Review by Tom Dunn
The last show on this leg of the tour was special. Why special? It was the
40th anniversary of Bumbershoot, I turned 40 this year and this was my
40th Dylan show. So, my wife and I made the trip from St. Paul, Minnesota
to catch Bob and the boys headline on the main stage on a mostly cloudy,
crisp Saturday night in Seattle. We flew in on Friday and visited my 90
year old grandmother in Bothell. We also stopped by Mac & Jack's Brewery
in Redmond and finished the day walking on the pier boardwalks behind Pike
Place Market and checking out the Pioneer Square District. It misted most
of the day on Saturday as we got up early to photograph around town. The
Gas Works park offered good skyline views with lots of activity on Lake
Union. We also checked out Discovery Park and the Ballard Locks. Both nice
spots for photos. We grabbed lunch at Gordito's on N. 85th for a highly
recommended grande burrito that is as big as a baby with a wall of photos
to prove it. I got through about half of it as I did not want to sleep through
Bumbershoot. Some friends of ours picked us up and we headed to Seattle
Center. The Bumbershoot grounds are right next to the Jimi Hendrix
Experience museum and in the shadow of the space needle. The afternoon
warmed up and we saw some sweet music, including The Constellations from
Atlanta and Justin Townes Earle, Steve Earle's son, from Nashville. Then
it was time to head to the main stage for the evening shows. The line to
get into the main stage was like a corn maze that wrapped around the old
Memorial Stadium. The Decemberists drew a large crowd jam-packed in front
of the stage. They put on a rockin' show to the crowd's delight. The first
thing I noticed during intermission was there was no beer sales anywhere
inside the main stage coliseum. Not a big deal, really, but, it just
seemed odd that a large event would not try to make money off of this,
especially with some festivals no longer around, like 10,000 Lakes in Detroit
Lakes, Minnesota. If one wanted a libation, they would have to leave the main
stage, go outside to a beer garden and get back in the corn maze line and go
through security again. Speaking of security, besides the original check point,
there really was not much to be seen besides those in front of the stage. So,
anyone who snuck in a camera or recording device went unchecked all night,
which is very different from most of the Dylan shows I have been to,
including getting busted twice with a camera. Hopefully there will be good
recordings as a result. Neko Case put on a mellow show and the crowd
seemed to be into her. It might have helped that she is from Tacoma,
Washington. We sat high up in the old coliseum and rested for who the main
event. Bob and the boys came on right at 9:00. It was dark and the space
needle lit up in the night sky. The top part of the needle reminded me of
Dylan's eye logo. Both eyes
watched over us all show. The young festival crowd packed in front of the
stage was treated to a Rainy Day Women opener to keep their party rolling.
Bob was on guitar for the first three songs, including, Don't Think Twice
and Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues in the second and third spots,
respectively, which were both great and looking like another magical set
list. Bob already started the knee bends and crowd sneers and his voice
was good. He stayed with his sing a long Just Like A Women at number four
and a revved-up Rollin' and Tumblin' at five. Then the boys pulled out my
show highlight, Desolation Row. Bob sang nine of ten versus and only
skipped out on Ezra Pound and T.S. Elliot. The Bobheads had to be going
nuts on this over eight minute song with three different band jams along
the way. Then, what started like Honest with Me morphed into Cold Irons
Bound with a long harp finish. Not the best version I have witnessed, but,
still a super song in the part of the set list. To my wife and friends glee,
TUIB with harp solos came next. Bob skipped two versus at least as it was
very short, but, I was okay with this as it came as close to the Charlie-Larry
versions in the late 90s. Bob had a nice keyboard solo on the festival pleaser
Highway 61 followed by the subtlest Simple Twist of Fate I have ever heard.
It basically ended with Bob and Charlie fading out on guitar riff trade offs.
Bob finished the first set with his typical as of late Thunder On the
Mountain rocker and ominous Ballad of a Thin Man with harsh lighting on
center staged Bob and his harp. The boys wrapped up the show with the
Jolene-LARS encore knockout and band introduction in the middle. The band
sounded very tight on this the last night of this leg of the tour in the
shadow of the eye of the space needle. Most of the crowd was there at the
end of the show, which, told me Bob and the boys pleased the masses as the
headliners on a Saturday night at Bumbershoot in Seattle.
Tom Dunn
tom@tomdunnphoto.com
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