Review

We drove in from Athens,Ga. which is about a 90 minute trip since Bob was
not playing any Georgia dates. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and the
ride to South Carolina was pleasant with no traffic whatsover. We arrived on
the Clemson campus early, around 5-ish for some tailgaiting, and mingled
with other fans who were drifting into the FREE residential parking lot we
discovered a hop,skip and a jump away from the venue. My friend and I were
looking forward to the film screening of D.W. Griffith's "Intolerance"
(which I had been reading about in the other reviews) so we made sure we
were  inside the coliseum by showtime. People were still waiting in line to
get inside when we arrived at the gate. However,there was no film, and as we
entered Littlejohn Coliseum at 8:07pm, Dylan and his band were launching
into "Leopardskin Pillbox Hat". Our seats were on the 4th row, center,
directly in front of Bob. I could see the salvia spraying from his mouth
("Bobby spit on me!") as he spat out the lyrics. Having good seats for a
Dylan show makes all the difference in the world because his facial
expressions are so important. All the things I've read about him bein
"Chaplin-esque" are true and have become more exaggerated with age. I've
seen Dylan 15 or 16 times (I lost count). My first show was in 1990, but my
obsession really grew about the time of the "Love and Theft" era. Pre 9-11
and after. I must have seen a dozen shows in 2001-02 with Larry Campbell and
Charlie Sexton in the fold,and I remember when George Recile was "the new
guy", so i was particularly excited to see Sexton back in the fold. Dylan
and Sexton were center stage and the band was rockin' hard. Lots of hits,
"It Ain't me, Babe", Hwy 61,"Stuck Inside Of Mobile" ,etc. mixed with some
deeper cuts like "Simple Twist of Fate","Visions of Johanna" and "Ballad of
a Thin Man". Charlie Sexton was hot-as-shit with his shiny silver guitar and
Texas twang. He reminded me of a young Robbie Robertson meets Stevie Ray
Vaughn, and you could tell Dylan was getting off on it. That man can shred!
Bob often took center stage and played harp solos but there were times when
he just stood at the microphone and sang without a guitar or keyboard and i
had never seen him do that before. The last time I saw Bob was last year on
the Willie Nelson/Mellancamp tour and the set was very short. This time he
played for a good 90 minutes. He seems to be getting better with age...no
"Watchtower" as an encore this time and I'm curious if they will screen the
film in other cities or if it was just an experiment? Still,2 thumbs up and
one of the best Dylan shows I have ever seen! Wish I could drive to
Nashville tonight for another dose...so nice ya gotta do it twice! Come back
to Georgia next year Bob!!