak anyway!). It was at that time security
came and started moving people back to their seats. I just kept watching the
show (hoping security wouldn't notice me) when my friend, the rude security
guard from Hell whose mission it seemed was to keep me from enjoying the show
in a place other than my seat in the nose-bleed section came over and reached
for my arm (I'm sure to help me find my seat in the dark)
Bob said "She's Ok. She can stay". I leaned back with a big-ass grin
on my face and continued to enjoy the show (and maybe gloat just a bit!).
A few songs later, Bob slid down to the floor right next to me.
We watched the rest of Van's performance, sitting, standing, sitting, standing,
..as I said before, he seemed really intent on the show. When it ended,
I thanked him for not getting me thrown out. He didn't really respond
(just kinda grunted) and walked towards back stage. He shook the hands
of a couple people on the way, but didn't really seem to speak to anyone...
What a night!!!! Dylan did an excellent performance, perhaps my
inspiration?? Heehee!
Love yall, bye!
- T (not T-Bone)
es. Monk, did ;you really keep Doc out til 5 AM reading from the chant book??!!
Subject: New York, NY, 18 January 1998 - a review
From: Carsten Wohlfeld (happyjaq@confetti.ruhr.de)
Date: 29 Jan 1998 21:20:00 +0100
Bob Dylan
New York, NY 18 January 1998
Madison Square Garden - The Paramount Theater
A Review By Carsten Wohlfeld
Once again, hello and welcome to my little series of reviews :-) The third
night in New York was opened by Van, sadly the last time on this short
tour that Georgie Fame played hammond organ, all in all a loss for the
later shows. Anyways, the big surprise - well, actually there was a rumor
it would happen before, but... - was that Bob came out midway through
Van's set to do "More And More" with the Man. Quite a fun performance to
*watch*, but not as spectacular on tape, I'm sure. At around 9.45 we were
very treated to yet another version of:
Absolutely Sweet Marie
I think it was not as convincing and the other versions that jump-started
the shows all week, but still pretty good. Bob seemed a little tired and
less animated during this song (as was the audience). Took him till #3 to
wake up :-)
I Want You
Another song I never got to hear live so far and even Bob's voice sounded
a little bit to rough for this sweet song, it was still a very welcome
choice. A bit more mellowness wouldn't do the song harm.
Cold Irons Bound
Back to the usual choice for #3 despite that fact that "Can't Wait" was so
good the night before. Even though I still don't like the song too much, I
have to say that this was probably the best version I've seen all week.
Great playful phrasing from Bob and a perfect blues-rocking break from the
band.
You're A Big Girl Now
Another song I heard for the first time live and since I haven't even
heard many recent tape versions and I can't comment much. Beautifully done
though and it sounded kinda similar to the other "Blood On The Tracks"
songs done electricaly on the current tour.
Silvio
Better than last night, but still far from it's all time high.
Desolation Row (acoustic)
A bit of a surprise to get to hear this one twice within a week, but since
it was one of the best Bob performances *EVER* I didn't really mind :-)
Same nice new arrangement as in New London with seven verses sung and even
though Dylan's added little guitar riff is quite simple, it fits in
perfectly. The "was that supposed to be some kind of joke" line is
probably the best bit of singing/performing I've heard from Dylan so far!
Luckily, the band's performance was as perfect as Dylan's delivery. Making
this most definitely the highlight of the whole New York residency.
It's All Over Now Baby Blue (acoustic)
Of course I can't get any better, huh? Bob tried very hard, giving us an
INCREDIBLE version of "Baby Blue" that even came close to the awesome
rendition from Cardiff. Even Sadie loved it and that says a lot if you
read her recent reviews mentioning this song. :-) Close to the end Bob
went back to his amp to pick up a harmonica, but decided against it at the
last second. :-(
Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic)
First run-through in the correct order - the "topless" verse was back
where it belongs. I really enjoyed this version, as much as I hated the
last three. This one was one of the fastest in recent years as well. The
stage-rush happenend during this song and the people directly in front of
the stage boosted the performance quite a bit I think. Bob was much more
animated for the rest of the night and even switched to "goofy" mode a few
times.
Million Miles
Usual great delivery. Crowd loved it.
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
Really good, fast performance that sounded very 60-ish. It had the true
"Blonde On Blonde" spirit, that I thought was forever lost. Bob must've
read my notes when I was complaining about "Memphis Blues" never reaching
the quality of the studio version live a few days ago :-)
'Til I Fell In Love With You
Nice version that - to my ears - rocked harder than the two from New
London. And then they were gone... but came back for:
(encore)
Highway 61 Revisited
Rocked so much harder than "Rolling Stone" and pleased the crowd just as
much. The band seemed to enjoy this one more than "Rolling Stone" as well.
Knockin' On Heaven's Door (acoustic)
Featured the same irresistable backing vocals that Bucky and Larry first
supplied at the Popefest. Bob tried to sing the new third verse debuted in
Bologna as well, but messed it up a bit.
Love Sick
Very precise version that I enjoyed more than last night's. Having said
that, I always love this song :-) Bob introcuded the band at this point,
quoting Johnny Cash when he mentioned Kemper ("shot a man in Reno, just to
watch him die") and joked after introducing Tony: "So glad he made it!"
Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 & 35
If it's gotta be a "Blonde On Blonde" track he's got to close with... I
wish he'd play "Say-Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands" instead :-)
Join me tomorrow when I tell my about my favourite night in New York,
January 20th. Until then... thanks for reading!
--
carsten wohlfeld
"i'm caught in a trap and i can't get out cause i love you so much, baby!"
(elvis presley)
