Reviews

Well, while the typical crowd was making mushy Valentine's plans, we
decided that we would spend our holiday with Bobby---and catch the show at
Notre Dame.  What could be more romantic than that?

First of all, Brian Setzer and his orchestra really surprised me.  I
enjoyed their music and all of them seem to possess a great deal of musical
talent.  But most of all, i enjoyed their little antics of hand clapping,
finger snapping, sincronized movements and general cutting up.  They looked
like they were really having a good time and I found myself smiling at
their showmanship.  Brian himself is crazy, he must of driven his mother
nuts as a kid.  However, it serves him well.  Certainly better than Joni
Mitchell.

Well, after being told that we could go nowhere to smoke, not even outside
and re-enter, we snuck a few drags in the bathroom.... and by the looks of
the butts in the refuse container, we certainly we not the only ones.  That
is just one of the bitches I have about Notre Dame and their blue sport
coat, didn't take their metamuscil, it hurts to see anybody having any fun,
you must be an old grizzled geezer to get the job, campus security!!! 
However, on to worthy conversation!

Bobby was dressed in a charcoal grey suit, with black velvety embroidered
leafs and such on the chest of the jacket.  The back of the collar was the
black velvet and I think the cuffs had it to.  The pants were piped in
silver and it matched the silver sparkle of his turqouise bow tie and same
colored shirt. Needless to say, bob was dressed to the nines.  Ya know, he
even came out with a part in his hair, he later mussed it up a bit.

I'm not going to bore you with the setlist, you already have that.  Some of
the highlights of the show, for me, started with Stuck inside of Mobile
with the Memphis blues again.  He changed the words a little and was
smiling and cutting up the whole time.  He changed eyelids to eyeballs. 
Then You're a Big Girl Now was such a treat because it was quite
unexpected.  

Mr. Tambourine Man was amazing.  We were hoping to see the harp on this
one, but were disappointed.  That's ok though because he brought it out
during the encore.  

Bobby really seemed to have fun with Desolation Row and got the crowd
shouting over the line with the "hunchback of notre dame".  Actually the
crowd was pretty dead mostly and I was surprised that they even heard that
line.  It seemed to be a pretty uneducated in Dylan type crowd.  We were
surrounded my people that had no idea what the lyrics were or that even
recognized the songs.  Anyway, Desolation Row is always a treat.

Tangled Up in Blue and Highway 61 rocked, the band was tight and on the
ball.  Bobby was of course making all his little faces.  Looking real mean
one second, smiling the next, even sticking out his tongue a few times.  He
really smiled a lot and seemed to be having a good time.

I could go on and on about the songs, I guess.  I really enjoyed them all
and will stop at that for the songs.  Each one was a favorite, probably
because I like everything he does and so it was a perfect show for me.

Like I said before security was tight.  One girl did manage to get on the
stage somehow.  There was no rushing the stage, many cameras were snatched,
and don't  try to have any fun, like dancing in the aisle, that is
definitely not allowed.  Being a woman of small stature, it was hard for me
to see over the heard of giraffes in the six rows in front of me, so I
stood on my chair most of the night, until lack of preparation H man, made
me get down.  Then up on my dad's shoulders, we were yelled at again.  Oh
well, what good are we if we can't get security wound up?  But the jokes on
them, because we snatched three pictures, one with the harp!  God willing
at least one will turn out.

At any rate, it was a Valentine's Day to remember.  Thanks Bobby, come back
soon!

Jeri Still-Stelter

 The Brian Setzer Orchestra was a great opening act.  It was very different
from any other opener I have seen.  It is the second opening act I have seen
in which I left with the thoughts of picking up one of their albums.

 Bob opened the night with a clean, tight version of Gotta Serve Somebody.
The harmonies were pretty good and it set the tone for what was to become the
best Dylan concert of the three I have seen.

 Dylan next moved on to Million Miles.  Bob's vocals were good and the guitars
weaved in an out of his words perfectly.  The band has come a long way since
their October 26 show in Indianapolis. 

 Stuck Inside of Mobile was good, but some of the words were slurred.  I think
it could have been a little better.  Next was the most pleasent suprise of the
whole evening, You're A Big Girl Now.  I knew Bob had been playing a tune from
side one of Blood On The Tracks in this spot a few shows earlier so I was
hoping he would do so again.  He came through with one of the better vocal
performances of the night.  It was definitely worth the price of admission.  

 Next was a kick ass version of Silvio and then Bob moved into the acoustic
set.  The acoustic set was somewhat intimate.  What I mean is that the volume
seemed to be turned down more in this set than in the previous acoustic sets I
have seen.  The arena seemed to shrink a little as Bob sang a great version of
Mr. Tambourine Man in which Bucky played a killer dobro.  Excellent versions
of Desolation Row and Tangled Up In Blue followed.  The lyrics to Tangled Up
In Blue stayed true to the version on Blood On The Tracks except that they
moved from third person to first person about mid-song.

 The Times They Are A-Changin' Rounded out the acoustic set.  Bob seemed to
really put an emphasis on the line "Senators, Congressmen, Please heed the
call..."

 Bob then moved on to Make You Feel My Love and Can't Wait.  He  started Can't
Wait off a little differently than on the album and I think I like it better.
Both of these songs were clear and tight.

 The set ended with Highway 61.  Bob really got into the groove on this one.
You could tell he was having a good time with it by the little moves he made
with his guitar and the crazy faces he made.

 The encore opened up with Love Sick.  A killer version.  The song gets better
every time I hear it.  Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat was up next and seemed to get
the crowd going about as much as they did all night.  Don't Think Twice, It's
All Right was up next.  Bob got out the harp on this one and played a killer
solo at the end.  One of the best performances I've seen him do on the harp in
person.

 The night ended with Not Fade Aaway.  The crowd got excited by this one.  It
was a great rendition.  As many have written before, the song is appropriate
for our hero as his greatness will not fade away.

 All in all, the show was the best of the three I have seen.  The other two
were 11-22-96 in South Bend and 10-26-98 in Indianapolis.  Bob and the band
seem to have really put it together.  Dylan even said before introducing the
band that "Some say this is the best band I have ever had."  Bob's vocals were
there all night, the best I have ever heard him in person.

 If you can see Dylan soon, do it.  You will not be disappointed.

               --Drew Smith