Reviews

I got to Boone at about 6:30, upon arrival I met and struck up a
converation with some college official and we talked football for 20
minutes. I kept looking at my watch and acting like i needed to get moving
bt the Guy wanted to talk, oh well good conversation anyway.
 
So I finally made my way to the arena at about quarter after and bought a
GA ticket, expecting to be quite a few rows back by now, man as I
suprised, I was in the 7th row or so. Appearently the college kids were in
no hurry to get to the arena. 
 
So I met a few girls and told the how cool seeing Bob was, they kind of
nodded along but I  think after the show they understood.
 
So Bob and Co. took the stage about ten after eight and blazed in to a hot
version of
 
1. The Wicked Messenger........Especially good, very little(if any) rasp
in the voice tonight, and the band was as always, as tight as can be. Harp
work here was notably good.
 
2. She Belongs To Me.........I heard the intro and said to myself....I
know that one.
Good Version, first I've ever heard of it live. Bobs voice and
ennunciation continued to be splendid.
 
3. Its Alright Ma........I couldent figure out what it was gonna be,
bluesy...( a slow pillbox hat, maybe even One More Weekend?) But no It was
one of my favorites...in a new package. I really enjoyed it. I think Bob
noticed me in the crowd. At 6-4 I am no giant but the crowd was notably
short around me....lotsa little college girls. I was trying a sing along ,
and I thing Bob noticed and started to skip rope his words a bit to throw
me off, I think he was laughing as he did it. Or maybe I just hope he was.
The song was awesome!

4. North Country.....I cant ever seem to get excited about this one, it
was good, dont get me wrong, in fact now it seems to be stuck on my mind (
the riff) moreso than the other tunes last night, weird!
 
5. Watching the River Flow.....I'd never seen this live either, I enjoyed
it but would have liked it to have been faster.
 
6. Joey.......easily the highlight of the night for me. 1. it rocked 2. he
almost sang all of the verses 3. He really got into telling Joeys story to
the crowd....and as always, I found it odd, ironic, and maybe a bit sick
that we were rocking along to a story about a guy getting cut down in
front of his family at a clam bar!
 
7. Highway 61....ho hum, except for Larrys Solos. I concluded tonight that
he is better than Robbie Robertson.
 
I'll take a minute to comment on Freddie ( a man from a broken home....his
children break everything in his house----Bobs joke for the night).....I
loved Charlie, and I guess I hve imposed some of my missing him being
there on Freddie, perhaps unjustly so, He is totally different from
Charlie (DUH), and I have been trying to give him moe of a chance. 
 
Sometimes, I think he's adaquete(sp?)...other times I'm like...hey
Freddie...do you even know what song they are playing here. Sometimes it
makes no sense. I hope He doesent read these(I doubt it anyway) because I
dont want to discourage him...but anyway....I have my Freddie issues to
work out I guess..
 
8.Tears of Rage.....good rendition, Beat slow song of the night (cept for
Every Grain, maybe) ....somewhere in the mddle of he song Bob stared in
with some new lyrics....soemthing o the tune of .....I've been to
Strawberry Fields, but I never been to Penny lane.....there was more but I
dont remember it, It was a Kick though
 
9.Stuck Inside of Mobile....Enjoyable...kind of Ho Hum.....I was Glad to
see George by himself again, I liked richie, but I ddient see the point.
 
10. Every Grain of Sand......I heard Him sing this in Chicago a month or
so ago, no I guess exactly a monthago as it was, and It was good, but his
voice was nt nearly as Sharp tonight, It was surreal tonight, Selfishly I
thought to myself " Please dont mess this up Freddie!"
But He dident...he complimented the song in fact.
 
11. Highwater.....Thats a powerful song and Bob was singing it Menacingly
tonight! I noticed that alot of people around me were putting there thumbs
in their pockts almost in a line dancing sort of way....the song fits that
oddly enough.
 
12. Honest With Me.... Good Rendition.....Larry really carries this
song.
 
13. Ballad Of Hollis Brown......Wow, I never thought I'd hear this live..
It was a good version, I dont thin k its possible to revist or recreate
the despair that the album version does, but it was good none the less...
The Guy behind me said " you should really listen to the album version of
that,  its so powerful. I said yeah, I know, I always say, If you are in a
really good mood and want to get out of it, Listen to that song.
 
14. Summer Days.... alwasy a rocker, this is the first time in a while
that I have really heard it take off the way it used to . Charlie is
amazing.
 
 
The encore...
 
15. Hurricane ... I never thought I'd hear this one live complete with
Carlie on fiddle. Just amazing......
 
Just screwing with you.
 
If you dont know the encore by now you have issues.
 
See you Saturday. Bob plays down the street from my house! How exciting!

A beautiful spring day in the mountains of North Carolina. The Holmes
Center at Appalachian State University was about two-thirds full for the
8:15 start. Being general admission on the floor, my wife and I parked
ourselves directly in front of Bob's keyboard for the entire show. Wicked
Messenger opened, and as always, the sound was perfect (cheers to the
sound man!). Bob's lyrics come thru so clear, I felt that even those who
didn't know each song were hanging on every turn of phrase just like we
were.Song two was She Belongs To Me....extra classic. Spotlights dim
between each song and Bob's shadowed profile reminds me of a cowboy hat
version of the Milton Glaser poster.....too cool. It's Alright, Ma follows
with a nice arrangement, brush accent on the snare once on each line, made
each phrase that much more powerful. Amazing how these songs evolve, and
when you feel that you have heard the definitive version of a song, Bob
finds another way to emphasize the power of his lyrics. Girl From The
North Country was an arrangement that reminded me of the way Friend of the
Devil is played, picking a descending scale over the chords.....great
version. Time for kicking slide guitar blues with Watching the River Flow,
nice guitar exchanges. Song six was a killer, Joey. Again, a new
arrangement that accentuates the lyric, and Bob didn't miss a word.
Blistering Highway 61. Then.......Tears of Rage. Jaw dropping. Let me axe
ya dis, when did Bob add a verse about "haven't been to Strawberry Fields,
or to Penny Lane..........."????  It altered my reality, like an Elvis
Hendrix sighting or something. Had to be tweeked I guess....get the tape
(then send me one!) it MUST be heard! Memphis Blues, then Every Grain of
Sand which was particularly good. High Water, Honest with Me, Ballad of
Hollis Brown with Larry on cittern. This was the highlight of the second
half of the show, with the band really communicating with each other. It
was great to see Bob pass a cue, like a musical football, to the other
members of the group. A nice, long version of Summer Days, then the
encore. Cat's in the Well Like a Rolling Stone, and All Along the
Watchtower.  For some people, this will be the only time they saw Bob
Dylan.....and they witnessed a GREAT show that will forever be burned into
their memories. Hopefully, it is just one show in a long lifetime of
seeing Bob..... always great, often transcendant......

Go further, more often, it's worth it!
 
Dane and Dena Hauver