March 25, 2008
Review by Oscar Montes
It’s kind of hard to start this review because of the excitement that’s still
running and blowin’ through my body. Thanks to the owner of this wonderful page
I could contact the other two greatest Dylan fans of Mexico, Alberto Ortega and
Edgar Perez, we decided to go to this show in Zacatecas driving in my car, our
first plan was to leave Mexico City on March 25th in the morning (6:00 AM) but
on Monday 24th about midday, we decided to leave this day at 6:00 PM, this was
crucial and this changed history forever (By the way I met these two guys this
very day). Another friend of mine Luis Lopez joined us and there we were heading
towards Zacatecas listening to Bob CD’s and taking about the songs. We
arrived at Zacatecas at about 1:30 AM and we went directly to Plaza de Armas,
it was really freezing but that was not a problem, there was nobody making a line
to wait for the start of the show and we had no place to sleep so we decided to
sleep in my car. At 7:30 AM we went again to the Plaza and were the first ones
to make a line, some people appeared 1 hour later, 2 hours later and so on. The
doors opened at about 4:45 PM and the four of us ran as never in our lives to the
stage and there we were in first row just in the middle, Jesus it was great, real
Dylan fans deserve that!
The show started at about 8:35 PM, you could feel in the air that this was not
going to be a conventional show, when Bob appeared wearing a white hat, black
suit and a red shirt with white spots on the stage singing a powerful Rainy Day
Women #12 & 35 I had a feeling that I was watching a ghost, I mean I could not
believe that the guy a lot of people had in their shirts was there playing in a
square surrounded by a Colonial Cathedral in a City 650 kms away from Mexico
City, the next song was a nice It Ain’t Me Babe well recognized by the audience,
I’ll be your baby tonight was next and good and closed his electric set. Then a
powerful Masters of War was the following song, you could feel that Bob still sings
it with anger because of the differences between governments around the world.
The following was a rocky and nice Rollin' And Tumblin' and then the first wonder
of the night It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), it was simply a masterpiece
performed for the master of masters, Spirit was the following with Bob on harp, it
was really good. The second surprise of the night was John Brown, excellent. A
girl threw her bra to the stage and that made Bobby and his band feel really good,
then another girl did the same, that for sure started to make Zimmy feel that he’s
still young. The next song and wonder made everything happened and fit into
perfection during the rest of the night, Just Like A Woman with Bob on harp,
everybody got excited when he said Nobody feels any pain…and just after the line
(Have fallen from her curls She takes…) everybody in the Plaza and outside this
place sang the line in perfect tune …Just Like A Woman… Bob and his band were
surprised and pleased for this and after (With her fog, her amphetamine and her
pearls She takes…) and (Ah, you fake just like a woman, yes you do You make
love…) just the same, excellent, perfect, wonderful (they said the attendance
was about 8,000 people inside and about 12,000 out, yes, there were people on
the streets surrounding the Plaza with two giant screens. In total about 20,000.
The following was a great and powerful Highway 61 Revisited, excellent. When
The Deal Goes Down cooled things a little bit down but the next song This
Wheel's On Fire with Bob on harp was unbelievable, fantastic, we could feel the
spirit of The Band and The Basement Tapes there and what’s more important
we could feel Dylan saying to us that he, a wheel on fire is rolling down the road
and best notify his next of kin because this wheel shall explode! Most Likely You
Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) was the following, a great surprise and well
performed song. The following song was the Rock ‘n roll tune Summer Days with
Bob playing, dancing and enjoying what he and his band were doing, once again
he seemed to try to be Little Richards or Jerry Lee Lewis, great performance.
Like A Rolling Stone made once again everybody sing, great classic and most
recognized song in Mexican lands. Bob and his band left the stage, everybody
was really excited, he returned singing a great Thunder On The Mountain,
really rocky, the next song was a wonderful and powerful All Along The
Watchtower, excellent. Then the band was just starting to play the following
song (Probably Blowin’ in the wind) when Bob went to Tony Garnier to tell him
there was a little change in the program and they started playing a wonderful
Forever Young with Bob on harp, a lot of people were singing the lines forever
young, forever young, may you stay forever young in a mixture of the
performances of The Last Waltz and At Budokan, this really brought a lump to
the throat, we believe Bob wanted to sing this song because he really felt
young once again this magical and mystical night or maybe he dedicated it to
a one of his greatest fans in the world but who knows…
This was the best show of the five in Mexico and has been the best one of my
life, it was just magic, just perfect, thank you Bobby for singing the last
song of this show, maybe your last show in Mexico, and May You Stay
Forever Young…
Oscar Montes
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