Bob Dylan 990613 in George, Washington
Subject: Gorge review, 6/13/99 (long & meandering) From: Eric Hartvigsen (LQKY56A@prodigy.com) Date: 15 Jun 1999 02:07:29 GMT And we're off. Off to Dylan show #14 since 1988. And, coincidentally, off to Simon show #4 since 1982. Should be fun. The only disappointing thing is that I know that Dylan will be opening, 'cause 2 nights before in Vancouver I know he opened, and then came Portland where it should have been Bob's turn to close, now it'll be Paul's again. But that's ok, I've got nothing against Paul.... Beautiful evening. Upper 80's, I'm guessing, and nary a cloud in sight. The Gorge is an amazing venue, and this will be my last show for sometime, as I'm moving out of state in a matter of weeks. Settling in comfortably to our 9th row seats, I'm thinking these might be the best seats I've had for Bob yet (I was row 6 in '95, but these somehow seem *better*). The PA music stops, and out walks ... Paul Simon & his band. Ahh, the gods of good fortune are gonna shine on me tonight, I think. Paul opens up with a gently building Bridge Over Troubled Water and then takes a stab at several of his so-called "world music" tracks. Mainly some obscure numbers off his '90 album The Rhythm of The Saints. I wasn't too keen on the lp at first, but I must admit in a live setting, with astonishingly GOOD sound, these numbers sound great. But I'm sure somebody's bummin', cause they'd rather be listening to Feelin' Groovy. However, aside from the opener, the only other nod to S&G was Mrs. Robinson. He did hit some of his older solo classics (Me & Julio, Late in the Evening, Slip Slidin' Away), but probably 2/3 was his latter-day music. Very enjoyable (though I probably would have been much less impressed had he closed the show). My only question for Paul would be whether he's been taking guitar lessons from Elvis Presley or something. That thing's barely more than a prop on most numbers. Too many hand gestures, Paul. Too little playing. And now the main set and encore are over. And out strolls His Bobness. My goodness, Bob, did you get a new tailor? He's in a snappy silver suit, and he looks like a giant, towering over poor Mr. Simon (who Lennon once referred to as The Singing Dwarf). On to Sounds of Silence. They TRY to sing together, but it's about a 75% Paul/25% Bob mix. No verse swapping, just ackward attempts to sing together. Much more successful is the 50/50 split on Walk the Line/Blue Moon of Kentucky. Now why can't they do more of this stuff? Then Bob takes the 75% share as they move to Knockin' (and this time, they are trading verses). It's more of the Clapton-reggae version than anything I've heard come out of Bob's band, but I liked it much more than I thought I would. Lots of between song chatter between him & Paul, and plenty of smiles from Bobby. Here's hoping that some of those photos I took might turn out. Especially because.... Moments before Bob's solo set, the security staff tells everybody there's no photos during Bob's half. What's the deal with that, anyway? Is it a secret what he looks like or something? Oh, well, I'll snap just a couple anyway (and no, I don't need a flash yet, so I'm not gonna be blinding the man). Out he comes again, having CHANGED SUITS!!! Bob the fashion plate. Now it's the much more typical black cowboyish outfit. And have I mentioned how Bob looks these days? He's either in the best shape he's been in years, or he's unheathfully gaunt (unhealthfully?). And he's got the Vertical Hair going too. If it weren't for the gray, he'd look like that guy on the Bootleg Series Volume 1-3. I REALLY hope those photos turn out now. I'm expecting something weird to kick things off and ... Hallelujah! I'm ready to go does not disappoint. What an opener. Joyful, tight, out-of-left-field, absolutely perfect! I've been humming the song for 24 hours now, and I'd never heard it before. Then it's Mr. Tambourine Man, with some funny vocal arrangements and the only great harp solo of the night (though he blew it well on Sounds of Silence, too) "heymistertambourinemanwon'tyouplayasongformeI'mnotbusyandthereisnoplaceI' mgoingto, (pause), heymistertambourinemanwon'tyouplayasongformeinthejinglejanglemorningI'llco mefollowingyou." 2 lines. Not 4. I'm enjoying this. Oops! Bob's screwed up the final chorus pretty bad. Tonight it's "hey mister tambourine man, play a song for me, I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to. Hey mister tambourine man play a song for me, I'm not sleepy and in the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you." This time it IS 4 lines. And a half. Then it's... Masters of War, which he played excellently last fall in Puyallup. And he does it again. Really biting off the words. Great stuff. Then it's..
