August 18, 2010
Review by Phil Levine
In the wake of last night's Bob Show '10 at Caesar's Palace here in Sin City, I
come not to bury Bob, but to praise him.
It was His Bobness' second show in Las Vegas in just 10 months, this time
partnered with an opening by Indiana's favorite son, John Mellencamp. And just
to be fair to the former 'Johnny Cougar', he did himself proud with a fine, peppy
set of old and new tunes. A very audience-friendly performance from an
underrated live performer of considerable merit.
As to the headliner…
Although the band was revved up and ready for action from the moment the
announcer introduced "Columbia recording artist Bob Dylan" (as though he might
be a rival to Justin Bieber instead of the world's greatest living songwriter…) the
selection of songs to start the show was disappointing. Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat
was a fun, bluesy song in it's day-it's day being when LBJ was president. (Although
Bob was certainly having enough fun for us all, smirking and making jubilant faces at
the band throughout the number..) And there's little good to be said, other than
some fine guitar picking by the forever great Charlie Sexton (looking every bit the
lanky Texas guitar titan that he is), about Bob's decimation of his lovely Lay Lady
Lay…picture Howlin' Wolf with a throat infection. Hardly the stuff of love ballads.
Ah but, ye of little faith. Even though the next two song selections were also from
the Dylan 60s canon, one could feel the intensity beginning to rise with a scintillating
'Stuck Inside of Mobile'. And the show officially (well, maybe unofficially but certainly…)
kicked into first gear with a smoldering Rollin' & Tumblin'. It's long ago become apparent
that while He is proficient in every genre of American music, these days (the Maurice
Chevalier chapeau and cowboy duds notwithstanding) Bob considers himself an itinerant
blues musician. A spirited Spirit on the Water led into a deeply funky Cold Irons Bound.
And then…some may argue, but I will state that in 3 decades of Bob show attendance,
I've never had a more deeply moving moment than during his rendition of his most
recent masterpiece "Forgetful Heart."And while I will confess that the recent end of
my marriage certainly was a factor in that, I would also argue (vociferously) that this
rendition, with each syllable clearly enunciated, set in a darkly lit stage was the
embodiment of why 5 decades into his career, His Bobness not only still 'matters', but
when he so chooses, can transfix even a casual listener. No man or woman, alive or
dead, could either have written, nor delivered, a more atomically powerful closing verse
than "the door has closed forever more, if indeed there ever WAS a door…" The
defining, last word on love found…and lost.
There's so much more that could be said about the rest of the show…a revisiting of
Highway 61 that could put Robert Johnson to shame; a nice version of Workingman's
Blues (a nod perhaps to being in the city with America's highest unemployment rate?)
then a back to back blues sandwich of Thunder on the Mountain and a most appropriate
Ballad of a Thin Man (alas poor Mr Jones, he is still ever so clueless…)
The three song encore starting with a punchy Jolene (still not sure why, but by this time
the adrenaline on and off the stage made the song selection almost irrelevant) followed
by Bob proffering up musical birthday greetings to Tony with a wop bop a loo bop a
wop bam boo version of Happy Birthday (hey, is anything He does surprising after last
year's Christmas delivery?) and then the perfunctory Like A Rolling Stone, with a plethora
of shouting and smiling on and off the stage
The Master and his minstrels then stand stage front for the "stare down" (Bob patented
this move long before Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm-besides nobody's curbed
enthusiasm longer than He) and then, need I say it?-off they go, heading to another joint.
When we next see Him here, Bob will be in his 70s (70s!!!). For those arrogant enough
to think that the Never Ending Tour is just that, a cautionary note: nothing, and no one
is eternal (as He often reminds us himself in song) and thus one would do well never to
to assume the tour is endless.
As demonstrated yet again last night, at the Palace, only His
to that.
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