Bob Dylan 2001.08.14 in Little Rock
From: "Jim Maynard" jmaynar2@midsouth.rr.com To: billp61@execpc.com, webmaster@expectingrain.com Subject: Little Rock, Aug. 14, 2001 Review Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2001 02:42:58 -0500 I just drove the nearly 3 long hour drive back to Memphis from the excellent Dylan concert in Little Rock. My mind is so tired... and I cannot remember all the great details I wanted to share, but let me just say this was a great concert even though it was pretty much the same songs we've been hearing a lot of...well done versions of a good selection of songs which only scratch the surface of Dylan's career. A few general observations: the crowd was YOUNG.. at least half under 30 and a large percentage of them were under 20. Amazing how 60 year old Dylan can draw such a diverse crowd. What stands out about the concert itself was (a) Bob slowly enunciated almost every word performing the best versions of many songs I have ever heard (b) lots of excellent guitar solos from Dylan (acoustic and electric) and (c) those legs! It look like if Bob wasn't tied to the guitar amp he would take off running around the stage... First, I took a half day vacation from work to drive to Little Rock. I arrived about 5 PM and decided to skip getting some dinner and get in line at the gate so I could get next to the stage for the first time (big mistake.. I didn't get to eat all night!) but I did get a place in the front row by the stage. While waiting in line I met some cool women from Chicago (Kerry) and Alabama (Christy and Cathy). I was so glad to have a close up view of Bob for the first time...BUT, I looked behind me and saw a little girl with her Dad who was only about 4 feet tall and could not see a thing.. so I let her come up in front of me and take my place on the stage wall. Her name was Emma and she was 10 years old... she drove to Little Rock with her dad from Clarksville Arkansas... I wanted to make sure she got a good view of a living legend (in hopes it will wing her off of Backstreet Boys and N-Sync!). The show was scheduled to begin at 7 PM, but Bob didn't come out until after 8 PM (probably because the gates did not open until after 6 PM and people were still getting to their seats until well after 7 PM). The Riverfest Amphitheater looked very small, it only had what looked like a few hundred seats... but the seats did eventually fill up.. but most of the people were in the pit or out on the lawn. By the time Dylan came out the whole place looked packed. I"m glad he opened with Oh Babe, because I have already heard most of the other opening covers (I am the Man Thomas, Duncan and Bradey). Nothing special.. few people knew what it was. Dylan had a cranky look on his face and never looked up to see the audience throughout the song. He was expressionless throughout the song... with a few leg movements. Finally he started tapping his boots like a hillbilly as if to say.. hey look at my new boots! While his face was expressionless, all his emotions seemed to be down in his legs! He used his leg muscles a lot more than his facial ones.. Everyone recognized Mr. Tambourine Man, which Dylan sung beautifully (as he did all the rest of the songs tonight). Even Emma recognized it! But the speakers were too loud for her and she moved back and plugged her ears.. I feared that she didn't like Bob's singing...but it was the fact that we were right on the speakers... She joined in with the rest of the crowd to cheer the song and many to follow... and she tried to wave at Bob throughout the show trying to get him to recognize her..which he never did.... maybe because Bob had a front row full of hot looking women (one with a T-shirt with "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum" printed on it.. a song off the yet to be released new album!)... Next was a beautifully sung Desolation Row and then out with the electric guitars for a scorching version of Absolutely Sweet Marie. Now Bob began to do a lot of Elvis-style leg moves... and tapping and waving those new black boots with white flares down the sides... the face finally unfroze and participate in the Peformance of the song. I can't ember all the details from She Belongs to Me and Tombstone Blues... I know there were some special moments, especially with Dylan's guitar playing and use of his voice to deliver the songs with careful phrasing and enunciation... Back to the acoustic set with an absolutely stunning version of Masters of War, a song I have heard many times and wouldn't put on my wish list, but I must say this may have been one of the most important songs of the night. Little Emma was transfixed on Bob's face as he song about the military-industrial complex.. the mixing of young people's blood in mud... and Dylan tip toeing and staring into the grave of the masters of war and spitting the words "I hope that you die..." A great song with a great message for the next generation.. hopefully they will learn from the past... Next was another stunning version of Visions of Johanna.. one of my favorite Dylan songs and one I have not heard live before. Amazing that Dylan could sing it so clearly and beautifully...what a poetic masterpiece... On Don't Think Twice Bob continued to use his voice and facial expressions to convey the words.. and pulled out the Harmonica for a long and well-received harmonica solo at the end... crowd loved it. Back to electricity with a scorching version of 'Till I Fell In Love With You, the one song from TOOM I have not heard live. Amazing how much better it sounded live than on the album... transformed into a wailing blues song with great guitar playing from Bob and Charlie.. followed by another song from Blonde on Blonde, "You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine". Then another song from TOOM, "Make You Feel My Love"...which is not one of my favorite songs from TOOM... but probably the best performance I have seen of it...(and the crowd cheered the line "you haven't found anyone like me yet!") Bob seems to really identify with these TOOM songs still! I couldn't make out the next song at first...guitar riffs turned into a very different version of "Drifter's Escape"... followed by the last harmonica solo of the evening.. and lots of movement from Bob with the guitar and legs... (continuing all evening) The closing song of the main set was the predictable "Rainy Day Women", which brought the crowd to its feet... Then the formation and off the stage... The Encore began once again with Lovesick, but I loved it. Bob's singing was crystal clear, and he put a lot of emotion into the phrasing of the words...I looked back and saw three or four young boys about Emma's age.. transfixed on Dylan singing about the pain of love.... Hope they don't have to experience it... Then the acoustic switch and the harmonious introduction to Knockin' on Heaven's Door by Charlie and Larry... the crowd recognized another Dylan classic... Followed by another recognizable song, a scorching electric version of "All Along the Watchtower" which brought most of the crowed back on their feet.. blistering guitar duets between Dylan and Charlie... And then the timeless "Blowin' in the Wind".. again, I wouldn't put it on my wish list (I was hoping for Blind Willie McTell all night.. that is one reason I drove from Memphis to Little Rock.. in the hope he will sing this song for me.. but he doesn't.. I'm so jealous of you people who have heard it live)... HOWEVER, as much as many of us hate to hear this song over and over.. young people like Emma have never heard it at all, and here is a lifetime event for them to hear the man who wrote the classic peace and civil rights masterpiece deliver it himself.. and Emma loved it! And the harmony of Charlie, Bob and Larry on the chorus make it very powerful... more powerful than the version on Dylan's Greatest Hits which most people have heard... Well.. I didn't get to hear Blind Willie McTell.. maybe next time...come back to Memphis soon Bob.. and bring Blind Willie! I didn't get to ask Emma how she liked the concert.. but her daddy was grinning throughout the show and I'm hoping that seeing Bob live tonight will change her life... and when she is a woman, maybe she will bring her kids to see Bob and tell them about the first time she saw him back in 2001.... I was off back to Memphis with NO DINNER.. and never found a place to eat...popping peanuts and Diet Mountain Dew all the way back to Memphis.... Jim in Memphis
