Subject: RFK Setlist & Comments 6-24-95 Date: Sat, 24 Jun 1995 21:55:20 -0700 (PDT) From: Thad Williamson (thwilliamson@igc.apc.org) Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan RFK June 24, 1995 Drifter's Escape Pledging My Time Watchtower Positively 4th Street Silvio Tangled Up in Blue (a) Girl of the North Country (a) Don't Think Twice It's Alright (a) God Knows Joey Knockin on Heaven's Door Highway 61 (encore) Very interesting show. with much of the stadium empty and questionable attention being paid outside those in front of the stage (fortunately including myself, at the very front, along with a friend and rmd'er Jeffrey Blair), Dylan took a very professional approach, while Baxter and particularly Jackson were hamming it up with all kinds of gestures to the audience and so forth. Drifter's Escape is unrecognizable from John Wesley Harding (of course), but interesting arrangement that gives plenty of room to hear the words. Pledgin my Time was great. Positively 4th Street didn't do a huge amount for me on this night but was still fine. Silvio kicked butt as usual. But then the acoustic part! Awesome! Tangled Up in Blue was a great performance, all 7 verses, clearly sung. No longer is it "taaangled up in bluuuuuuuuue", simply "tangled up in blue". Great harmonica for 2 instrumental verses at the end (without the holder, bob holding mike), clearly bob very into it. Girl of the North Country was sung was a soft and sweet voice. Don't Think Twice was even better than usual, due to a particularly inspired vocal by Bob, especially on the final verse. From 15 feet away in the front row I could see his facial expressions emphasizing each bitter line, showing real feeling, and great vocal. Jackson got excited during this part and broke a big smile before mouthing the final 2 lines of the song. God Knows was loud. Then there was a 15-20 second delay as they fished around for the next sound, and Bob could be seen saying "how bout we do..." Joey was the result, excellent, especially the first 4 verses and 2 refrains or so sung. He was hitting all kinds of notes! In total just over half the original or so were sung. Heaven's Door and Hway 61 were themselves, nothing all that remarkable, just plain old good. Dylan wore shades until the encore, during which his face looked tired and frankly old. There was a lot of ballon bouncing and such during the whole set. I couldn't handle the front row scene for the Dead so found a seat in the stands and left early. Friend of the Devil, Wichita, Iko Iko, etc. read that other newsgroup for more. Anyway, I liked that the musicians were in a rather laid back mood, accepting this as kind of a throwaway concert and yet not throwing it away but making it an interesting one. The acoustic set will probably be counted as one of the best of this tour. More on tomorrow night, tomorrow night! cheers, Thad P.S. Important: Caught two songs from the soundcheck: Jackson singing an electric Tangled Up in Blue, and what for all the world to me sounded like an instrumental of, get this, Brownsville Girl. I'm pretty certain that's what they were doing. This of course meant I had to yell "brownsville" between every song, but to no avail--although clearly joey and perhaps pledgin my time were spontaneous choices by bob and the band.
Subject: Dylan at RFK Date: 25 Jun 1995 18:33:07 GMT From: fervor@clark.net (Exiled on Main Street) Organization: Clark Internet Services, Inc., Ellicott City, MD USA Newsgroups: rec.music.dylan Sorry this didnt get posted last night. By the time I got back to Baltimore my head hurt so badly it had split into two pieces. Regardless of the headache though, last night's show was worth it. Bob looked good from up front where I was, and sounded even better. His vocals were clear and crisp, his guitar leads were hot, and his back up band was on fire as usual. And the setlist? Check it out: 1. Drifter's Escape 2. Pledging My Time 3. Watchtower 4. Positively 4th St. 5. Silvio 6. Tangled Up in Blue* 7. Girl from the North Country* 8. Don't Think Twice* 9. God Knows 10. Joey 11. Knockin on Heaven's Dorr Encore: Highway 61 This is nothing like what I was expecting. It's a big departure from the setlists that have been posted on this group recently. I wonder what he's going to play tonight..... Highlights? For me, Tangled Up in Blue. It's one of my favorites, and one I've never seen him do. Beautiful. This would have been a fine addition to "Unplugged"..... *sigh*. I was surprised by Watchtower too. I have never really cared for this song all that much, but last night's version was rocking. Very well done. BTW, if anyone has tapes of last night's show, let me know. We'll work something out.