A fantastic evening of music so let's being with the rest of the line up
first.   Celeste opened the evening with her power trio and frankly
underwhelmed.  A little too jammy for my tastes but she was genuinely a
charming presence well received by the crowd.  Robert Plant along with
Allison Krauss was spectacular.   Playing a handful of Zep tunes along
with material from his two albums with his current muse, he was
exhilarating. Willie Nelson unfortunately cancelled but his band was ably
led by his son Lukas who was compelling.

Dylan spryly entered the stage and as he settled at the Piano at Center
Stage did I see him wave to the crowd?  Indeed I did and while he never
introduced his band or spoke to crowd other than maybe a couple of thanks
you, I couldn't ask for more.

First and foremost:  Lots of harmonica!!!   Hearing Bob Dylan play
harmonica is like living on edge of Grand Canyon and witnessing the sun
rising every morning.    

If you are reading this little review, we have lived together through
countless metamorphosis's of his setlists over his career.  This tour is
truly inspired starting with the covers -- how much fun to hear a couple
of unearthed, unfamiliar nuggets (Mr. Blue & Six Days) and then the
Dead's Stella Blue and a riot roaring Little Queenie.   Isn't it
reason #375 in the Bobcat handbook of why we all follow this guy so
closely is that he sprinkles his live set with these kinds of things.

And it goes without saying it's also his reimagining his own songbook. 
If there was one song that needed a refreshing it's “Things Have
Changed.”  Nice to hear a reworked take.  Perhaps the sole misfire was
Early Roman Kings.  You’d think with legend Jim Keltner on the drums it
would be interesting, but it fell flat to my ears.

A highlight of the show was a fierce Ballad of A Thin Man.  The fire still
burns in Mr. Zimmerman as he tore through the classic.  And yeah, we even
got a little harp to boot.  Looking forward to the bootleg to relive this
one.  The reworked Simple Twist along with Mickey Raphael was great along
with a brilliant Shooting Star and a charming Under the Red Sky.   I
remember listening to the latter when it was released and feeling
underwhelmed.  It's one of the tunes that has grown on me and think
it's his greatest children song other than Man Gave Name to All the
Animals.

The Rough & Rowdy shows over the last couple of years were great and this
show continues the late career run. We have all heard of rumors of
retirement.  I’ve got tix for the tour finale and eternally grateful to
spend an evening with my great inspirer.  How many more magic tricks?  
I'll treasure every second. 

Larry Fishman
www.thebigstockbroker.com
Larry@thebigstockbroker.com

This is my 5th time seeing this crazy old legend.   I saw him first in
'98, two times in 2004, back to back at the Avalon and weaseled my way
into the Orpheum for a ten year reunion in 2014. Now it is ten years later
again and fate basically dropped a ticket into my lap, which I happily
accepted. Some might accuse the crowd of being a bit aloof to the vibe of
Bob. Some maybe just don't get it, but there was plenty of  hooting and
hollering from me and some other like minded folk in the house last night.
The vibe is still there, for me much greater than when I saw him ten years
ago, where I felt it was very much a hands in lap affair. Tonight was laid
back for sure, but there was plenty crash and bang throughout.  Though I
expected to hear everything I did, I still felt some solid moments of the
magic, my top picks,  Shooting Star was a pleasure for sure but it was
Under The Red Sky I couldn't help singing along, I was very pleased to
hear it. and Thin Man was right on target. I too enjoyed the guest harp on
Twist of Fate;  I was worried going in Bob may have given up waxing the
harp himself???, Don't worry, he still smoked on several songs; but the
guest spot added a different vibe to this particular rendition of Twist,
and I think the crowd overall responded well to it. Dig this;  I even
spied one of the seat attendees,  a little lady checking tickets,  who was
cutting some rug during Things Have Changed,  Nice!  .   Ah the memories.
Here's looking forward to my next time Bob, whenever fate may take me back
again for number 6!.

Walter Purcell

After taking the train (the T) from Rhode Island, I met my partner at the
Mansfield, Massachusetts train station.

She doesn't care for Dylan's lyrics when they are indecipherable, but the
tix were my birthday gift! She drove home from her job in South Boston and
picked up my 2 year old daughter and me at train station for the 10 minute
car ride to the Xfinity center--a typical North American outdoor summer
amphitheater venue with seating under gigantic canopy for many with the
upper lawn seats way far away. We quickly dined on our home-made sandwiches
before heading in to park with the travelling masses.

After taking our somewhat cramped seats in the amphitheater in the shade,
we caught just the final song by the opening act, Celisse, a young American
woman, who played a sturdy blues number with her trio.

She was followed by Allison Krauss and Plant (dubbed by my daughter:
"Allison Krauss's Big boy Robert") . They sang a spirited set, showing the
range of their strong voices with excellent musicians highlighting the
songs from their two albums in the low key, layered & murky sound like on
recordings by producer T-Bone Burnett. They also included several
renditions of Led Zeppelin songs --- which pleased the crowd, including my
daughter who pretended to play the violin like Allison, and clapped along.


Dylan and company followed soon afterwards. The Bard was looking summery
and cool in his off-white shirt opened down the collar.  I was excited to
hear him and his group, including Jim "Buster Wilbury" Keltner's return on
the drums. (He proved to still be versatile and solid!). First off, with
"Highway 61 Revisited", that bluesy rocking energy was off and rolling.
The band was tight!  Next came "Shooting Star" with lovely reminiscing and
reflective tones with Bob's voice clear and strong. Immediately after, Love
Sick took on a new life as a slow balladish tune.  The arrangement would
have fit on the Rough and Rowdy ways tour meeting the Sinatra covers era
tour-- squeezing out some pained sickness of love in a lighter manner --
albeit, it's still haunting.

Next, the old Chuck Berry tune, Little Queenie was laid out in all it's
reflective rock n roll passion. Dylan truly seem to be having fun! That was
followed by another cover with the loungey but refreshing atmosphere of "Mr.
Blue."

Shift to Early Roman Kings: the blues ramp up with a hard to decipher lyric
because of mix, sounding ominous. After, "Can't Wait" was like a spoken
word almost-- phrasing highlighting the loving desperation with a
minimalist arrangement. The mood then shifted with the 80s song, "Under The
Red Sky". This melodic tune had great drive by rhythm section!

Then, Dylan shifted back into the crooner style with "Things Have Changed".
It had a "vampish" feel but with a sad seriousness about "all hell about to
break loose".  Loved the serious heavy bass line groove that accompanied it
courtesy of your man, Tony Garnier. That guy just doesn't quit, does he?!?

Our daughter enjoyed herself, bouncing about and clapping and high-fiving
seated neighbors. Any doubts I had about bringing her were diminished. My
wife and child headed back up in the amphitheater to the now minimized lawn
area to get some free form dancing in. (The Center has added many many
seats where the large lawn in the upper area of the amphitheater used to
be, so they could charge more for the extra seats? Or am I just blurred in
my thinking of so many other similar venues in North America with big
lawns?).

Two more covers followed: Stella Blue, the pretty and dreamy ditty by the
Dead; then, "Six Days On The Road"-- a fun, honky tonking boogie woogie
number; Bob tickled those ivories like a roadhouse maestro!  The mood again
shifted, like on Stella Blue, with "Soon After Midnight", sung with
affection and playfulness as well as gravitas with a strong and expressive
harp solo.

Things came in for a landing with the stark "Ballad Of A Thin Man". It was
slow and filled with invective but somehow tender!  We need a little
tenderness these days. As such, I was grateful for how the next number, "Simple
Twist Of Fate" was arranged beautifully slow and sensitive and
reminiscincent. Lastly, "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" was fun and sultry.

The crowd wowed to the power of the music---including the power of Dylan's
harmonica and voice, and bid him good night---although some wearily
complained afterwards about Dylan not "sticking to the songs that made
people happy". If Bob Dylan is a bluesman, his vast Americana repertoire
has gotten rearranged to include some reflection (and rest) from the three
cord blues standards. The artist continues to develop and change, and I
appreciate his freedom to do so on this American Independence Day. Make
Dylan great again?  I think that he was and is still.

After Dylan, Willie Nelson's son Micah played with the absent elder
Nelson's band. We stayed for some of his father's medelies. Willie is
recovering from a health setback and is supposed to be playing at a 4th of
July event.  Micah did a great job of singing his dad's tunes. It was fun
to listen to and have the blessing of watching (,and hearing) the river
flow.

Kim Hewson

It's not just another road trip, heading to another joint. When Bob
Dylan is my area, I'll try to see as many shows as possible... as long
as my 25-year-old Jeep Wrangler (393,000 miles and counting) keeps getting
me to the shows and home. Or as Bob would say on this tour "Six days on
the road and I'm a-gonna make it home tonight!"

Tonight was the 3rd of 4 shows I'll see on the Outlaw Tour (88 Bob
shows). And what a great show and a great adventure it was. Well worth the
4-hour drive to the Inn on the Farm I stayed at in R.I. and then the
1-hour drive to the venue. From farm to Outlaw Tour in just an hour. The
venue in Mansfield, MA. is an amphitheater, but unlike Holmdel, N.J., this
venue had some character. A tastefully laid out pavilion, set amongst
trees and winding paths with an easy downslope entry to the amphitheater,
if seated there, or a set of stairs that led up to the grass sitting area.
Very easy access all around. And even from my partially obstructed view,
the sightlines were great.

I arrived early (11:30am) and was able to sneak into the employee parking
area. My Jeep was the closet vehicle to the venue! Very cool! I hung out
the rest of the day, relaxing and enjoying a beautiful, sunny, breezy,
dry, summer day. Watched as the crowd slowly built up and the tailgate
parties ensued. At 5:30pm I headed through the metal detectors.
Fortunately for me, no drama tonight. The drama would happen once the
Plant/Krauss show started. I spoke to one of the security guards before
the show letting him know about the usual sitting/talking .vs
standing/dancing drama that will eventually unfold behind me. I won't
get into too many details, but I will say, the security guys loved me.
They gave me carte blanche for a while until too many people wanted to be
with me dancing by the side wall of the venue. One security guy apologized
to me after he told me to go to my seat, but then found out his boss gave
me permission to be where I was. Another BIG security guy thought I looked
like/was Bob Dylan! He said his mind would be blown away if he saw me on
stage singing later. It's always good when you have the security people
on your side.

Once again Robert Plant/Alison Krauss put on a great show. A REALLY,
GREAT, show. Seeing these two before Bob is fantastic, and to tell the
truth, it's a hard act to follow. They are that good together. The
combination of Zeppelin and Bluegrass is compelling. The highlight for me,
beside the rocking ROCK AND ROLL, was the BATTLE OF EVERMORE, where Plant
sings 'the sunlight blinds his eyes'... all the while he/Alison/the
stage were bathed in brilliant late afternoon sun. The sun was directly in
his Plant's eyes! It was beautiful to witness. One funny side note,
Robert Plant does something where he tries to subtlety get the audience on
their feet. He bends slightly at the waist and motions with his hands
upwards, slowly lifting them from his knees to his chest. When I first saw
this last week at Jones Beach, I did not initially get it. Then I realized
what he was doing. Last night I was in the 6th row, standing/dancing
alone, as usual, as most of the crowd was sitting/talking, as usual, when
during THE PRICE OF LOVE Robert Plant starts his motion, then looks at me
doing his motion. He sees me, and with a very approving look on his face,
he smiles and laughs. Now that was COOL!!

A hard act to follow, indeed, but our hero was up to the task. This was
the Bob's best of the 3 shows I've seen this week. Bob missed (or
purposely did not sing) all of the opening lines to HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED,
but no matter, he still nailed it. He followed with a delightful version
of SHOOTING STAR. A perfectly moody LOVE SICK and then a ripping version
of LITTLE QUEENIE. I was loving it! Bob then transitions to a tender
reading of MR. BLUE... It's hard to hold the audience, but Bob does it,
and the crowd cheers appropriately. Unlike some, I'm enjoying the
treatment of EARLY ROMAN KINGS, as well as CAN'T WAIT, which for me is
spellbinding. Then UNDER THE RED SKY... crazy that he is doing this song.
I loved it tonight. 'There was an old man and he lived in the moon, One
summer’s day he came passing bye'... he certainly did, and I was there
to see him. I dig the new arrangement of THINGS HAVE CHANGED on this tour.
STELLA BLUE was loved by all, whoops' and hollers' from the DeadHeads
and then a rollicking SIX DAYS ON THE ROAD kicks it up gear. And staying
with the car theme, Bob shifts to neutral for a smooth SOON AFTER
MIDNIGHT. Then the highlight of the show, a stunning BALLAD OF A THIN MAN,
slowed down, almost a cappella at first, sprinkled with simply magnificent
harp playing by Bob, which carried over two songs later with a brilliant
finale, I'LL BE YOUR BABY TONIGHT. Bob ripped a few bars of wonderful
harp, piercing the night air and driving the crowd to a thunderous
ovation. Perfect ending! But, alas, before that perfect ending was another
brilliant rendition of SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE which once again featured
Mickey Raphael on harp... a different pitch than Bob's harp. All-in-all
it was good night for harmonica fans. And a great night for me.

Not too many familiar Bobcats. I met a guy named Kevin (Old Henry Lee on
expecting Rain), and his irate wife (Stephanie?), and as I was speaking to
him, a guy named Darrell (from Toronto, if I recall correctly) came up to
me and said that he has seen me at the Beacon Theatre in NY many times,
but that he was not able to make the last set of shows there. He asked me
where I was from, and when I told him NYC, he could not believe it. He
thought I was from the south... I guess the cowboy hat will do that. He
also asked me how I was able to get the seat I get all the time at that
theatre... he said I was legendary in that respect. Funny. I also met a
cool father/daughter combo from the MA area (Darnell? not sure if I got
the name right and Marie) Marie is 21 and this was her first Dylan show. I
shared some of my herbal medicine with them... they were very happy to
indulge. I also met one woman whose name escapes me, but she told me a
story about working for Geffen records in the 90's, and while backstage
in LA at a Courtney Love concert, Love sees a woman in the 1st row who
apparently slept with Curt Cobain. Courtney dives offstage and starts
pummeling the woman, the woman runs out of the theater followed by Love
who keeps pummeling her... I was laughing out loud!

These shows are so good, I'm tempted to get tickets for Camden, NJ on
the 4th of July, but I think I'll just have to settle on one last show
in Bethel, NY this coming Saturday.

PS. Kevin, Jokerman, sorry you could not make the trip from California. I
kept your seat empty, as it gave me more space to dance and groove. But
you missed a good one, my friend. Would have loved to see it with you. I
hope your son went all the way to the finals. Hope to see you on the next
East Coast tour... keeping my fingers crossed like the Early Roman
Kings.

Don't you miss it!
The dancing cowboy from NYC.