Bob at 70...

As part of the 2011 leg of his Never Ending Tour, Bob Dylan has 87 shows booked, starting with venues in the far east in Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.  He then jumps to Europe with dates in Ireland, England, Israel (I know, not Europe but I’m guessing he has a commitment there), Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Norway, and Sweden; then to the states for shows in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire; and finally, back to Europe for dates in Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland.

Considering that Bob’s been in the business for more than half-a-century; has played for leaders throughout the world including Presidents, Kings, and Popes; received the highest artistic awards and recognition not only in our country, but throughout the world; is widely regarded as one of the most significant and influential artists of the last half of the twentieth century; and one who turned 70 this past May, his schedule is made all the more impressive when considering that as opposed to sitting back and basking in his glory or counting his millions, Bob still has the drive to perform for his fans.

Leon Russell

He did just such a show last night when we were treated to an exceptional Bob show at the Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland. The show opened with Leon Russell performing a series of largely lackluster and unimpressive songs for the first hour (never really a fan of Russell or his song writing); followed by the Drive-By Truckers – a group I am familiar with only by name, but of whom I’m pretty sure I could grow to enjoy.

Drive-By Truckers

At a little after 9pm, no Rhondo or Fanfare for the Common Man but still:

"Ladies and gentlemen…please welcome the poet laureate of rock-n-roll. The voice of the promise of the sixties counterculture. The guy who forced folk into bed with rock. Who donned makeup in the seventies, and disappeared into a haze of substance abuse. Who emerged to find Jesus. Who was written off as a has-been by the end of the eighties, and who suddenly shifted gears; releasing some of the strongest music of his career beginning in the late nineties…Ladies and gentlemen…Columbia recording artist…Bob Dylan."

I haven’t been following much in the way of Bob for quite some time – freakin’ work. As a result, I was pleasantly surprised to see Bob sporting a goatee and backed by Tony Garnier (Bob’s long-time “musical director” on bass), and joined again by members of his “old” band (I was never a big fan of the last group of players backing him up). George Recile was on drums, Stu Kimball on rhythm guitar, of course Charlie Sexton played lead guitar – great to see him back, and Donnie Herron (replaced Larry Campbell a few years back) who played well, just about everything else.

Bob opened with Rainy Day Women #12 &a 35 and followed it up with It's All Over Now, Baby Blue. As with just about everything, Bob continually changes arrangements to all of his songs—favoring a heavy rhythm to accompany his singing style—this concert was no exception. We were pleasantly surprised to see Bob step away from the keyboard onto center stage while playing the harp and belt out an excellent rendition of Things Have Changed:

“There's a woman on my lap and she's drinking champagne

Got white skin, got assassin's eyes”

– those lines never cease to invoke all kinds of images.

Bob on harp

Bob stayed away from the keyboard with an enjoyable version of Tangled Up In Blue, but it was after that when things started to really pick up.

Surprisingly, Bob grabbed an electric guitar for a thoroughly enjoyable rendition of Beyond Here Lies Nothin'! For those unfamiliar, appreciate that because of arthritis (likely resulting from a 50+ year musical career), Bob rarely plays the guitar in concert. He then then went back onto the keyboard for Mississippi – where we found out that for Dylan, a day too long is waaay too long.

Bob on guitar

Bob was back at center stage on his harp for a very, very good, rhythm-heavy rendition of John Brown – can you believe he wrote that tune way back in ’62? He was back to the keyboard for Summer Days and then back center stage for Cold Irons Bound. Bob was seemingly all over the place—in a good way. Back on keyboard again for Highway 61 Revisited where the audience was reminded how:

Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”

Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”

God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?”

God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but

The next time you see me comin’ you better run”
Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?

God says, “Out on Highway 61.”

Bob yet again picked up the electric guitar to perform Simple Twist Of Fate – now that was definitely was an unexpected pleasant surprise!

Bob followed this up with Thunder On The Mountain and closed his show with a very nice version of Ballad Of A Thin Man. For encores, Dylan treated folks to Like A Rolling Stone and All Along The Watchtower. 70 years old and more than 50 years in the business, Bob is still able to belt out the line and provide a genuinely enjoyable show. Because he feeds off the energy from the audience and because the audience was energized on this night, Bob seemed to enjoy himself as much as his fans enjoyed the show.



The famous crowned "Bob-Eye," presumably staring into the soul of the audience
(left to right: Tony Garnier, Charlie Sexton, George Recile, and Bob Dylan; 
Donnie Herron is barely visible behind Bob while Stu Kimball is not pictured).