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Bob Dylan 971114 in San Jose, California
A concert bought by Applied Materials.



Subject: REVIEWS : San Jose Arena AMAT plays host to more rec.music.dylan 
         readers than a Bob Dylan convention!
From: Ed Ricardo (eddie@edlis.org)
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 11:00:36 GMT

REVIEWS : San Jose Arena AMAT plays host to more rec.music.dylan
readers than a Bob Dylan convention! 

In this thread could rec.music.dylan readers who attended please place
their reviews and comments? 

The tapes so far are, shall we say, not pefect audio quality... :-(
Could tapers offering copies to tapes@edlis.org also CC: to
eddie@edlis.org on this one 'til we determine a best quality. No sense
distributing less than the best to the hungry masses. Thanks
everybody! 

A good time was had by all by all accounts.  Thanks to Applied
Materials for their generosity to everybody, this was the least
private private party in a long time! 

I for one will be telling everyone I know when they want materials,
buy Applied!  Great company publicity in this win/win extravaganza.
Company gets publicity. Bob gets well paid, (this alone might pay this
year's accountancy fees and avoid him doing another commercial), and
every fan who had the least inkling to try got in! 

I gather a rather huge number of our readers got in with ease, many
for free, though this being the heart of Capitalist Amerika many
employees put their skills to use on maximum prophets.  But no one
paid more than would have been fair for the drink and food alone! 

Various reports pouring in to EDLIS Centrale as I type from the beach
near Havana with my GSM 'phone hooked to the net...  Let me get under
this beach umbrella, tans are no longer the fashion I gather. :-)
O.K. 

--

> But Bob was in fine spirits and playing his heart out even if the Arena's 
> sound system was better suited to war games.

--

> It actually was pretty easy to get in.  Less than 5  minutes spent
> looking for a ticket.  Price was well within reason.  No security at 
> the door.  No searches.  

--

> I kept looking at my watch hoping that the one hour
> estimate would elapse faster.  Luckily, Bob got to play a 
> full-length show (1.75 hours). 

-- 

> Thanks for the advice and encouragement to get me to the show.

> Ms X & I went to the show and checked out the doors. They were 
> looking at ids and putting on wristbands but this turned out to be for 
> alcohol - at the door they were taking regular standard tickets. Started 
> asking everyone for extra tickets a block away as they approached. On 
> about the 4th try one single guy said he had an extra at willcall that we 
> started to go for but then some one else wanted to sell a pair and asked 
> how much.  Ms X was closer as I was talking to the willcall guy. She said
> $25 each and he settled for $30. Pretty cheap for Bob especailly since there 
> was all you can eat arena food, beverages, liqour and free show posters. 

--

> They had some company people speak and video. Wallflowers for an hour. 
> No Bob. The sound was very loud and a bit distorted.  Decided it best to try 
> to move to the floor to maybe avoid distortion, so we hopped the barrier that
> a number of people were going over and settled right in front of the soundboard. 
> Bob's sound was not as distorted but still had large arena sound, very loud.  Full 
> show. First time for me on new band and new songs and as interesting as 
> the present tour. 

> Anyway it was nice to see Bob again and I got a nice poster.

Etc etc etc 

Glad no one was disappointed. EDLIS advised all enquirers to go, 
not 100% sure every last person would be welcomed.  What a fine
company AMAT is!  EDLIS advice: Hold off the revolution for a couple
of days, let's check out a couple more aspects of capitalism before
the show trials.  

Jimmy Morgan you are a fine CEO, thanks for leaking the news on
Wednesday.  Ever you need EDLIS' help (before or even after the
revolution) just ask.  Oh and if you see old Matt Barrett, teach him
how to do things sensibly up on the frozen Banks of Montreal! 

ed
eddie@edlis.org 

--
While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him.


Subject: San Jose Arena--November 14, 1997: Review From: Ellen (zephyr@DIFFERNET.COM Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 01:56:34 -0800 X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (Win16; U) Since this was a private party, we were pretty uncertain that we would be able to get in. Fortunately, this did not turn out to be a problem. After asking a few people if they had extras, we came upon a nice fellow with a pair of extras who asked us to name a price. Reasonable negotations followed and we were in the Arena minutes later. The absence of searches made bringing a tape deck in feasible. This private party included free food and drink although it was of a fairly low caliber: standard Arena fare. They did have free bottled water which I took advantage of. Our seats turned out to be about the worst in the house, but we never sat in them. We got situated with plenty of time before the announced 7:30 p.m. showtime. Showtime came and it was a film about Applied Materials (who was throwing the private party for their employees). This was followed by brief speeches from the CEOs. Then, the Wallflowers came on. They just are not my kind of music. The sound was also terrible. Extremely loud. Could not make out the vocals at all. I saw Bucky and Larry watching from backstage. Wallflowers played for an hour. Jakob had a good stage presence. After a 25 minutes break, Bob and band took the stage. Bob wore long black coat with what looked like a bow time and black pants with stripe. Bucky had an electric blue shirt. I'd never seen Larry before. He does look like a model. Maggies Farm was nicely done as was Tonight I'll be staying here with you. The poor sound affected Cold Irons Bound. The first half sounded good but the second half got real distorted. We were right in front of the soundboard dead center but it didn't help much. Ain't Goin Nowhere was good and Silvio rocked along, but it too was plagued by sound problems toward the end. There must have been anothe song in here but I don't remember it. I don't think he played Can't Wait but I could have spaced it. The acoustic set sounded much better just because it was not cranked up to Arena level sound. Cocaine (first time I'd seen it live) was quite nice and One Too Many Mornings was probably the highlight of the show for me. A good Tangled. Til I Fell in love with you sounded better for an electric song and I thought maybe the sound was improving. This Wheel's on Fire also sounded better. Bob was really singing well here. Highway 61 was standard. LARS was also standard. Forever Young was very pretty. Lovesick was excellent. RDW -- well, I'm bored with it. All in all, having not seen a live show since May 1995, it was a good time. Compared to recent set lists and tapes I've heard, it was probably nothing special, but I was there and Bob was there and he was seemingly having a good time. At one point, he said how happy they were to be there and how they'd like to be there "every time" they have "one of these." (It was Applied Materials' 30th Anniversary Party, so I guess he means he'd like to be there at the 60th :)) It was worth the effort and the worry over getting in. Bob is still Bob, and he'd still putting on a good show for everyone.
Subject: Re: "SF" (San Jose) 11-14-97 From: Ellen (zephyr@DIFFERNET.COM) Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 20:37:55 -0800 X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (Win16; U) John Howells wrote: >The San Jose Arena is a great place to see a >concert like this [ie. Dylan and the Wallflowers]. Have you ever been to the San Jose Arena? I think the poster to whom you were responding was absolutely correct. I am sorry that the concert was not at the Warfield (although I might not have gotten in if it had been at the 2000 seat Warfield instead of 20,000+ Arena). The Warfield is beautiful old theatre with excellent acoustics, comfortable balcony seats, great views and a good location. The Arena is a brand new hockey arena built for that purpose. The acoustics are terrible. All of the sound is reflected and rereflected off myriad interfering parts of the building. It is huge. Because the Sharks were playing there the next night, the floor (where we sat during Dylan) was really just some stuff put over ice. My feet were completely numb by half way through the show from standing on ice. From our location, right in front of the soundboard, I could see pretty well and with binoculars had a very fine view of Bob. However, the sound was awful. We had tried other locations, and this was the best we could do. It is possible that the sound was better in the front row if you were only hearing the monitors instead of the speakers. I can't say anything positive about the location of the Arena except that it is near my office. San Jose is a pretty boring place without even any good restaurants. I'll take Bob at the Warfield, Berkeley Community Theatre or even the Fillmore any day over some large barn like the Arena. It was even worse than San Jose Event Center (the state university's rec hall) where I saw Bob a while back. This was an extremely unattractive venue. If I wasn't already a committed fan, this show would not encourage me to see Bob again simply because of the sound. You must not understand what a great place the Warfield is to see a show. I am always sorry when someone plays someplace other than the Warfield.
Subject: OHMIGAWD-I GOT TO SEE DYLAN LAST NIGHT! From: Melanie Thomas (dlc2352@TIPTOE.FHDA.EDU) Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 12:45:29 -0700 Hello fellow Bobfans! I needed a miracle and I got one! I gained access to the Applied Materials private party at the San Jose Arena last night, Novemeber 14 and I'm on cloud nine this morning as I dial for tickets in LA! :-) (which don't go on sale over the phone until 1:00 pm) :-( It all happened so fast! On Wed. I got an email message from a tape trading buddy telling me His Bobness would be in San Jose, only five or ten minutes from my home!!!! [Oh my gosh, I gotta be there!] I started asking people at work if they know anyone who works at Applied Materials. Friends were calling and writing and asking what I knew. Thursday morning's newspaper had an article on the cover stating that the Wallflowers and Bob Dylan would be performing. KFOG (SF radio station) announced that "a spokesman for Applied Materials 'decined to comment' on the rumor". We already had tickets to see the Rolling Stones Friday night, but we were willing to trade for Dylan tickets, if at all possible. Well, to make a long story a bit shorter, my wonderful husband managed to get two tickets so that his Bob-adoring wife (he's also a major fan himself) could go see THE MAN! Too bad that we wasted $150 worth of tickets--never found anyone to use the Stones tickets--it was worth every cent!! I must admit that I was a bit apprehensive about this being a private party and wondering how it might influence his performance, but now I am happy to report that I think he really enjoyed himself and that he played to the best of his ability. (he was awesome!) He commented that he would come back again the next time if he were invited! I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the show and came away ecstatic, as I have the last six times I've seen him perform. It had been a year since our last show in Oct. '96 in NV. I've lost count of how many Dylan shows I've seen, but my first was at the Warfield in '79. He continues to blow my mind and delight my ears and eyes. He was wearing the usual black jacket and trousers with the silver pin stripe and black bow tie. (Maverick style) No hat, no glasses, no harp stand. The tickets we had were up in the rafters, but we didn't stay there! We managed to get onto the floor and into the first section of chairs, near the center aisle, so we had an excellent view of the man and his band. And the sound was much better than what we heard of the first half of the Wallflowers' performance. If I hadn't seen setlists on r.m.d. I would have been surprised to hear Maggie's Farm as an opener. It works well in this slot. (I agree with you, Jeff.) By now you've seen the setlist, but I'll post it here again for those who haven't. San Jose Arena November 14, 1997 Maggie's Farm Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You Cold Irons Bound You Ain't Goin' Nowhere Silvio Cocaine Blues (acoustic) One Too Many Mornings (acoustic) Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic) 'Til I Fell In Love With You This Wheel's On Fire Highway 61 Revisited (encores:) Like A Rolling Stone Forever Young (acoustic) Love Sick Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 I loved hearing some of the new songs, but ever so pleased to hear some of my old favorites. He definitely plays the Jerry version of TUIB. I missed JJ's jamming on Silvio and thought that at times Larry seemed bored or disinterested, but overall thought the band was in good form. I love seeing Bob being Dylan--I don't know what else to call it. His body language, his stance, his squints and grimaces, his crouching down and rocking back and forth--His Bobness... I love it!!! He was wonderful! Now I'm excited about imagining a venue of only 900 capacity. Never mind that I have a court date on Dec. 17 (in San Jose) or that my son's birthday is the 20th, or that it will be "hell week of the holidays", how can I manage to get tickets to the El Rey Theater?!! My hat's off to Applied Materials! They sure know how to throw a party! Free food and drink all night and we got an awesome poster of the event as we exited. (same style and artist as the recent Fillmore posters) THANK YOU for a real good time!
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