Two Nights with Bob
So, I'm half way through my mini-Dylan experience: I've seen two shows in Sacramento, and am in the interregnum between two in Berkeley.
The Sacramento venue is very nice; small but not crowded. The sound is OK, could be better, but very listenable. It was a hot day up there, but not too hot in the auditorium.
The first night, I was a little disappointed with the setlist. He did two things that were of big interest -- lots of covers (including a live debut of Neil Young's "Old Man" and also the debut of Don Henley's "The End of Innocence"), and he played the electric piano a lot. The covers were great. Brown Sugar really rocked, the Henley song was sung very well, Old Man was a big surprise, also sung very well. I really enjoyed hearing the Warren Zevon song Mutineer, which is new to Bob in concert and new to me. A terrific song, again very well sung.
Some of Bob's own songs that first night, didn't do much for me, but I'm just a bit jaded, maybe, from hearing Maggie's Farm, It's All Right Ma, Baby Blue and some more a few too many times. They were well done, though, and perhaps I'm being curmudgeonly.
The second night was better: for one, we were able to get right up front of the stage, with only one person between me & the stage, probably not more than 20 feet (at the very most) from Bob. Still got a Maggie's Farm opener (would much rather hear the rarer Solid Rock). But You Ain't Going Nowhere delighted. The covers were a lot of fun, and I hadn't heard Floater before.
Great shows, just lots of fun. Bob plays the piano, of course, the same way he plays the guitar and harmonica: more as a percussion instrument than a melodic one. When he was on keyboard, that let the guitars -- Charlie Sexton and Larry Campbell -- soar. At times Bob would step away from the keyboard, and just let them play. That was lots of fun.
On to the Greek...
8:35:29 PM Permalink
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