Evansville review

[MotoM8]

When you think of Bob Dylan the words poet, introspection and dark realism
are most closely associated with him. "They're selling postcards of the
hanging, they're painting the passports brown," opens up "Desolation Row."
Whether painting surreal pictures, reporting on injustices through image
and story-telling or generally accosting overblown hubrus with the venom
of an Old Testament prophet, Bob Dylan always seems to make somebody
squirm.
One word you don't associate with him though is fun.
Looking like one of Bob Wills' Texas Playboys with his sideburns low, his
10-gallon hat tight and a western suit complete with string tie, Bob Dylan
delivered a show that blended country, rock and blues into an all-out
party jam.
From the opening song "Absolutely Sweet Marie" to the final encore he and
his rollicking band rocked the house with straight ahead jams and
prolonged guitar solos that left him smiling more than a few times. In the
intimate setting of Vanderburgh Auditorium (capacity 2000) you almost had
the feeling you were at some honky-tonk club, and were there a dance floor
it would've been packed all night.
It took a second song, "If Not For You" to get artist and audience more
aquainted with each other, and with what was to come, but when you heard
the opening chords of "All Along the Watchtower, a place filled with
expectation burst. Dylan toyed with guitarist Larry Campbell and the
audience during his extended guitar solos, struck rock-n-roll guitar-god
poses and smiled many times when he found a rif to his liking. You'd have
sworn he was about to start duck-walking at any moment.
Is this the right show?
After 35 years of touring, reaching into a psyche or two and pissing
almost everybody off, maybe it was time for a little fun.
His set consisted of semi-obscure songs like "Tears Of Rage" and Ain't
goin' Nowhere" from "The Basement Tapes" and "God Knows" from "Under A
Blood Red Sky." He covered the Grateful Dead's "A Friend Of the Devil"
and did a particularly raucous version of "Silvio."
Vocally he was pronounced and emotive, threw whips and barbs and flung
comical facial expressions to a very receptive audience who reciprocated
with numerous standing ovations. A "Bootleg Series" version of "Tangled Up
In Blue" brought the people from the back to the front of the stage and
now the show was a concert, an event.
The set culminated with a set-the-house-afire rendition of "Leopard-skin
Pill-box Hat" which got the crowd dancing in the aisles, rocking, bobbing
and clapping. The crowd would not sit again until the lights were turned
up.
He came out for three encores the first of which was "Like A Rolling
Stone." Predictable but fresh. How many times has he done that song?
Yet he played it like it was new.
The second encore was a beatiful version of "The Times They Are A
Changin'" complete with acoustic bass and mandolin.
The audience pulled him out for yet another encore--that everybody must
get stoned song (Rainy Day Women...) You could say the audience went into
a frenzy. After only a few verses a woman jumped up on stage and planted
a kiss on Dylan as he continued with yet another guitar solo. She
subsequently proceeded to kiss each member of the band.
A young girl who had previously thrown her flower headband onstage jumped
up and started dancing right next to him followed by a half a dozen more
girls decked out in tie-dye and cotton dresses.
Is this the right show? This was something you'd probably see at a night
with Michael Bolton. But, a jammin' C and W Bob Dylan with harem of
young hippie-chicks? Talk about imagery.
The night finished with a bluesy, country-rock jam, everyone dancing and
having some fun, just the way it had been for the previous two hours. And,
had it been in some honky-tonk with cocktails flowing, the whole audience
may have jumped up on stage and danced til closing time.