Reviews

It was so nice to leave the office and a few minutes later to be at the Fox 
Theater just up the street from St. Louis University for tonight's great Bob 
Dylan and Merle Haggard show. And what a treat to see Bob and Merle on 
back-to-back legs of this tour, the first time since last April's five day Chicago 
stand that I've had the pleasure of doing so. Not only was the décor of the 
theater fantastic and was I on the floor (vs. the balcony) tonight, but it was 
my girl friend Rosa's first Dylan show. To top it all off, Bob included Positively 
4th Street (a tour debut and among my all-time favorite Bob songs) in 
tonight's show. The sun is shining in my back door today!

The Maggie's Farm set is just great, and I couldn't help but notice that there 
were four songs from the two most recent records played tonight, as 
opposed to Honest With Me being Tuesday's sole song from the last two 
records. Tonight I could hear Bob's harp solos much more clearly than in KC, 
and what great harp solos they were. Donnie seemed to play just as much 
pedal steel as lap steel tonight, which was not my impression at all on 
Tuesday when I didn't even notice him switching to and fro. Perhaps Donnie 
soloed less tonight than usual, or at least that was my impression. Although 
the sound reaching our seats just under the balcony was perhaps not as 
crisp and loud as it was Tuesday in KC, the sound and view were 
nevertheless great. The lighting effects were basically the same tonight 
(red, then the shadows effect from the stage front lighting, and the star 
pattern blue), except that during the encores tonight the "eye" was also 
featured. And the thrill of hearing Bob play in his novel organ-ish keyboard 
mode had yet to wear off!

Both Maggie's Farm and She Belongs To Me received very warm receptions, 
and then the set seemed to turn bluesy, with the next song, Lonesome day 
Blues, being great. Queen Jane (a live debut for me) followed omitting the 
"advisers" verse and seeming rendered more slowly than the on lp. The 
blues mood continued with 'Til I Feel In Love With You. The driving It's 
Alright Ma was next with Donnie switching from violin to mandolin (technical 
problems?) after the first verse. Make You Feel My Love was nice and tender, 
and the subsequent (HW 61) appeared to be less rocked-out than other 
times, which is fine by me.

A slow sublime version Positively 4th Street was next, and was an obvious 
crowd favorite, although it sounded so very different from the 45 rpm 
version. Bob sang each of the verses (some a second time), only changing 
"You say I let you down" to "You say you lost your faith," the latter thus 
being sung twice. The memory of the fantastic Positively 4th Street just 
being played was so very overwhelming that Honest and North Country 
nearly escaped me. But the main set's closer, High Water, was so powerful 
that it soon brought everyone to their feet, as did the encores of Rolling 
Stone and Watchtower. 

All in all another fabulous show, again with Bob's new keyboard style 
dominating both the show and my fond memory of it. I'm so excited about 
my show next week, back home in New Orleans at the Heritage Fair (of 
the Jazz Fest).

John Pruski 
john.pruski@mobot.org

This was my 4th time seeing Bob at the Fox in St. Louis (1990, 1994 &
1998). To me it was the least enjoyable of the four. Bob was great as
usual...his voice was exceptionally clear and strong. There were some
truly extraordinary moments. My highlight was Til I Fell in Love With You.
The arrangement and feel was other-worldly. Queen Jane is one of my
favorite songs and I just loved hearing it. Highwater and Watchtower are
always top notch performances to me. The problem with the show had nothing
to do with Bob. Our local PBS station gained access to MANY prime seats in
the center of the orchestra. I would like to know how many they sold
through their pledge drive. I wouldn't be surprised if they topped a
thousand tickets. By and large, the entire orchestra section was void of
any enthusiam. Hmmm...wonder why that was? There were several people
enjoying themselves to the far left and far right...maybe 20-30 fans
scattered about. I saw a fight almost break out to the right side...a
couple having a blast was too much for the sedated couple sitting behind
them. The seats at the Fox are very plush and low, your butt's like a foot
off the floor. Once people sat like that thru Merle's great set, they were
stuck there for the whole night. The room was sucked of any energy Bob and
the 20-30 fans were trying to muster. I can't wait for Saturday night and
JazzFest...no worries...those two shows will totally rage in comparison.

I was so happy to leave Grand Blvd. and head down to the Broadway Oyster
Bar for the Rebirth Brass Band. I was able to release all that pent up
excitement that I had to contain at the Fox. Within a few minutes, I was
miles away from everywhere. I only wish Bob had been given the
appreciation and vibe that flowed effortlessly from EVERYBODY in the
B.O.B. to the Rebirth!

P Dub
Webster Groves, Mo

Yesterday morning my fiance and I drove three hours to see Bob Dylan play
in St. Louis at the Fox theatre. We left at about noon and drove across
Illinois towards St. Louis. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining
brightly and the sky was a beautiful shade of blue. We enjoyed a Dylan
retrospective with music selections ranging from slow train to bob dylan's
dream. We visited the Cahokia mounds along the way, which was very
interesting. It was wonderful to look over the St. Louis skyline from atop
the mounds, knowing that we'd soon be in the city seeing our first Bob
Dylan concert. We got to the venue without trouble, and checked out the
buses to see if any of the band members were around. We met a really
wonerful man who was excited to meet young Bob Dylan fans, and assured us
we'd enjoy ourselves. I was really excited see what the organ would sound
like in person, and equally excited to get my first listening to the
vocals and harmonica playing of my favorite musician. The theatre was
breathtaking and the sound was great from where we were sitting about ten
or eleven rows back. I heard some people say that it was hard to hear up
in front of the stage because the speakers were directly over them, aimed
towards the back.

Merle's set was really good. He seemed very happy, and his voice sounded
great. He seemed much more into it than in the recording I heard from his
set in Texas. His song choices were varied and the strangers played very
well. Merle was very funny and seemed like a great guy. His set seemed a
little short, but it was alright since I was so excited to see Bob.

Bob started with Maggie's set list. I was happy about that since it was my
first concert and that list has a lot of the songs I just couldn't go
without hearing live at least once. Maggies started off a little shaky and
I'm pretty sure there was a lyric flub somewhere in the middle of the
song. I think Bob got off track and the band went one way while Bob went
the other. He rovered well and the rest of song sounded great. Bob seemed
to be in pretty good voice. She belongs to me was the same as early in the
tour, with the lower notes at the end of each line. Lonesome Day Blues was
good, and pretty much the same as before. I don't know if I like the way
the Love and Theft songs are being translated on this tour. The songs were
very much arranged a certain way on the album, and I think Bob is trying
to breathe life into them with new arrangements, but the new versions just
sound like watered down versions of the original. I was glad to hear Queen
Jane, but it was a little lackluster. I think Till' I Fell In Love with
you falls into the same category as the Love and Theft songs. It still
sounds good, but it isn't different enough from the original to really
take off. It's Alright Ma was wonderful. I like the way this song is being
played now. Donnie Herron's playing on fiddle and mandolin was wonderful.
Bob started to liven up on this one. It looked like he was having fun and
really enjoying playing with Donnie. From here on out there was a lot of
communication between the two going on. Make You Feel My Love was good to
hear. It's my fiance's favorite song, so I was glad for her. Highway 61
was good, but a little distracting because the man next to us was dancing
in a very odd manner. I think he may have popped something before Bob's
set. I was really excited to hear Positively Fourth Street. Bob had a
little trouble with the lyrics, but it was still nice to hear. Honest With
Me was standard, Girl Of The North Country was nice, but Highwater ended
up being one of my favorite performances from the night. Donnie played a
banjo solo that sent chills down my spine. It surpasses any of the
versions I've heard from this tour by leaps and bounds. It was
magnificent. Bob seemed really excited to hear it too. It was nice to see
him dancing around behind his organ and enjoying himself. His organ parts
are getting more defined and better I think. His harmonica playing
surpasses what i've heard of this tour so far.

I was sad to see the band leave, knowing I'd be left only with the
predictable encore of Like a Rolling Stone and Watchtower. I ended up
enjoying the encore much more than I thought I would. Especially, Like A
Rolling Stone. lights lit up the crowd every time he said "How Does It
Feeeeel", and you could see the expressions of everyone in the crowd. The
energy was amazing and Bob knew he was nailing it. I think I would have
enjoyed Watchtower more, but we had a slight crisis when we realize an
idiot behind us had spilled an entire cup of beer into our isle, soaking
my fiances purse. Luckily it was made out of vinyl type material, so the
beer didn't seep through. I wasn't all that impressed with the guitar
players, but I think Bob want's more laid back guitar playing to make room
for Donnie. Overall the night was great. It was great to finally see Bob
and I think we hit a pretty good show.

Micah McCoy

thursday night i gathered up my ten year old son and headed down to the
fabulous fox theatre to witness another bob dylan show. for me this was my
10th st.louis only show, for my son, it was his first ever concert. my
favorite bob shows are the arena, or was it the checkerdome then? around
'77 and an outdoor show at the muny opera around '90.

on the way down to the show i asked john if he knew where we were going.
he hadn't a clue. when i told him, he was about to witness his first
concert he was excited. i told john he was going to see two legends, a
country music icon, and the countries best poet/song writer. he quickly
replied BOB DYLAN. i nearly cried at his response.

i told him what to expect, a landmark venue, lots of people older than his
47-year-old pop. merle's band would come out and play a couple of tunes
before he himself would take the stage and play an entertaining set, which
he did. this was my third chance to see the strangers and it was a
tremendous set. after his first song merle went to strap on his guitar,
but had strap problems, so he pulled up a bar stool and sat and picked. he
mentioned he hadn't sat and played since he was 15. he also joked, where
are all the drugs?  he thought going on tour with dylan there would be
more. i told john that back in the day the theatre would be reeking of
marijuana. also toward the end of his show, after getting his strap
problem fixxed during a twin fiddle segment, merle coughed up a lung in
the middle of a tune. he was embarassed. needless to say we both loved the
set. john loved the sounds of the pedal steel and fiddle.

it wasn't long before bob and mates took the stage. i was watching the
eyes of my son as the boys took their places. he was cheering like a
veteran. everyone knows the set list, so i won't get into that. just to
say my highlights were a very good opening of maggies farm. my favorite of
the night came in the third slot, lonesome day blues. just amazing, the
vocal grunts and punctuations were staggering. as someone else mentioned
during his review, the set had a heavy blues feel. quite appropriate for
st.louis. positively 4th was positively shocking, didn't expect to hear it
after studying many of the set lists. during honest w/me,i was about to
lose john, it was getting late and he was shifting about. so i took him to
explore the gorgeous fox theatre after the last two songs. we again found
our row L floor seats for the encores. what happened soon thereafter made
my life. watching and listening as my son sang along with the crowd - "how
does it feel." the tears nearly returned. 

on the way out i bought john a bob dylan crescent pin. the next day i
found it pinned to his guitar strap. thanks bob, thanks merel, you both
have enlisted a new generation of fan. 

please excuse this high school dropouts: grammar,spelling, punctuation and
syntax.

marko, aka jesus zimmerman
st.louis,mo

I have to agree totally with the second reviewer.  The "fabulous" Fox
theater will no longer get my patronage.  I can't express enough how
wonderful Bob sounded and his keyboard was smokin'!  I loved the set.  I
loved Merle and the opener, even.  To Make You Feel My Love, Positively
4th Street, Maggie's Farm, Highway 61....oh, the night was full of
fabulous Bob and a great band.  His voice was beautiful.  

I've never felt so bad leaving a show. I felt bad for me for having a
terrible show and for Bob for playing to a bunch of duds!  I can't imagine
going to a Dylan show to SIT and watch!  It made me sick!  I was one of
the ones on the right side, up and dancing with my friend, but we were
hassled the entire show by the "security" who constantly told us that we
could not be in the aisles and told us that we had to stay in our seats or
dance at our seats even though we'd be blocking the people behind us. I
saw two women dancing in the center section get yelled at because they
were dancing!  The one said exactly what I would have, "It's BOB!  I'm not
sitting down!" 

The tickets went on sale at 5pm local time here and I had mine ordered by
5:06 and I still got terrible seats because the local PBS station bought
the best seats.  I drove three hours to the show after working all day and
got home at 3am to do it all over again.  I hadn't seen Bob since the
Schaumburg show July 10 last year and I was just out of my mind excited to
be seeing him on 4/20!  The Fox theater and its staff ruined my experience
and turned me off to ever attending anything there ever again!