Bob Dylan 2000.04.05 in Salina, Kansas

Subject: Salina show 04-05-00
From: gdugger 
Date: Sat, 08 Apr 2000 23:09:48 -0500

Asleep at the Wheel started the Salina show exactly at 7:30 pm and
finished their apparently scheduled 45 minute set a couple of minutes
early.  The  crowd of 5000 ranged from (teeny) boppers to bikers to
boomers along with  cowboys and quad cane users and the occasional
suit and slightly seedy flower child. My favorite was the psychedelic
tighted male in the front row. The scariest was a shaved head
character who crashed the stage temporarily and remind me a little of
Robert DeNiro's character in Taxi Driver.

AATW's performance was very workmanlike though we really did not need
to be reminded three times of the name of their band. Their leader
seemed a bit full of himself which maybe explains Dylan's alleged
refusal to shake hands with him in Denver  although maybe Dylan just
doesn't like to shake hands. (see Omaha article) 

Hopefully Bob doesn't have a Howard Hughes germ phobia.

The highlight of the 30 minute wait while the stage was being set for
Dylan was watching a stage hand use a propane torch to light a massive
amount of incense sticks which were placed in three buckets at the
back of the stage. Is this aroma therapy thing a regular part of this
tour? As has been previously reported on this tour, Dylan and band
were quite tight. Dylan himself appeared to be a little uptight
through about the first half of the show when he finally started to
crack a few smiles and look like maybe he was enjoying himself a
little. Dylan wore his apparent regular uniform for this tour - black
on black jacket with black piped black pants and black Western tie on
a white shirt. He had some kind of periodic  hair problem and he ran
his fingers through his hair several times after numbers as if trying
to remove cobwebs.

Our vantage point of 8 rows back from the extreme left side of the
stage on the first level of a riser was excellent for both watcing Bob
and the folks from Midwest Security who were a little heavy handed in
doing their job. As there was an aisle directly in front of us, we had
a first hand view of the ebb and flow of stage crashers and photo
takers as the security personnel occasionally aided by the local cops
repeatedly pushed them back. Interestingly security was often talking
on their cell phones while making the fan tide roll away. The most
distracting incident was when it took 3 rent a cops several minutes to
wrestle a slight female 20 something to the ground and then away.
Maybe it was the same security company that caused problems earlier on
the tour. I managed to take about 20 photos (no flash) without being
detected but the chances that they turned out are probably about the
same as Dylan appearing again in Salina, Kansas.

Dylan's lyrics were consistently intelligible through out the evening
though his joke about the drummer during the band introductions was
not. The sound level was high but not painful like the 1994
performance I saw in Lawrence, Kansas and did not even require
earplugs. Mr. Tambourine Man was suprisingly enjoyable though for me
it is Dylan's most over exposed song. Hard Rain was a highlight as it
was apparently performed for the first time on this tour. The other
song debuting on this tour, When I Paint My Masterpiece, was  an
inferior rendition compared to the commerically released version. 

Baby and Tangled Up in Blue were great as always and were followed
with a great change of pace - This World Can't Stand Long. For my $35,
County Pie could have been left uneaten (and unplayed) on the shelf.
The sustained highlight of the evening for me was the triple play of
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again, Not Dark Yet and
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat. It was during this part that Dylan starting
to loosen up and during an extended jam smiled at his own missed cue
on a vocal. Love Sick, the first encore number was very strong and the
audience participation numbers (Like a Rolling Stone and Rainy Day
Women) were great as always. I was glad that Bob put away the guitar
once and got out his harp on It Ain't Me Babe though I thought his
vamping during the harp section was a little strange. Getting to hear
Blowin' in the Wind live was a special treat.

All in all, it was the best Dylan show I have seen. Thanks Bob for
playing small venues with reasonable ticket prices. 

I am interested in any other comments on this show. I also am of
course interested in any recordings of this show and have a very large
quantity of MP3 and Real Audio bootleg Dylan material available for
trade. Email me privately if you want to trade.


 
Date: Fri, 5 May 2000 12:19:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: llampe78@yahoo.com (Laurie Lampe)
Subject: Dylan Article Salina KS 4-5-2000
To: karlerik@monet.no

Hello,

This is an article that I published in my college
newspaper about the concert in Salina KS.
Hope it'll be good for a chuckle.

Laurie


Dylan Rocks Salina
Laurie L Lampe

Kiss have the makeup and huge fireballs.  The Rolling
Stones have an inflatable menagerie and fireworks. Kid
Rock has strippers and a midget.  Bob Dylan has a band
and a harmonica.  That's all he needs to light up a
crowd.
 
On April fifth Bob Dylan performed at the Bicentennial
Center in Salina Kansas.  The show drew 4,902 fans and
reminded them why it is they love this guy.  His
average crowd on this tour is 4500. I sat two seats
down from Will Trapp who had traveled from Nashville
Tennessee to see the show.   He said, "I have seen
Dylan ten times. The best show I saw was in Birmingham
and the next best show was Salina. I felt the tears
well up when he played Not Dark yet" The whole
performance had a moving, electric quality that one
could feel from the soles of your feet to the hair
follicles on your head. Dylan's show was amazingly
energetic.  His calm showmanship managed to move the
audience to jam the isles and keep the security guards
busy clearing the walkways and pushing the crowd back
to the seats. The show was started with an acoustic
set so Dylan could show off his amazingly unsung
musicianship.  He's an amazing guitarist. The acoustic
riffs he played are reminiscent of Willie Nelson style
playing. The increadible version of A Hard Rain's
A-Gonna Fall was a definite highlight. It was the
first time it was played on this tour. 

 When Dylan introduced the band he continued a new
tradition of telling a joke about his drummer David
Kemper.  When he introduced Kemper, the crowd came out
with an enthusiastic "What'd he do?"  Dylan replied,
"He hurt his foot and we had to call the toe truck." 
Dylan was clearly enjoying himself and it reflected on
the crowd. 
 
For the encore Dylan played Love Sick from his grammy
winning Time Out of Mind album.  There were no butts
in seats after that.  He followed up with the immortal
Like a Rolling Stone and an acoustic version of It
Ain't Me Babe in which he got out his harmonica and
strutted like Chuck Berry or Mick Jagger. Speaking of
the Rolling Stones, Dylan played an incredible version
of Stones' classic Not Fade Away.  During Blowin' In
The Wind, hundreds of lighters and flashlights went in
the air in tribute.  Dylan closed with Rainy Day Women
#12 & #35, better known as Everybody Must Get Stoned. 
When the first chorus came up, a man sitting in the
row in front of us lit up a joint and started blowing
the smoke over the heads the crowd in front of him. 
The only bad thing about this show was it ended too
soon.  The crowd was not ready to let Dylan go even
after two hours of playing.  

=====
Keep a good head and always carry a light bulb:-D