My Conversation With "Mr Z"
Adam Dean
Review by Adam Dean
Always expect the unexpected! After a leisurely 3 hour drive from URI to
Portsmouth, NH, I pulled into the parking lot of the Marriott Courtyard to
find two sleek black tour buses parked around the back of the hotel. This
simple twist of fate led to my chance encounter with the man himself, Bob
Dylan. During the course of the afternoon, I had a lengthy conversation
with Larry Campbell (whom I had previously met backstage at Sioux Falls SD
on 4/1/00) and also briefly chatted up Tony, who was his normal grumpy
self. No one said much about Bob, who generally keeps to himself even when
on tour. About 4:45, dressed in a hooded gray sweatshirt, white pants, and
a black leather jacket, Bob came waltzing out the back door of the hotel
alone, on his way to the bus. I stopped him, we started to chat, and had
about a 10 minute conversation on various topics: the election (he
expressed his disappointment about 4 more years), Bob's golf game ("I'm
hitting it OK"), the new albums "new" arrangements (or re-arrangements if
you will), the previous night's show and set list (Bob seemed particularly
interested in how the show sounded, he asked me twice) (He thought the
sound inside Ryan Center was pretty good for a hockey rink), and how often
he logs on to Bob Dates ("from time to time, when I have a chance"). The
conversation ended with Bob asking me what I wanted to hear tonight, a
chance to make a request (*!*) to Bob Dylan. I mentioned how it would be
nice to hear some of the older tunes tonight, some of his great old songs.
So I asked for Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands ("sorry, we haven't rehearsed
that one", and quickly suggested Jokerman "don't think we'll fit that one
in", and came around to "Boots Of Spanish Leather" which is a long time
personal favorite and I couldn't remember ever actually hearing it live,
so......
Bob played an awesome show tonight. He was so, so into each and every
song, carefully phrasing each song clearly, and playing tremendous
harmonica. He really did pull out some great old songs (Tom Thumb's Blues,
Just Like A Woman, Forever Young, Ballad Of A Thin Man) and when he played
Boots Of Spanish Leather, and dedicated it to me: "my new friend Mr.
Dean", well you can imagine I was about ten feet off the ground, walking
on air! After 30 years of Bob Dylan shows, I had a chance to meet the
great man himself, and contrary to all the rumours I had heard, he was
very nice, very pleasant, easy to talk to, he looks you in the eye when he
speaks to you, and he really wants to perform well for his fans. God bless
you, Mr. Dylan and may you keep on playing for many many years on the
Never Ending Tour.
Kyle Pucciarello
>Subject: My Conversation With "Mr Z"
>From: thefar...@yahoo.com (Adam Dean)
>Date: 11/23/2004 9:49 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <360a9a4a.04112...@posting.google.com>
----------------------------------
I guess Ron Artest can get that time off now...
---~ Website: www.geocities.com/kpboss23 ~---
Pilgrim
"About 4:45, dressed in a hooded gray sweatshirt, white pants and a black
leather jacket, Bob came waltzing out the back door of the hotel alone, on
his way to the bus. I stopped him, we started to chat, and had about a 10
minute conversation on various topics: the election (he expressed his
disappointment about 4 more years), Bob's golf game("I'm
hitting it OK"), the new albums "new" arrangements (or re-arrangements if
you will), the previous night's show and set list (Bob seemed particularly
interested in how the show sounded, he asked me twice) (He thought the
sound inside Ryan Center was pretty good for a hockey rink), and how often
he logs on to Bob Dates ("from time to time, when I have a chance")."
Hey, thanks for writing this. That almost settles a couple issues, now
doesn't it? Heh... I'm very relieved about his golf game, have to say.
Arkady
conversations. What's the deal with the new arrangements?
Arky