Review by James Strohecker
The band kicked off with a no-nonsense start and big bass sound of Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
at 8:30 p.m. Bob's hard-driving keyboard-organ notes were backed by Charlie Sexton's riffs.
Halfway through the opener, Bob picked up his electric guitar and started ripping some notes
and giving the crowd a loose leg, raised guitar neck show.
The crowd was spread out in the seats, enjoying the purchases from the many liquor and
beer outlets surrounding the "arena" in this spacious temporary summer concert venue in the
Nevada-based Harvey's casino parking lot. But the grandstands on the sides and back were
strangely empty.
No matter, the Band - wearing seersucker light blue suits - and Dylan - donning a black suit
with gold cuffs and gold stripes down the legs - looked ready and raring to go. Like the
chilly weather in Monterey, the temperature dropped from a nice sunny day to a cool, Lake
Tahoe 50-degree evening, such that the stage managers had heat lamps behind George
Racile and Dylan.
The group quickly jumped into a haunting melody of It's All Over Now, Baby Blue, which is
more of a soul-rocker tune now. If you're a first-timer or if you've watched this band for a
while, you want to hear Bob's best lyrics accompanied by his guitar licks now and then - and
both were delivered in Baby Blue. It was just nice to see him perform and put on a show for
the crowd in this song - raising the guitar neck to 70-degrees (not as big as the 90-degree
guitar emphasis as two 1999 Reno shows), giving a little wiggle and rocking with the music.
Unfortunately, he fumbled his pick prior to the final close and couldn't pluck off a showcase
closing guitar solo to finish the song. During the song, Charlie dropped to his knee to play
homage and back-up riffs to Bob's guitar work.
They headed quickly into a fast, upbeat version of, Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis
Blues Again. I think this caught the audience off-guard, combined with the big bass, many
struggled to figure out where he was going early with this song; but once they caught on,
many in the audience started getting some of the latent mojo working (that Taj Mahal, one
of the opening acts) hand started brewing up..
Next, the band drove into a moving, deep-organ bluesy, Just Like a Woman. Bob hammed
it up for the crowd with mugging looks, a smile and some shaky-leg action with his vocals as
the crowd tried to sing along. This has become a standard on the tour, and certainly on a
fairly standard-set tour stop, it fit right in. Crowd enjoyed it; it's a good song, so Bob tried
to jazz it up with his antics and stage performance - which worked well.
They jumped on a fast plunky version of Rollin' And Tumblin'. I wrote: "a well-lit song for a
well-lit audience" in my notes. True. The stage was as bright as the song, which was
well-sung, well-played and with some excellent slide-guitar riffs by Charlie Sexton that really
added life to the song. Interestingly, Bob cut off the first instrumental bridge by jumping on
the next verse early, but he made up for it by stretching out the second bridge with
contributions from across the stage.
A deft, slow, melodic intro hid Tangled Up In Blue from most of the crowd - then when Bob
started singing the lyrics, the mesmerized audience nodded and exclaimed appreciatively.
This has become a rock-blues-ballad of sorts, and Bob accentuated the approach with a big
time, meaty harp solo, and his crooner arm and body movements from center stage.
Certainly a fun song to watch him perform and listen to - and a fine performance by Bob and
the Band.
This was followed by a twangy-banjo-laden, High Water (For Charley Patton) that's become
a bouncy number similar to Summer Days of a few years ago. The crowd was dancing along
to the beat and the music and Bob blew the harp with high accented notes that embodied
the fast, lively approach of this melody.
Next was the song of the evening, a real treat, Tryin' To Get To Heaven, that has only been
performed four times this year. (Source: https://boblinks.com/song2010.html ). The
song and his words quieted the crowd - not many recognized the song, but they recognized
the words and their importance - as the Band rocked it slow and steady. This wasn't the
best version ever, but it was darn good and worth tracking down. This song was played
clean and pure; the lyrics speak for themselves:
http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/tryin-to-get-to-heaven
Gonna sleep down in the parlor
And relive my dreams
I'll close my eyes and I wonder
If everything is as hollow as it seems
Some trains don't pull no gamblers
No midnight ramblers like they did before
I been to Sugar Town, I shook the sugar down
Now I'm trying to get to heaven before they close the door
The band steadied themselves and took a moment to switch approach, then launched into
standard rocker, Highway 61 Revisited, played big and bold. During the song, Charlie stepped
over and faced off Bob with a guitar-keyboard tête-à-tête that rocked the joint. Charlie added
some wicked slide guitar work and Bob responded with plunky guitar - including a slow-down
by the band that they picked back up and rocked out to the finish. Nice song done well.
They followed Highway 61 Revisited with a quiet, soulful version of Not Dark Yet. I wrote a
few years ago that I didn't think he could play this any better (Europe tours). This version at
Lake Tahoe may not have been better, but it was certainly excellent. The song is laden with
Bob-isms from start to finish: the words, the performer, the poet, the singer. And in deference
to his center-stage performance, the guitarists/Tony moved to the left side of the darkened
stage and gave Bob the deserved, full spotlight. He augmented the song with a fine, bluesy
harp conclusion. Excellent.
'
EDITORIAL: Let me just interject an editorial opinion here. There were 3-4 drunken people up
near the front who were yapping loudly and shouting drunkenly during the song. Look, I have
nothing against people having a good time and imbibing at a show. But if you want to talk and
shout obnoxiously in a way that affects other people, why not just do it at the bar? In Europe,
Germany and the UK especially, the crowds are referent during Bob's slow, poetic songs. These
songs offer rare moments when Dylan presents his lyrics, music and passion for the craft. Now,
these songs are becoming rarer: perhaps twice a show. And people are (99%) trying to listen
to, and appreciate, the words and picture he and the band are painting - so you who want to
yell and yap during a slow song like this please save it for the break between songs or even
some other show, some other time or some other place Thank you.
The band rolled into a big-band-beat/swing-your-partner version of Thunder On The Mountain
that got the crowd movin' to the groovin'. Charlie was again doing some riffs-right-back-atcha'
towards Bob as Dylan banged away on his keyboard and gave the audience a little shimmee
action and some smiles and nods. Bob used high-low tone-changes in the call-response lyrics,
then finished with a playful slow-down with long organ notes that he brought back up to
conclusion. Fun finish and head into the final three songs.
They wrapped up with Ballad Of A Thin Man, with Bob giving it his all from center stage and the
crowd getting into the song, followed by the recent standard encore, Jolene and Like A Rolling
Stone. Both were well-played; nothing special. 14-song set - which has been a standard in
shows up in this area + the band seemed in a hurry to get to the Bay Area for a couple shows
and days off.
Amazingly, Stu Kimball actually moved his leg in time with the music in the first song and whacked
out some riffs in Jolene. In between, he (and the sound mix of his playing) was somewhere near
Pluto. Not clear what he adds to this band - or perhaps, the band isn't using his playing effectively.
Either way, he's just taking up space on stage and he never interacts with Dylan, Charlie or Tony.
It's just weird.
This show was well-played but somewhat reflective of the lack of attendance and response by
the audience. Albeit, there were a number of people in the crowd who received "comp" tickets
from the casino, there were many older and younger fans from the area. Some expected a
different show - the Dylan of many years ago - and others were just there to enjoy. Nonetheless,
Bob delivered a solid performance.
Final notes: The economy has adversely affected the Reno-Lake Tahoe area as evidenced by the
lack of attendance at the show and the extensive vacancies in this tourism-dependent town. A
recent example was a new (small) restaurant opening up with 16 job openings. More than 1,250
people applied and the restaurant had to cut off the applications at 400 because they were
overwhelmed (Source: Harvey's 31-year employee). Yes, things have changed. NOTE: I stand
corrected. Reviewer Colin Selig *correctly* stated that Charlie ". . . does not draw too much
attention away from Bob with his physical movements on stage, although he did get down on his
knees a few times in his enthusiasm." I thought Charlie was futzing around with the sound and
his cord but it's clear after two shows, Colin was correct in his observation and reporting.
(Source: https://boblinks.com/082110r.html)
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