Bob Dylan: Milwaukee 2009

Yesterday, Michael G. Smith officially wrapped the short movie we've
been filming, AT LAST OKEMAH. What better way to celebrate than with
a Bob Dylan concert?

We piled into my car with his wife, Jill, and left Chicago early
enough to beat rush hour and hit the Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha,
where we picked up some curds (when in Wisconsin...) and a local
"butterscotch root beer" called Dang. It was fantastic.

I had imagined summerfest as one of those music festivals like Music
Midwtown, River Stages, etc, but it was really more of a state fair
vibe - everywhere you looked, people were selling food on a stick.
There was a guy on a unicycle juggling fire. Nice way to kill time
before a concert. The trouble with the circus atmosphere was it almost
seemed like the concert was an afterthought (and Willie played
appropriately), but the minute Dylan stepped on stage, everything
changed.

Those first three songs on guitar were fairly pedestrian. There was
nothign WRONG with them - no upsinging or anything - but they all
seemed like warm-ups, really.

Moving to organ for Mobile upped the ante considerably. Bob sang the
HELL out of this. As he often does these days, he found an organ part
he liked and built the vocal around it. Sometimes I wish he'd base the
vocal around a narrative point of view (I'm pretty sure he USED to - I
used to hear a different story in the same song night after night and
now I only occasionally pick up a new bit of narrative perspective),
but it lends itself to some very exciting vocals. This was a GREAT
Mobile, and there are only so many of those.

Bob's vocals throughout were strong, by 2009 standards. The voice is a
little rougher (sometimes a lot rougher) than it used to be, but the
singing was as strong as it's been in years - he was putting just as
much effort into the singing as he was ten or eleven years ago
(moreso, in many cases - Mobile and Desolation Row rarely sounded this
good back then).

Desolation Row was the first real "worth the trip" moment in the show
- opening with just acoustic guitar and organ, Bob sang like he was
narrating a radio program, seeing the scene as the program opened.
Then the intensity built and built - even some lyric flub couldn't
stop it (there were a bunch of these tonight - but he always covered
instead of just slurring his way through, which is progress - and one
way the shows ARE better than they used to be). One particularly
interesting thing that all of us noticed here was that the riff from
"If You Ever go to Houston" was all over this arrangement. It worked.
Trust me.

Po Boy was just dynamite - same arrangement as spring, same strong,
thoughtful vocals. But it was at this point, that I turned to Mike and
said "man, we aren't gonna be getting any new songs." This was a rare
thing - a show when we had no IDEA what was going to happen. It was
natural to expect some of those live premieres that we all like to
have under our belts (don't tell me you're immune to that collector
mentality - I'm sure not!), but, on the other hand, it was the kick-
off of a Summer stadium tour - those are almost always greatest-hits
affairs (and have been for years and years). It was starting to look
like we would be lucky to get the third-ever "Houston."

But then Bob wandered away from the organ, harp in hand, for an
INCREDIBLE version of "Forgetful Heart." Live premiere! Score! And not
just any live premiere, but a fantastic one. Bob stayed on center
stage (no one played the organ/accordion part), playing harp between
verses, while the band set out a stark, acoustic arrangement that sort
of called to mind "What Was it You Wanted." This was a cut above the
album version - can't wait for the mp3. It was one of those moments
(and performances) you pray for when you go to show after show (Mike
and I have both cut back, but more moments like this might have has
both hitting the pawn shop and scraping up cash for more shows, just
like in our college days).

"Summer Days" sounded the same as ever, except that Donnie was on a
more-or-less inaudible trumpet. After the song ended, Bob started
playing an organ riff that turned into a full-blown instrumental
(during which the trumpet was loud and clear). We'll have to debate
whether it was a unique song (which it sounded like) or an extended
Summer Days outro (which it also sounded like). Once the instrumental
was cooking, Bob walked away to wander the stage, clowning around and
introducing the band, clearly having a good time as he introduced
Donnie as "Donnie Herron on the trumpet."

Back to the organ for a fine Like a Rolling Stone (fun organ), then no
formation before the encore. Nice to get another premiere with
"Jolene," but it wasn't much special - as on the record, it's a fun
dance tune that has nothing WRONG with it, but not a song of any
particular consequence. Watchtower and a formation closed things out.

I don't always walk out of a Dylan show feeling like I know the
meaning of life anymore - maybe I'm just older or maybe I already
figured it out. I'm not going to go around claiming that the shows
these days are quite on the level of the shows in 99, but, they ARE
superior in some ways (the arrangements are often tighter and less
jammy, the melodies often more apparent) and this was a terrific show.
Bob put a lot into the singing (and if we've learned anything from
Bob, it's that it's not how your voice sounds, it's how you use what
you've got), the arrangements were well-thought out and sometimes
adventurous. For the most part this was less a "new show" than a
continuation of the Spring shows, but the trumpet, the instrumental,
and the wonderful "Forgetful Heart" shows that the experimentation and
resultant evolution that was apparent in those spring mp3s is still
going on. Things are looking good for the future. It was high fives
all around on the way out, and even a stop at the saddest soup and
salad bar in the midwest couldn't kill the mood.