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Bob Dylan 2000.03.06 in Zürich


Subject: Disappointing Dylan in ZŸrich
From:  paddy@centralnet.ch (Paddy)
Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 08:23:20 +0200

Hey, I'm back from last night concert and all I can say is that I
am absolutely disapointed. I've seen Bob in the last few years
about 8 times. The acoustic set was horrible. He played
absolutely the wrong tunes through 3 or 4 songs. The band was
confused and looked completely worried about his man. Bob himself
look VERY tired. Of course his singing was great, nothing to
complain about that, but  I think his holidays wasn't to good for
his finger picking.

There were only two highlights...  Can't wait, absolutly slow and
cool version and if I say slow it was really slow. And then
Deliah, that was the point where he seemed a little bit to wake
up. Like a rolling stone was completly bad, it sounded like an
amateur band from around the corner. About the band, what is
Charlie Sexton doin' there? He stands up there just like he is
angry that there is no mirror anywhere where he can control his
hair style...

Bye
Paddy


From: office@carstenwohlfeld.de (carsten wohlfeld) To: karlerik@monet.no Date: Sun, 07 May 2000 13:58:16 +0200 Subject: zurich review Bob Dylan Zürich, Switzerland, May 06, 2000 Hallenstadion A review by Carsten Wohlfeld Here we go again: Yet another European tour starting at Tim & Regine's place in Überlingen and then on to Zurich, one year and one week after his last show at the same venue. This time around they sold even less tickets and even though the Hallenstadion didn't look empty, it was far from being sold out. One interesting detail was apparent even before the band hit the stage: They had all new equipment: A new (black instead of gold) drumset for David, new amp and bass for Tony, new amps and guitars for Charlie, a couple of new guitars for Larry. After being treated to classical and indian music for two hours Bob and the gang took to the stage at 8.15pm to open with: Roving Gambler (acoustic) Nice start, without being extraordinary. The sound seemed to be really bad on stage, as both David and Charlie looked as if they couldn't hear them at all. Further proof for that theory is Larry acually started the song while Al was still saying "Ladies and gentlemen..." - strange! Bob's singing was clear and quite good though. For one he didn't try to play around with the phrasing too much, which allowed Larry and Charlie to follow him quite easily, when they joined him for the chorus. My Back Pages (acoustic) Larry picked up the fiddle and starts this song with one of his gorgeous violin solos. It could've been a real highlight of the night, but apparently the sound on stage was still really bad (or Bob didn't practise his guitarplaying at all while being off the tour for the last few weeks, but after the great start with Larry's solo and Bob's equally good delivery of the first couple of verses he stopped playing guitar completely for 20 seconds or so (much to the surprise of Larry and Charlie - a real "non-solo" spot) and when he came back in he played some of the worst guitar ever - way too loud and mostly unconnected to the tune. Charlie noticed it too and his look seemed to say: "Oh my god, what the fuck was that?" Another disappointment was that Bob got so upset with his own performance, that he basically abandoned the song halfway through, thus only singing four verses. It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) More bad guitarplaying, but at least the vocal delivery was really good (as good as on any versions late last year) and the song became the first real treat of the show. Still love the arrangements with the loud and quiet parts too. I think most of Dylan's arrangement lacks that kinda change. The band sounds very different from song to song, but once they hit a groove they usually keep it for the duration of the song. Not on this one, which is very nice. Love Minus Zero/No Limit (acoustic) Began with another great solo courtesy of Larry, this time on the pedal steel. It quickly got really nasty though when Bob couldn't remember the first verse at all and very little of the second and third. To add to it, his guitarplaying (if he was playing at all!) was as shambolic as on the first few numbers, which made this - one of my fave Dylan songs - one of the worst performances I've ever heard of this song. Tim pointed out that "there's no success like failure and failure's no success at all" - it was really appropriate, cause he must have known that this song was a complete and utter failure. Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic) Save some nicely stretched lines, a pretty average version, with some nice lighting effects to go with it. Delia (acoustic) A real surprise, as this was the first rendition of this beautiful oddity since 1993?! Nicely done, with an interesting drum part and great vocal delivery, despite some mixed up lyrics. Tim also pointed out later that he paused after the second line of each verse, which sounded much different compared to the Supper Club rendition. Country Pie Bob obviously was happy that the sound problems and the acoustic set were behind him now, as he got a lot more animated during the electric set and this one was a real treat (yeah, I know it looks unlikely on paper). Fast, loud, rocking, funny. Great dual solo by Larry and Charlie (both playing Telecasters for this one song only), nice new fake ending. Can't Wait was done in a completely new, reworked arrangement. Slowed down and played as a heavy blues it was actually much, much better than the original faster arrangement that got a little boring with time. They used some nice green, flickery lights to go with this song, too. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again As great as any version in recent times. Even though he still skips a verse or two every nice, this is one one the few songs which are very enjoyable almost every single night. The most memorable change to last years versions was that Larry and Charlie changed their roles. Larry is now playing acoustic rhythm guitar and Charlie electric lead. There were some minor lyric changes on a lot of songs tonight, and here it was "smoked my eyeBALLS" instead of "eyelids" or the usual substitute "eyebrow". Watching The River Flow with Larry on steel guitar, business as usual. It rocked and Bob's guitar solos were getting a bit better (he actually changed back and forth between his two Stratocaster guitars for this show). Not Dark Yet Sung very well (as we've come to expect it by now) but still somewhat different to last year's version, as Larry was playing an old, beat-up Stratocaster and Charlie a nice looking red Gretsch, which made the song sound quite different (and even better, I might add.) Band intros followed. After that Tony asked Bob if he wanted to do "Highway", but Bob shook his head, so we got Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat instead. Compared to the recent live versions I've heard on tape it seemed to be MUCH louder, harder and it featured some pretty good soloing by Bob and Larry and Charlie as well. A few bows and they were gone. (encores) Love Sick Featured some very welcome new lighting effects and was good without being really excellent. The drums were much louder in the mix than usual, maybe that was done on purpose or just due to the sound problems they had all night. Like A Rolling Stone A great version very well sung by a very animated Bob who finally seemed to adjust to being on stage after this month-long break as well. Nice solos at the end. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (acoustic) a pretty average version, as Bob tried to experiment a bit with the phrasing without actually getting anywhere. Not Fade Away Yet another fun rendition of this song, Bob could remember all the lyrics (a rarity as you might know) and Larry's and Charlie's solos were fun to see and hear as well, Larry and Charlie joined in to sing along for the chorus. After this song it looked for a second as if Bob wanted to leave for good (at least that's what he seemed to say to Tommy), but then he changed his mind and returned for Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic) which was just your average (overplayed) version, save for the harmonica solo at the end, which itself wasn't that amazing, but quite long and Bob seemed to really enjoy it (and the crowd's reaction to it). Larry and Charlie on backing vocals. Rainy Day Women Nos. 12&35 Yeah, that one, too. Usual, raunchy version with Larry on steel guitar, this time with more (improvised) verses than the usual two he used to sing for ages. The house lights came on during this song, a sure sign that the show was about to be over after close to two hours. All in all a very weird show, halfway between open rehearsal (not unusual for a tour start) and exciting experiment ("Delia" and the newly arranged "Can't Wait"). Don't know what to make of it really. It definitely wasn't a good show, that's for sure. It was more fun than last year's show at the same venue, which was better quality-wise, but generally quite boring. Thanks to Gunter (the next Michael Schumacher :-)) and our lovely hosts Tim, Regine and Hannah. See ya next year ;-) Carsten Wohlfeld (mail@carstenwohlfeld.de) -- http://carstenwohlfeld.de "i don't believe in the exsistence of angles, but looking at you i wonder if that's true" (nick cave)
Subject: Dylan fans are too over-critical From: enash@sibelius.com (Ed Nash) Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 16:59:22 +0100 Now, this might be a bit controversial, but I've been waiting for a while to find out if my suspicions were correct on a certain point, and now I know they are, so I'll go ahead and say it... When I got home from the Bob show in Zurich last May, I was disapointed to see the negative reviews. OK, isn't wasn't the best show in the history of the Never Ending Tour, but I saw a lot of criticisms which were simply incorrect (in my opinion). (I leave out here the criticisms of Bob's guitar playing, which was...erm...eccentric for much of the show. One reviewer who will remain nameless even though you can see his name by going to Bob Dates and reading his review wrote: > Love Minus Zero/No Limit (acoustic) > Began with another great solo courtesy of Larry, this time on the pedal > steel. It quickly got really nasty though when Bob couldn't remember the > first verse at all and very little of the second and third Well, I'm sitting here listening to a CD-R I just got of this show (bit snowed under with trades at the moment, but I know several people are after this and I'll be ready to trade it soonish), and, just as I remembered it, this song is word-perfect. Four verses, in the right order, with not a single word wrong. Not one. So why write that he couldn't remember the words? It's a silly thing to say. If you didn't like this version of the song, I can understand that, but don't make things up. Otherwise there's no point writing the review in the first place. Ed
Date: Sun, 7 May 2000 21:48:18 +0200 (MEST) From: m_willys@gmx.de (Michael Willys) To: karlerik@monet.no Subject: Zurich review Zurich, 6th May 2000 By Mike (m_willys@hotmail.com) My family and I have just arrived back in Frankfurt from our weekend to see Bob in sunny Switzerland. We had a great time and Zurich is a very cool place. We stayed in the Hotel Ibis near the south side of the Lake, and it gets a big thumbs-up for being reasonably priced and it comes with friendly staff as well. One thing we learned is that it's easy to diet in Switzerland, with most restaurants being quite pricey. We had lunch on Saturday at one place, called "Mr. Wong", near the Main Station which I regret, as all through Bob's show I kept feeling Mr. Wong bubbling around in my stomach and I thought he might make a reappearance sometime through "Stuck inside of Mobile". But all stayed calm even though I think my enjoyment of the show was dampened a little by the thought of that mean Szechuan beef. On to the show... I took my eldest son (he is 15 and he thinks Britney is cool, but as he is 15 so he should) to his first Bob show and he was very impressed. We got there about 7:15pm and got tickets straight away. The place was not too full when we entered. Strange, but the guy who lets you in the hall wouldn't give the ticket stub back. I asked for it and he said "NO". That has never happened to me before. Zurich Hallenstadion is a pretty big hall, with a huge standing area surrounded by arena-style seating. A lot of people were sitting already; we made our way to the middle and found a place to plop. At about 7:35 a strange wobbly noise came out of the speakers, which for some reason made everyone stand up and push forward. So we were on our feet at 7:35 waiting for the 8 o'clock start. At about 7:56 the incense was lit, and we waited - and waited - Then a Raga (?) started playing (Indian Sita music anyway), and we kept waiting. The crowd was pretty docile, I tried screaming a bit to wake them up but they were not too keen on trying to let Bob know that he was expected. Anyway the Sita droned on till about 8:15 when all of a sudden, bang go the lights, and the crowd finally respond!!! Great screaming from the audience. It was dark for a minute or 2 before the boys shuffled onstage from exit right, with Bob bringing up the rear. Then the Al announcement after they were guitarred up, and BANG! Roving Gambler. I picked this song, as the opener because last year we got Cocaine and I just felt it would be "Gambler". Great song, Bob sang great, and the crowd joined in on the chorus. The sound mix was FABULOUS!! Bobs voice as clear as a bell, right up high in the mix. Just the way I like it. The boys looked good, Bob was wearing his shiny light grey suit (with no stripes on the side??) and a back country tie. My first time to see Charlie and he looks good, tall and self-assured. Tony was looking a bit dour and Larry with that "I'm not quite sure that I'm here yet or anywhere" look. Anyway, then came a big THANK-YOU from Bob. After the first song, pretty good I thought. Bob's second song was My Back Pages which featured the fiddle solo by Larry. Bob sang it good, personally I feel he should have done another uptempo song because we had been waiting that extra time and as the first song managed to get the crowd going, the "Pages" put them all back to sleep a bit. Maybe they put something in the water in Zurich? My son really liked the fiddle solo. Good job Larry! Then a finely orchestrated "Its alright ma" with the new bluesy refrain that I saw reported from the States but hadn't yet heard. I liked it, and the "president line" got the usual treatment from the crowd. Netx we got "Love minus zero", a good version too. Bob was doing most of the solos tonite. He started off pretty lousy actually, but was getting better every song. "Tangled" was next and the crowd woke up again. It was a good Tangled, the way I like it with the melody back in Bob's voice. I don't like the mono-note versions that we usd to get in the early 90's. I have to say it, but I missed Bucky here as last year his mandolin playing made 1999's Tangled the best I have ever heard. Then - the first song which REALLY got me tonight - . Delia! Unbelievable! I could not believe it!! I recently have just been back home to Australia where my cache of CD's live, and Delia was the song I was playing almost all the time I was there. And I got it live! The crowd acted a bit stunned, obviously didn't recognize, but I was in 7th heaven. I can never believe how Bob makes me sad for Delia, but also sad for Charlie. It was a GREAT performance and afterwards I told my kid, That's why Bob is King. He sang the line "All the friends I ever had are gone" and I thought of dear Rick, and I am SURE Bob was thinking of him too. The crowd was warming up and it was time for some electricity! And we got Country Pie first up, my first treat to this. It was great and the concert really took off now. Bob did a great solo and the energy levels were rising. I think Tony started smiling around now - . Next a very new version of Can't Wait, slow without that familiar riff that runs through it. Bob sang it very clearly and distinctly and excellently, I loved it. I was expecting all hell to break loose in a big guitar thrash at then end, but no - a quick stop to a very strange song. The crowd didn't do too much with it but I loved it. A good Mobile was in the set, but the first and only small flub by Bob that I noticed where he sang "patiently" instead of "perfectly" when referring to the bricks falling ability. A good version of this one too. Not Dark Yet was good too, with low-power crowd lights coming on during the chorus. So the electric set played out, and we got some a standard band intro before the last song of the set. Then they left for only a couple of minutes and came back for "Lovesick". It was a straight run-through. And then Bob pulled a fabulous "Rolling Stone" out of the ether, and this one just rocked the place down. The crowd went totally ape-shit and Tony was grinning from ear to ear now! Bob so nailed this old war-horse that I would declare it to be the song of the show. My kid said it was the best, and Bob had the crowd eating out of his hand now. It was GREAT!!!! There were lots of kids in the audience and everyone was dancing and beaming. Fabulous, just absolutely fabulous. And Bob was warming up - we got a great Don't think twice, after which they all disappeared but we saw them hiding behind the speakers. Then back again for "Not Fade Away", good fun but a little off key. Then they disappeared with Tony making faces to us, saying "No, that's all you get". But the crowd kept screaming and screaming, I told my son "That's it, they won't be back" And they come back!! Tony making more silly faces to the crowd, implying "HA! Got ya! Thought we were gone hey!" Unreal! Bob was flying now, he was really into it. We got a great "Blowin in the Wind" with the 3 voices in harmony on the chorus, which I really like. Then Bob started to do a solo then turned his back and picked up a small shining device, and Whammo! Harp solo number 1. It was Great! They they disappeared again, crowd still screaming. And I thought "That's really it now!" and whammo! They arfe back again for Rainy day Women. Whatta show! Joints were being lit like crazy, it was insane. Bob's played the solo with the guitar like a machine gun, and he was doing ALL the moves - duckwalks, you-name-it! Charlie was playing great too, and Larry was on pedla stell for this. Bob took a half dozen or more bows, Picked up the flowers someone chucked, and Tony again was the last to leave, grinning like crazy! They knew Bob nailed this as did the Zuricher's because the place was going crazy. They kept the place dark for a while, the roadies were waiting and watching to see if Bob came back, but then after a minute or 2, the house lights came on and they started their work. So a great show, started a bit slowly but Bob cracked it wide open at the end. A good way for Bob to open the tour. Looks like we are in for a good month, Europe. Please everybody, get out and support this tour - You ain't seem nuthin' like it yet!!! --
Subject: Zurich review (another one) From: matt@grassmerecottenham.com (Matt Reading) Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 21:24:05 +0100 Well, Iāve just got back to Cambridge after a wonderful, if tiring weekend in Zurich. On Saturday night I saw my first ever Bob-gig, a wonderous event if ever there was one. I can't possibly hope to give an objective view of the show, but I would like to give you my thoughts on the gig. I have to say that some of the reviews I've seen (as my friend Ed, who went with me, said in his review) seem very negative - and to be honest I really can't fathom why or how anyone could not have seen the show as absolutely phenomenal. Of course, I have no real frame of reference give that it was my first Bobshow, but I and the people around me all thought that it was great. We were incredibly close to the stage - we got there reasonably early and sat down in our places for about an hour before the show started. I can't really estimate how far forward we were, but suffice to say I could see Bob's every facial expression. At about ten past eight (or something like that..perhaps it was a little later) out came Bob and the others and the oh-so-familiar introduction came booming out. BANG..straight into Roving Gamblerā, and the gorgeous chorus-harmonies ringing loud and true. Obviously I was rather shell-shocked by the fact that I was seeing Bobby in the flesh, and hearing his voice live for the first time, but the song seemed note-perfect to me, the sound was pretty much ideal, with to vocals loud, clear and piercing high in the mix. It was a wonderful start to the show - to me, Bob seemed into his stride immediately. On the whole, Bob's singing was wonderful the whole gig ö piercing to the bone - he probably fluffed a few lyrics - I noticed a couple, but quite honestly I couldnāt have given a damn. Then I spied Larry going for the fiddle and my heart-rate doubled ö I said in my girlfriendās ear Itās going to be My Back Pagesāā, or words to that effect, and were into this gorgeous song - one I had been hoping to see. (That, by the way, was another reason why last weekend was an extraordinarily wonderful one for me - my girlfriend and I were reunited after 3 months of being apart, me at home in England, her in France - and to top it off, her having in the last couple of months becoming a large fan of Bobbyās! Thatās one reason why my judgement may not be completely impartial - but I digress.) In hindsight, Bob may not have been very happy with this song, as Ed said. It didnāt seem to go on for too long, and there was no harp solo that I was half-expecting - at the time though I couldnāt fault it ö I thought it was beautiful. Then into the hard-driving Itās Alright Maā, the lyrics cascading about my ears. Ed said heās not sure about this song live, but I love it, although there were perhaps one or two slightly dodgy guitar solos from Bob - he topped it next though, with a divine, delicately sung Love Minus Zeroā - one of my girlfriendās favourite songs! Bob teased us a bit by going back to look at the harmonicas, but seemed to decide against it unfortunately. Nevertheless, a wonderful performance. Then was a great dance-tastic Taaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaangled Up In Blueā - a song I really never seem to tire of, much to my delight. The next song, Deliaā, I didnāt recognise at the time, having only heard WGW about one and a half times (what can I say - I am a poor student and albums arenāt cheap, you know), but I thought it was wonderful, gorgeously sung, and very moving. The acoustic set was fantastic, but now it was time to plug in - OH ME OH MY - .āCountry Pieā was an absolute riot, with Charlieās guitar playing especially seeming really groovy. Can't Wait was slow and easy..I loved it even more than I used love the funkyā version..the air did indeed burn with the wonderful music being created on that stage. I donāt know if this was the debut for this new arrangement, but it was absolutely lovely. Stuck Inside Of Mobile..ā was damned fine. I especially liked the fact that Larry played an acoustic guitar in this ö I donāt know if that usually happens, but it gave the song a cool texture, with the more varied instrumentation. Watching The River Flowā is one that I really like, although I preferred the way he did it c1996, with the shufflier beat, rather than the straight 12-Bar Blues arrangement - .but nevertheless I like it much more than Ed does - - then a beautiful, atmospheric Not Dark Yetā, one of my absolutely favourite songs. Yes, it seemed a standardā run-through, sounding pretty much the same as it usually does, but it always sounds amazing, and was definitely a highlight of the set for me. After the band introductions, ..Pill-Box Hatā was great - better than HWY61R any day, in my book. Theymed to come back on fairly quickly, and all of the encored to me were either heart-wrenching or tremendously good fun. Like A Rolling Stoneā was as passionate and brilliant and above all LOUD as any recent performance that I've heard on tape ö absolutely sublime, and Not Fade Awayā was as fun as Iād thought it would be. Blowinā In The Wind was superb, with a groovy harp solo (at last - I thought heād never get it out!). Rainy Day Women is far from my favourite song, but he could have played Handy Dandyā on a Venetian nose flute for all I cared, to be honest. What struck me about the gig was how much fun Bob seemed to be having on stage, his legs doing all sorts of crazy things that should really be made illegal, holding his guitar in anything but textbook fashion (he seemed to think it was a gun at one point!) and smiling at the crowd - at the start he was a bit subdued, but by the end he was very animated. So, that may have been a little pointless (my review, I mean)..I mean, to some people it may have been just another show, but to me it was absolutely divine. I couldnāt possibly have hoped for a better setlist, and the performances were spot-on. Now I just really want to do it again - . Matt
2000: March - April - May

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