Date: Fri, 26 May 1995 06:57:12 PDT From: James Fox (JWF5%ENG%SFBPP@BANGATE.PGE.COM) Subject: 5/25 Berkeley Berkeley Community Theater, 5/25 Down in the Flood I Want You Watchtower Just Like a Woman Pledging My Time Seeing the Real You At Last Mr. Tamborine Man (a) Masters of War (a), phenomenal To Ramona (a), beautiful Memphis Blues I and I Positively 4th Street e1) Ballad of a Thin Man e2) It Ain't Me Babe Bob was reaaly good this evening, as he has been during this entire birthday week. Lots of dancing and smiles. He even high fived a front rower as he left the stage after Positively and gave his harmonica to a lucky person after It Aint Me Babe. Can't wait for this evening!
Date: Fri, 26 May 1995 04:36:02 -0700 From: "jules n. binoculas" (p00518@PSILINK.COM) Subject: berkeley community theater 25 may 1995 flood want you watchtower (-- kind of original tonight just like woman (-- swings gently pledging time (license kill) (-- always a rare pleasure; loosely sublime real you @mr t-man (-- spiritual bullseye by last verse; standing o; slow, elegiac delivery and instrumentation nearly impossible to tarnish; recent renditions pregnant with regret for what may never be again; each performance is new song in itself, and the genius is that it all seems so unplanned; check it out before it's too late and you're sorry you missed it @masters (eden) @ramona (too many mornings) (-- nice, clear vocal; waltz time mobile (-- lilting tone; genial; little uneven, good to hear again i & i (-- gently vicious, incantatory, primitive, sensual 4th st (5 believers/grain sand) (-- loose as a goose, yet scalding; unique thin man (-- happily cruel, elliptical: likeable ain't me (-- sounded better than most nights (for once); sharper teeth scratch notes: enthusiastic, appreciative audience; many standing ovs; venue acoustics serviceable, but too barnlike for consistent clarity -- yet he did an excellent job filling it. afterwards, i heard people complaining that it was great, but they "couldn't hear everything." don't blame 'em, but, like anything else, it helps to study a writer's corpus before expecting to feel nuances; the band seemed oddly tossed at sea rhythmically and melodically by rare under-rehearsed and conducted reduxes of _mobile, _ix2, _ramona -- but the ultimate result was far more interesting and spontaneous than an off-the-shelf delivery; i've noticed recently that his voice doesn't hit stride until almost 1 hour into the show -- in the middle of the acoustic set; i suggested to the sound mixers that the old man do everyone a favor and either play an hour longer, or warm up awhile. they said: "yeah, you tell him." i said: "i scream it to him every night. it does absolutely no good! -- ella fitzgerald does it, why can't he?" them: "ella fitzgerald is a singer. he's...uh...a legend."