Thunder from the King of the Mountain

Last night in Ottawa I saw for the first (and hopefully not the last) time, Bob Dylan. As a student of history, and even more importantly, rock music, and pop culture in general, there are few figures in the last 40 years to have made such an impact. Even fewer do so while being able to maintain a sense of mystery, especially in the age of media saturation. Bob Dylan has gone up and down so many times from critic's darling to wacky Born Again to irrelevant relic, to elder statesman of music. Luckily the timing for my first experience of Bob in the flesh is hot on the heels of the release of Modern Times his latest, and quite swinging and grooving album.

I won't give a review of the album other than to agree with Steve that its a kick-ass driving record, and I think thats what struck me most in person too. The Driving rhythm, the momentum that the show had, just started up and never really took its foot off the gas pedal. That being said I don't think that made for a rushed experience or that he only played fast-paced songs. It seemed to be that he made all the songs work at the rolling groove he wanted them to...and boy did it groove. I have to say Bob has got a shit-hot band behind him, you can tell that they actually seem to play very well together, and well-oiled machine isn't the right cliché, more like a well worked in baseball glove. It feels comfortable and familiar, but still does the job right when its being used the right way. There wasn't one time during the entire set where I didn't feel like grooving along, and there wasn't anyone in my vicinity on the floor who wasn't totally tapping the toes, knee slapping, bopping around or generally having a damn fun time.

As for the setlist, well here it is:

Maggie's Farm
She Belongs To Me
Watching The River Flow
Just Like A Woman
Highway 61 Revisited
Ballad Of A Thin Man
Rollin' And Tumblin'
Simple Twist Of Fate
High Water (For Charley Patton)
Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
Tangled Up In Blue
Nettie Moore
Summer Days
(encore)
Thunder On The Mountain
Like A Rolling Stone
All Along The Watchtower

Holy Fucking Shit!!For the whole show it felt surreal, and I'm very glad I had the new CD and knew it because there's some kicking good stuff on there. I was quite intrigued with the opener, Maggie's Farm, which I hate to say I was introduced to by way of its inclusion on the Rage Against the Machine Covers album Renegades, but was glad nonetheless that I knew (Considering I own mostly the big albums, and the last 2 new ones). Even the ones I wasn't totally familiar with, I was totally grooving to, which is rare for me, and I think speaks volumes about just how hot that band was/is, and Bob really was the lynchpin to the whole thing, once he started to get into in and was swaying along at the keyboard or bobbing up and down with his knees, for an old guy he was really getting down. I'm also usally someone who likes being able to recognize songs and have them not be entirely different from the versions on the album, but seeing as how the stuff I was most familiar with was from over 35-40 years ago...well thats not to be expected. But I have to say, I really did like how vastly different the stuff sounded, yet was totally the same song. I guess when you write that stuff, and who play it that often, you get very good at reinterpreting it. Just like a Woman, Highway 61, Tangled up in Blue were the definite highlights of the main set for me. ...Woman seemed to be able to take it down a notch into a more...dare I say romantic? mood, yet still not really let up on the rhythm. Very next song, they fucking ROCKED the shit out of Highway 61. I didn't expect to see borederline headbanging to Bob, but it was almost that. It was for sure goosebump inducing...from the opening of "God Said to Abraham Kill me a son..." The place just went apeshit rocking, to the point where the next thing we heard was "Out on Highway 61" to which of course, the apeshittery went even further, which was great b/c it seemed like the band and Bob fed off of that energy and rocked it even harder. It was great seeing Bob really grooving into it, since I'd heard many a tale of his performances being all over the board, and rumours that he hates Ottawa and never played a good show there, well thankfully I didn't feel that way at all.

Its almost impossible for me to adequately express what it was like to see Bob in person, b/c he's not even a legend, or an Icon, he's Bob. Virtually no one else can hold a candle to that in our culture. So it seemed like it wasn't even real for the first little bit, but then once those notes of 61 started then I knew it actually was the real deal. I mean I've freaked out more at concerts and rocked harder, but not many where I felt totally in awe at the same time as grooving right along. It was great to see that someone so amazing wasn't past any prime, but rather has settled well into his "new" self if I can say that.

The outfit was great too, the black cowboy hat, the long black coat, and the RCMP style black pants with the yellow stripe down the side of the leg...Classic. and Classy, with the band all in Black too.

But the encore...ooh. wow. My oh my. The fantastic opening song from MOdern Times, Thunder on the Mountain, which manages to be one of the most energetic and rocking songs I've heard on any album for ages, and yet manages to transform into an even more rocking and driving song in person (you're absolutely right Steve, this is now in my Top 5 Driving songs without question). Its a freaking classic and its only a few months old! As great as that was, the next 2 just completed my evening. Like a Rolling Stone, which so much has been said about I won't even bother, other than to say that was one of the biggest goosebump moments in my life, let alone my musical life. WOW. especially hearing it 40 years later and still feeling just how relevant it is to life, sung by the same guy who wrote it that many years ago...wow.
And to cap it off, a song that I had heard he stopped playing for a long long time, but was definitely heard; All Along the Watchtower. It was the only time I can ever remember my jaw actually dropping right open. there isn't even anything I can say...just amazing, what a song, what a 1-2 punch to close it, what a show, what a guy.

If you want to read another very well written (probably more eloquent and well formed than this entry) review, Steve Johns will have one up at www.nwontario.blogspot.com probably tommorrow after he watches the Toronto show, which is probably just wrapping up soon...
And to Steve, I'm sure we'll be discussing this show soon.

I can't fault Bob Dylan for a setlist, but I'd have killed to hear Masters of War. Girl from the North Country would have been amazing too, but I guess I'll just have to go see him again, and hope it really is the Neverending Tour...