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Bob Dylan 950526 Berkeley


Date:    Sat, 27 May 1995 08:13:49 GMT
From:    Ron Taylor (fatron@IX.NETCOM.COM)
Subject: Berkeley, 5-26 observations

My first impression is how GOOD Dylan looks compared to a couple years
ago.  (A little nip & tuck, perhaps?).  He starts the show without a
guitar, and pulls it off like the old pro he is.  He shifts his weight
slightly to one hip, holds the mic chord up about shoulder height in
his right hand; dips his shoulder toward the mic in his left hand.  He
is COOL!  Light blue, silk shirt with French cuffs, shirttails out.
Black jacket (velvet?) with silver thingamajigs on the lapels.  Black
pants with one shining stripe down each leg, over black, pointed boots
(more cowboy than hobnails).  Hair, bushy Dylanesque!

This is absolutely DYLAN'S band!!!  For my money, his best ever.  I've
seen him more than 30 times over the years, with various backing
ensembles, including the Band.  These guys are great!  And they cut
figures every bit as cool as the man himself.  This band without a
name!

Dylan's voice, tonight, was incredibly strong.  (Although, walking out
afterwards I actually overheard someone criticising his range).  While
he doesn't cover scales, his skills, stylings as great as ever.  He
brought hoots and yips from the crowd with both loudly belted, and
softly growled inflections.

He plays lead guitar more prominately than with any group I can
remember (although I had a similar impression last year).  No
Bloomfields, Robertsons, Taylors, Tacketts, Smiths - no more back seat
on lead.  He and JJ Jackson work very well off each other, at times
both playing leads.

This is about the only time I can remember actually preferring the
electric to the acoustic in a Dylan show; and this is not to in any way
belittle the acoustic set.

Tonight's songs:


Down In The Flood  - good kick-out-the-jams-warmup got a standing O
                     from many
Senor
Watchtower  - Best I've ever heard him do it (but he hasn't taken it
              back from Jimi, yet)
Born In Time  - every set needs one, I guess
Silvio  - hand to hang on tight through that one, whew!
Tombstone Blues - Yes, Dylan's a master bluesman!


Mr. Tamborine Man - magic!
Gates of Eden - powerful
Baby Blue - OK


Jokerman  - great guitar work from both Dylan and Jackson
I Remember You  -  All Dylan's lead
Obviously 5 Believers - flat out kicked butt!


Knockin On Heaven's Door - not one of my favorite Dylan songs, but as
                           good as I've ever heard it - hard driving
                           guitars

Now things get a little fuzzy, he started One Too Many Mornings with an
acoustic guitar, then ended up without it, singing and playing his
harmonica through his hand held mic.  It seems like there was another
song, either before or after Mornings, but for the life if me, I can't
be sure.

Dylan's still the man!


Regards,

Ron

Date: Sat, 27 May 1995 08:58:46 GMT From: Ron Taylor (fatron@IX.NETCOM.COM) Subject: 1 Final Observation, Berkeley, 5-26 Each time Dylan left the stage (before & after encore) he leaned into the audience to "slap five" with extended hands. I can't remember for sure, maybe he did this when I saw him last year, also. Regardless, this is a fairly recent phenomina. (sp?) Ron
Date: Sat, 27 May 1995 10:24:43 -0700 From: "jules n. binoculas" (p00518@PSILINK.COM) Subject: berkeley community theater 26 may 1995 flood (-- each vocal verse more powerful than last; punchy harp senor (-- uneven, but takes fiery risks watchtower (-- mildly infectious monotony; (another day, another apocalypse) born in time (-- wistful vocals (slightly muffled); warm feeling stays with you silvio (-- caustic, uninhibited; blazing by instrumental bridge tombstone (-- *highlight*: spunky, sloppy, happy, loud; priceless elliptical phrasings of: "momma's in the factory, she AIN'T GOT NO shoes; papa's in the alleyWAYYYY, LOOK-IN for the *FUSE*; i'm in the kitchen with the TOMB -- STONE blues" @mr t-man (-- ! (why spoil the magic with mundane superlatives) @eden (-- mystical, measured; meditative purring about original sin @baby blue (-- slow, dark & handsome jokerman (god knows) (-- lacking orchestral momentum from old days in #1 slot; variable voicing; oddly friendly; still has punch i'll dismember you ;) (-- interesting, off-center melodic line; good instrumentation; awkward transitions, but very *inspired* near end 5 believers (-- all over the rhythmic map, but well worth the confusion encores: heaven's door (-- _unplugged arrangement slashed by barbed wire, healed with soft bandage; full-standing audience *swaying* @one too many mornings (-- inspired choice!; _supper club arrangement with sad pedal steel tumbleweeds; soft hohner at end turns explosive; notes: looser than last night; more uneven musically, but more inspired, varied setlist: 13 DIFFERENT ALBUMS represented tonight alone! major themes: death, and men: no civil rights-era humanism; no gospel redemption; no _blood on the tracksian concilations to fate; mostly ominous images of worldly demise and lonely, death-obsessed *MALE* archetypes, e.g., senor, mr. tambourine man, jokerman, silvio, etc... tone was warmed by _born in time, and _i'll remember you. audience was so admiringly exuberant that dylan couldn't cop his favorite "stand inside my shoes" hostility poses -- making him gesturally less expressive. the voice was distinctly *resonant*, though only intermittently dominating; mostly just happening across poignant, cutting phrases. band seemed uncertain at times -- not knowing who should take charge -- but found pockets of heat. after _tombstone, i could've sworn dylan said something like: "we're gonna come back later and play that song right." sounded okay from here, fellas. with the theme of unfulfilled manhood, and all the *different* musical periods represented, it was difficult to maintain a coherent orchestral feel, but it made arbitrary moments more exciting. i happened to walk by the backstage door at 19:35 as bob was stepping out of his blue van. he was wearing a gray sweatshirt hood to hide his famous countenance. we had this short exchange: jnb: bob, nail it. nail it, bob! dylan:
Date: Sat, 27 May 1995 15:34:56 GMT From: "Jay S. Luxenberg, M.D." (naj@ITSA.UCSF.EDU) Subject: Berkeley 5/26/95 5/26/95 Down In The Flood Senor All Along The Watchtower Born In Time Silvio Tombstone Blues Mr. Tambourine Man (a) Gates of Eden (a) Baby Blue (a) Jokerman I'll Remember You Obviously Five Believers Knockin' On Heaven's Door One Too Many Mornings (a) Somewhat trunkated version of Senor, and Dylan's voice not fully "in front" in mix until Born In Time, but excellent song choices tonight. I normally would be disappointed with another Knockin' On Heaven's Door, but this version is absolutely chiming, with a twin guitar sound reminding me of early Allman Bros sound. Tombstone Blues was a highlight for me, but Dylan started off Tambourine Man by saying that they would be playing the last song (Tombstone) over again later to get it right. --
Date: Sun, 28 May 1995 00:43:47 -0400 From: Braitman (braitman@AOL.COM) Subject: berkeley community theatre 26 may 1995 I'll have to put in my "two or three cents" here about last night's concert. Of the four I saw this week (2 Warfield, 2 Berkeley), this was the weakest. Something was definitely "off" with Dylan and the guys, there were few "magic" moments of trancendence like previous. I guess starting about 45 minutes late was some preview that this was not to be the greatest Bob Dylan concert. Some of the early songs seemed simply done by rote, as if going through the motions, and the messiness of the musicians, like on "Watchtower" and "Tombstone", made them seem like an ordinary bar band at times. Like my friend said, the basic sound of the group is Lynyrd Skynyrd/Allman Brothers with a touch of Derek & the Dominos. Dylan's guitar soloing was definitely monotonous and uninspired last night (generally, though there were a few hot licks here and there). "Born in Time" was a surprise to me, never having heard him do it in concert before, so it was a pleasure on that level. But it certainly was strangely "straight" and pop for Dylan. Very neat and efficient song, very superficial. Better was "Sylvio," which I didn't recognize for awhile. A very good attempt at transforming that which was originally "pop" into something bigger and better. Almost came off. "Obviously 5 Believers" not as good as (Tues?) night, but fine nonetheless, a musical highpoint. "One Too Many Mornings" was great to hear too, but I was a bit put off by Dylan using the same arrangement for it that he has for every closing song of the previous shows. Whether it was "My Back Pages" or "Blowin' in the Wind" or "Mornings," he used the same form...slow and impassioned, good acoustic picking, then slowing the song down even more, getting very quiet...then picking it up with the harp, blowing into larger and larger sound, a "grand finale." It worked most impressively with "My Back Pages" on Monday night...but seemed to be reduced in emotional impact every night afterwards because with the luxury of having seen him in concert more than one night, it was apparant that it was a transparent FORMULA. Sorry, I don't mean that to sound harsh, but there I was sitting with my wife and best friends and this was the first show of the series they had seen, and I just knew they were not getting the top quality performance I had experienced in previous nights. Sigh. Oh well. You takes your chances with Old Bob. But bless 'im.
Date: Sun, 28 May 1995 00:42:36 -0800 From: "jules n. binoculas" (p00518@PSILINK.COM) Subject: some are mathematicians... i was slightly mistaken when i posted that the 26 may 95 berkeley show had songs from 13 different albums. actually, it's 12 different albums. song num title album 1> _down in the flood _basement tapes 2> _senor _street legal 3> _watchtower _john wesley harding 4> _born in time _red sky 5> _silvio _down in the groove 6> _tombstone _highway 61 7> @_mr t-man _bringing it all back home 8> @_gates of eden " 9> @_baby blue " 10>_jokerman _infidels 11>_i'll remember you _empire burlesque 12>_five believers _blonde on blonde 13>_heaven's door _pat garrett 14>_one too many mornings _times a-changin curiously, the only songs repeated from a single album (_mr t-man, _eden, and _blue), all came consecutively in the acoustic set -- and all from _bringing it all back home. more curiously, despite the show's dramatically high variance, _blood on the tracks_ was again absent. thus: 12 different albums ------------------- x 100 = (almost 90 per cent chance 14 original songs in show of next song being from a different album) question for dylanese statisticians: is it possible that this represents the highest album variance in any full-length dylan show? looking through krogskaard, there seem to be a bunch of shows with more _different albums_, yet most would appear to have a lower variance, since there were more songs in each show (and more repetitions of albums). also, what was the show with the _lowest variance_, i.e, the _least_ chance of the next song being from another album? logic dictates that concerts around the first album would be up there, along with the gospel period (79-80) -- when most songs came from only two albums. is there a comprehensive database (with album fields) for easy calculation of variances? i don't have an olof file handy, but i remember it only listing the _percentage of songs from a given album_, but not the variance in the number of albums per show. even more curiously: since the three recent hollywood shows seemed to focus on _blonde on blonde_ and _highway 61 -- are we in a phase where a group of shows on a tour will have a no set pattern of variance at all (or a very abstruse one)? -- or -- based on past tours -- is this a statistically tolerable *variance of variances*? also: the youngest original dylan song in the above set was _born in time_ (5 years old), and the oldest: _one too many mornings_ (31 years old) -- a span of about 26 years. what are the records for greatest (and least) timespans (between original songs) within a show? wouldn't it be variantly amusing if a new album came out and a whole show came from it? the variance would be zero! the odds? get a construction permit to build an extension on your abacus.... jnb
Date: Sun, 28 May 1995 02:05:25 -0800 From: "jules n. binoculas" (p00518@PSILINK.COM) Subject: Re: berkeley community theatre 26 may 1995 >DATE: 28 May 1995 00:43:47 -0400 >FROM: Braitman (braitman@aol.com) > >I'll have to put in my "two or three cents" here about last night's >concert. Of the four I saw this week (2 Warfield, 2 Berkeley), this was >the weakest. i only saw the two in berkeley; and musically, i kinda know what you mean -- since the first berkeley show may have been more awe-striking in the slow parts, and more sustained in the rocking sections -- yet, the cool thing about 26 may was a more coherent and thematic song cycle -- the first three songs: _flood, _senor_, _watchtower, were all cold, threatening, apocalyptic warnings of natural disasters, armageddon, and god knows what -- this set the tone.... conspicuously absent in slot #2 was the slower-tempo romance: "_if not for you_," "_i want you_," "_lay lady lay_." it became clear, early, that "the deputy would walk on hard nails." (without a tetanus shot) then, things alternated between stately, warm reminiscences (_born in time, _i'll remember you), crooked blues rockers, and haunting hymns to imaginary anti-heroes, i.e., _mr tamb-man, _jokerman, _silvio). it was as dramatic as the musical presentation was uneven (which i didn't mind so much anyway, as the mistakes seemed more spontaneous). >Something was definitely "off" with Dylan and the guys, >there were few "magic" moments of trancendence like previous. good thing he's not a brain surgeon > I guess >starting about 45 minutes late was some preview that this was not to be >the greatest Bob Dylan concert. what! you missed that part? no wonder.... :) >Some of the early songs seemed simply done by rote, i frequently gripe about this, but lately it hasn't bothered me. i think not having seating (palladium, warfield) makes things more spontaneous. >as if going through >the motions, and the messiness of the musicians, like on "Watchtower" and >"Tombstone", made them seem like an ordinary bar band at times. who're gonna call? dylanbusters? >Like my >friend said, the basic sound of the group is Lynyrd Skynyrd/Allman >Brothers with a touch of Derek & the Dominos. got any quaaludes? no, seriously, i guess that sounds right. is it a good or bad thing? >Dylan's guitar soloing was >definitely monotonous and uninspired last night (generally, though there >were a few hot licks here and there). those 54th-birthday all-nighters can wreck havoc on your reproducibility quotient... ;) > >"Born in Time" was a surprise to me, never having heard him do it in >concert before, so it was a pleasure on that level. But it certainly was >strangely "straight" and pop for Dylan. >Very neat and efficient song, >very superficial. as always, i found the vocal hard to hear, but didn't mind -- though if the singing's not powerful, it's a little static -- >Better was "Sylvio," which I didn't recognize for >awhile. A very good attempt at transforming that which was originally >"pop" into something bigger and better. Almost came off. progress > >"Obviously 5 Believers" not as good as (Tues?) night, but fine >nonetheless, a musical highpoint. second that mo' > "One Too Many Mornings" was great to >hear too, but I was a bit put off by Dylan using the same arrangement for >it that he has for every closing song of the previous shows. ... >slow and impassioned, good acoustic picking, then slowing the >song down even more, getting very quiet...then picking it up with the >harp, blowing into larger and larger sound, a "grand finale." i agree in principle, but felt _one too many, was a poignant summation of how he felt after decades of sporadic greatness: ragged. in any case, thank god it wasn't _ain't me, babe_. there should be a tariff if he insists on it. >it was apparant that it >was a transparent FORMULA. yeah, but they've been grumbling the same things about homer's _odyssey for 2500 years. i like to think of it as a "style" -- sometimes it works, sometimes everybody gets stoned -- >Sorry, I don't mean that to sound harsh, but i didn't even notice until you just mentioned it. think of your disappointment as an invitation to see more shows before that guy with the hood and sycthe wanders into the "D" section of tower records. i figure dylan's doing some long-term estate-planning, and's gonna retire from touring within 5 years max (though i hope i'm wrong). admittedly, chuck berry, and b.b. king, etc., are in their 60's -- but they have less historical baggage under their eyes. >there I was sitting with my >wife and best friends and this was the first show of the series they had >seen, and I just knew they were not getting the top quality performance I >had experienced in previous nights. there's a 35-year-old line of dissatisfied customers ahead of them! (helps cut down ticket-price inflation) >Sigh. Oh well. You takes your chances >with Old Bob. But bless 'im. again, for me, the breadth, and thematics in the setlist more than compensated for any erratic technique or structural weaknesses. it's becoming clear, that if an arbitrary concertgoer doesn't know the words to every song, he/she is in for a bumpy ride at best. but fixing that problem requires only diligence... sorry to hear you were disappointed (lower expectations and different libations often help). i'd like to hear your detailed impressions of the other shows -- jnb