October 26, 2007
Review by Brice Sullivan
It was a great show in Omaha last night. This is my sixth time seeing
Bob perform (the first being in the mid-80s) and I would say this is the
second best show I've seen with the best being when he came through
Lincoln with Charlie Sexton while promoting Love & Theft).
The opening band was better than I'd expected and put on quite a
great show (name escapes me at the moment, I'm having a senior
moment). Elvis Costello was a highlight, but I don't think he was
into this show as much as it sounds like some of the other nights, and
the crowd response when he tried to involve them wasn't that great, which
is sad because he did put on one heck of a great show, but wasn't as
talkative as it sounds he's been. He sounded fantastic and, as a huge
Elvis fan, I wasn't disappointed. The man not only doesn't need a
backing band behind him but, he could have done the entire show without a
guitar either - acapella would have been plenty for me, but he is a heck
of a good guitarist.
Then Bob came out and the first thing I noticed was that he was
pronunciating very well and continued to throughout the night. I
could understand almost every word. Sure, the voice was rough, but I'd
never heard him sing this clearly before. In addition, it seems to me
that whenever he comes through Nebraska, he always shakes up the show a
little more than he generally does. I came expecting that I already knew
what the set list would be, with exception of one or two songs - based on
what he'd been playing on earlier dates. But he shook things up quite a
little bit. He started out with Loepard-Skin Pill-box Hat, and the
band sounded a little loose. Lay,Lady, Lay was next and Bob was clear
but I always miss that song sung with the beauty of the original
recording. Then Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues - a great performance. Then
the band really got cooking for Love Sick - a fantastic performance of
this song. Later, Girl of the North Country popped up and it was a
surprise to hear it. After Honest With Me they moved to Spirit on the
Water (including many in the crowd responding with the "no's" and
"whoo-hoos" as at other concerts), High Water and Workingman Blues. I
saw Bob in Lincoln last year and remember being bored during the new
songs but not last night - Bob and the Band played them with heart and
they stood up to the rest of the set list. The band did a good rendition
of Highway 61 Revisited, then moved into Ain't Talkin' - which, after
Highlands, was the next top song on my list for what I wanted to hear.
It was a fantastic rendition and Bob sounded great - dark, moody,
gorgeous and memorable. Summer Days was next and yes, it's one of the
best live songs but whenever I hear it now I miss the Sexton days - Bob
always blew the roof off the place when they'd play it but now it's still
great but a little subdued in comparison. But the band still sounded
tight and it got everyone up on their feet. Ballad of a Thin man was
next and it turned into a great jam. For the encore it was a great
version of Thunder on the Mountain followed by a good updated version of
Blowin' in the Wind, but I was hoping he'd close out the night with a
bigger bang, such as AATW. Still, it was great to hear him play it again
and it was interesting hearing a more electric version.
Overall, it was a heck of a good show and Dylan and the band sounded
great. One thing I would say is that I brought along a friend who mostly
came to see Costello play. He knows all the Dylan "hits," but isn't a
huge fan and doesn't know the new material that well. He only recognized
two songs through the evening (casual fans aren't going to know Ballad of
a Thin Man or Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat, for example). While I think he
was disppointed not to hear more of the songs he knew, I still think he
walked away having experienced something much, much different than he
expected and I think that's testiment to Bob's musical evolution. Bob
smiled to the crowd frequently and they did a group bow at the end, all
with big smiles. Bob got a lot of love from the crowd tonight and I
think his performance was him showing us in kind.
Brice Sullivan
Lincoln, NE
Click Here to return to the Main Page |
page by Bill Pagel
billp61@execpc.com
Current Tour Guide |
Older Tour Guides |
Bob Links Page |
Songs Performed |
Set Lists by Date |
Set Lists by Location |
Cue Sheets |