Bob Dylan 980519 in San Jose, California
San Jose Arena
Address: 525 W. Santa Clara St.
Capacity: 19,190
Ticket prices: $75.00, $45.00
Bass Tickets phone number: 408-998-BASS
Triple bill with Joni Mitchell & Van Morrison
Subject: San Jose amazment
From: AlanBSFB (alanbsfb@aol.com)
Date: 20 May 1998 16:01:01 GMT
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
I've seen Bob alot in the last few years, as recently as last summer at
Tanglewood, and , althought the songs were songs Bob's been doing, and the band
is the same band, I have to say that I never had had a Dylan experience, seen
a Dylan show as strong as this one. Van and Joanie were simply perfect, but
Bob! What was that last night? Lets just say that Forever Young was so far off
the earth that there's not point trying to make sense of it.
Subject: I lost my virginity in San Jose
From: LLRRBB (llrrbb@aol.com)
Date: 20 May 1998 16:18:26 GMT
Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com
Oh my god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After all these years, my first BOB show. So, excuse the "newbie" perspective.
Also, Eric Clapton is more my "Thing" so to speak (I also have never seen him
in concert either!!)
What the fuck have I been doing all these years!?!?!?
First, Van "The Man" sang. His band was great and his voice was right on. No
Monndance though.
Then Joni.............snoooooooooooooze..........she was really nervous, she
had allergies. She had to stop 3 times to restart songs. She did do a great
Bob impression on Big Yellow Taxi though. The good thing was, I got alot of
rest for what was to come next.
Then, what I had been waiting for: 10:40......The lights down and the Bob
opens w/ ASM.....from then on BOB was sooooooo rockin!!! The band was
unbelievalbe!!!
Bob was having such a good time you could FEEL HIS LOVE!!!!!!!!!!! Which he
played right after a STUPENDOUS version of TUIB( my fav), where he played the
harp at the end. SIGHHHHHHHHH. What I really loved is the last song of the
night "Rainy Day Women..." they turned all the lights on...by now it's almost
midnight....and everyone just jammed and danced and sang!!!!! You guys are all
probably used to this, but I was blown away.
If I smoked, I would have rolled over and lit a ciggy!!!!!!!!
Clapton is next. Just think I get to be a virgin again in 11 days!!! They'll
have to take me out of there on a stretcher I assure you. What a month!!
:-)
Lauren
Subject: Re: San Jose amazment
From: Phelps (jamesnjo@mbay.net)
Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 10:19:24 -0700
Unlike most of you here on rmd, last night, for me was
a twice in a life time event. I last saw Bob in 1974. So I
approached this experience with the awe and wonder of
one making a pilgrimage. I sat in row 29 which had a
great view of the stage but was in a muddled, acoustic
niche. I'm not complaining, though it took some effort
to imagine what these three stellar performances might
have sounded like in a smaller venue with kinder sound
distribution.
Van's show was everything I could have
hoped for. It might not have been the magical, mystical
experience I've read about, but he moved me.. I was riled
by comments in the men's room during intermission. Guys
were disappointed they didn't get "Brown Eyed Girl" or
"Domino" or, on and on.. Is art a consumer item? Is
it just one among many available commodities? I can begin
to imagine the kind of frustration an artist like VTM must
feel on any given night. Anyhow....
Joni came on-stage looking like herself. In spite of a few
technical glitches and some nervousness (all the more human)
her show was great. I loved the "for Bob" verse in "Big
Yellow Taxi". I'm sadly lacking in Joni music at home. (only
have "Blue", "Court and Spark" and "Chalk Marks...") I'll
be taking care of that as soon as possible.
Bob.. What can I say that hasn't been said in a myriad of
posts on this group? I was overcome by the power of these
performances. My ears are still ringing the day after.. "Masters
of War" stands out in my mind as the most eloquent and moving
songs of the evening; that and "Make You Feel My Love".
Perhaps other people had better luck with sound but for me
these two were the only songs that did not get muddled in the
sonic soup of the arena. The nuances of Bob's voice came
through no less than on any recording of his I've ever heard.
Then there's the rock n' rollin' Bob... Seeing him noodlin' that
guitar, shaking his head and shufflin' his feet made me think
of still photos I've seen of him playing with the Band in the
mid-60's...
I've left out so much of what I saw and felt
last night.. But I'm sure you get the picture.... I definitely
had me a "Bob Dylan Experience"!
James
http://www.mbay.net/~jamesnjo/
San Fransisco Chronicle review (Will probably be gone after a while.)
Subject: A few random thoughts after San Jose
From: Georgia Sam (georgiasam@rocketmail.com)
Date: 20 May 1998 15:06:17 EDT
Others have reviewed the show quite eloquently. I just want
to add a few notes of my own.
Bob was in amazing form. This is the guy who just a bit
under a year ago thought he was about to see Elvis?
Hospitalized with an infection around his heart, and less
than a year later (and approaching his 57th birthday), Bob
was moving and jiving and crouching and tapping his feet
(and smiling! not just once, but a number of times) like a
young kid.
Just like AATW at #3 used to be, I'm sure some people are
growing tired of Silvio at 5/6. Not me! The band keeps
adding to it, playing around the edges, making it a bit
better each time. That screeching guitar solo that Bob does
on the first break, and then the spacey jam at the end,
really put it over the top. And what a transformation from
the LP version. He's changed many of his tunes around over
the years, but I think Silvio is probably the most-improved
from the studio track.
The vocals on Make You Feel My Love and Forever Young were
touching, so soft and sweet. And did anybody else notice
him get the harp near the end of TUIB, then sort of look at
it like he wasn't sure, then start to put it back, then look
at it again, then finally step up and bounce around for a
few seconds before letting loose on it? Trey cool.
It seems like Bob and the band are getting more comfortable
with the TOOM material. The intros to Cold Irons and Love
Sick were both ultra-intense, and the arrangements felt a
bit more relaxed then past performances.
And on the show went....Bob just seems to be getting better
and better, more loose and at the same time tighter with the
band and the crowd. Feels like he's born
again....again....okay, I don't know how many again's to add
here. I'm just glad he's at this point in life, and that
we're lucky enough to share in it in venues full of incense
and music.
-----
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young
Pictures by Bryan Barrow
Subject: Re: San Jose amazment
From: Mark Gonnerman (markg@leland.stanford.edu)
Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 11:01:16 -0800
I sit here trying to think of words that might adequately describe how I
feel after Dylan's May 19 performance in San Jose. (I'm whelmed.) All
thirteen songs were full of life and energy, delivered with incredible
power and finesse. Dylan was dancing! Dylan was dazzling! (I kept
thinking, "Have I died and gone to heaven?") What a transcendent, intense
and profoundly beautiful gift Dylan gave to us last night!
"Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi svaha!"
--Mark
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark Gonnerman
Department of Religious Studies
Stanford University
Subject: Just Like A Woman 5/19/98
From: Marc Blaker (blaker_m@hosp.stanford.edu)
Date: Wed, 20 May 1998 17:02:18 -0700
San Jose 5/19/98
In a night of amazing performances no one has
yet mentioned my favorite version ever of
Just Like A Woman.
I'm still reeling from being in the second row.
Bob made eye contact with me several times. I'm
not a gushing newbie, having seen Bob two dozen times
since 1974, but I was truly blown away.
And his guitar work just gets better and better.
My first Cold Irons & Love Sick exceeded all
expectations.
And that harp solo on Tangled!
Minor complaint: While I love the acoustic jamming,
I miss the portion of the show where it's just Bob
and the audience. Kinda felt like that on Make You Feel
My Love (one of 13 highlights this evening!), an intensely
personal performance that made one completely forget there
was anyone else on stage.
I was worried about getting cheated due to the 3 headliner
thing but the length was typical, around 100 minutes
(and 60 min. too short!).
Marc
Subject: Biffy Goes to San Jose
From: Biffyshrew (biffyshrew@aol.com)
Date: 22 May 1998 02:38:26 GMT
Well, I made it. My first Dylan show. And my first Joni show. And as a
bonus, my first Van the Man show ("bonus" because, much as I like him,
he's the one I wouldn't have spent a lot of money to see if he'd been the
only act on the bill.) Fourth row, center section, thanks to my brother-
in-law, who struck it lucky at the BASS window. Yippie!
Van was in fine form, although I was unfamiliar with most of what he
sang, as he completely eschewed the old hits this night, and I own none
of his studio albums after _Inarticulate Speech_. (Come on, Van, would
it have killed you to do "Blue Money"? Well, okay, "Cleaning Windows"
was sure nice to hear.) I had at least heard "Burning Ground" before,
which he did twice, both opening and closing his set.
Odd that the act with the largest band had the cleanest sound mix of
the night. Weird technique: singing a verse through the (heavily
distorted) harmonica mic--it sounded like a police bullhorn...
Joni was *wonderful*. I know a lot of people were mortally offended
by her false starts and evident nervousness, but once she got going, the
actual performances were great. "Amelia" in particular was
spellbinding. She had me worried when she announced that she wouldn't
be doing her older material--and then she went right back to 1975 for
a track from my favorite of her albums! ("Harry's House" from _The
Hissing Of Summer Lawns_.) My only complaint was that muddy-
sounding guitar synthesizer she used for the whole set. Now I'm
certainly not one to cavil at the use of synthesizers (as anyone who's
heard *my* CD would attest), but a simple acoustic guitar would have
served Joni better. I didn't catch the name of her drummer, but he was
brilliant. Very colorful and dynamic, with a lot of switching among
brushes, mallets and sticks. In fact, he sometimes used a stick in his
right hand and a mallet in his left.
The set list was the same as the one from Washington or Vancouver
that someone else posted under "Van/Joni set lists." Joni's set was
being videotaped from the pit. I'd sure like to see the results of that
--I should be clearly visible in the pan of the audience at the end! ;-)
In keeping with Van's Sinatra tribute ("That's Life," one of the few
Sinatra songs I happen to like), Joni changed the lyrical reference to
Benny Goodman in "Hejira" to "Strains of Old Blue Eyes coming through
the snow and the pinewood trees..."
I was completely unprepared for how *animated* Bob was. He
started out the set as I expected, standing stiffly at the mic with a
stern expression on his face. But soon enough he was doing that weird
little knock-kneed dance that he kept breaking into throughout the
evening--and GRINNING! Bob was DANCING and GRINNING! As the angle
and color of the lights changed and Bob moved his head I was astonished
to see clearly the faces of the 1965 Dylan and the 1974 Dylan and the
1978 Dylan before me--then the white lights would come up again and
he changed back into the craggy, jowly 1998 model.
Before the show started I had noticed a green bullet mic next to the
vocal mic, so I figured there was guaranteed to be some harmonica in
the set. Sure enough, he pulled it out for "Tangled Up In Blue," but he
seemed tentative. He blew a couple of test notes off-mic, and looked
at it as if he weren't sure he had the right key. Then he looked like he
wasn't sure when to come in. That Zimmy, what a tease...
Biggest "What the fuck???" moment: "The Man In Me." That was about
298th on the list of songs I expected to hear, and he'd gotten a
considerable way into before I even realized what it was...
Your pal,
Biffy the Elephant Shrew @}-`--}----
http://members.aol.com/biffyshrew/biffy.html
God must be a boogie man!
