ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
...and the lead guitarist is Jack Byrne, son of Gabriel Byrne and Ellen Barkin.    They were fun.
 
You're right, Mellencamp's performance was sort of wooden.  Not bad, really, but lacking spark or something.  Dylan and band still kick. Setlist is here.  It was the first time I've got to hear him play Girl from the North Country, so that was kinda cool.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
Just found out from a friend who was also at the show.... the singer of the Dough Rollers, Malcolm Ford: Son of Harrison Ford.

At one point he mentioned to the crowd that he was from Wyoming and for a couple of seconds there, something tried to spark in my feeble brain but....

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: Yup. Those shows are the bestest. Loose 'n' off the cuff, combined with great musicians makes for interesting concerts.  

ScottFromWyoming wrote: 

Ooh, this just gets better and better!

 ptooey wrote: 
Yeah, that was cool. Just post-heart-attack so Bob was really trying to prove something, I guess.
 
I wasn't paying as close attention last night so I might have missed more of it but Bob did take lead at least once. Three guitars up there so I have to study their hands to try to figure out what noises are coming from who and I did that one time so it could have been more. All I can say is Charlie's pretty frickin' nimble because I don't think a whole lot of that is scripted. There were a couple of "I got it you take it" panics up there and I just think that's fun. Like every night at a jazz show I guess. Mellencamp, by contrast, totally note-for-note as far as I could tell. Except for song #1 when the first thing he says is "We're gonna teach you to count right now: 1!—2!—3!—4!" but the drummer came in on 3 and made all the rest of the band go "oh crap" and point at the drummer and laugh.
 
Set list is up.
 
*Just discovered that steel guitar/mandolin player Donnie Herron is in BR-549.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
Thanks!  We plan on getting to the field plenty early - I hate missing out on opening acts, as they're occasionally my favorites.  I'm really glad to hear that Charlie Sexton is back with his touring band.  The last time we saw Dylan was in '03, sans Sexton.  Good, but...The show in 2000 had Dylan taking lead guitar (he's extremely competent, sort of surprised me) with Charlie on rhythm.  I'm curious to see the Dylan on keys, Sexton on lead guitar lineup.  We'll let you know if we get rained/lightninged/wind-ed out! 

This is essentially a Private Message in a Public Forum because ptooey wanted a review. So, quickly:
 
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
The Dough Rollers
Wednesday, Aug. 11 2010
Billings Montana (Dehler Park baseball field)

Show opened with the Dough Rollers from New York. Introduced by the nervous-in-front-of-a-crowd Mayor as the doughboys. Either way, don't miss them. They only get 30 minutes and they hit about 6 different genres of old-timey music, most of it updated about 50 years or so to bring it to a pre-Elvis sound. Two guys, kids really, one sings and plays, the other just plays very well and grunts occasionally. They wear some cool old suits with wide ties, the singer eventually shucked enough of his suit that we could see he was all tatt'd up and so that  and his Tom Waits gruff strikes you as a put-on at first and well it is, of course, but they pull it off. What a great duo to catch in a little dive bar somewhere. They were pretty jacked up to be playing for the crowd of 8 or 9 thousand and kept referring to Mr. Mellencamp and Mr. Dylan... Anyway, good stuff, don't be late.
 
Mellencamp came on at 7:30, big bass thump that turns your guts to jelly but there just hasn't ever been enough there to make me whoop and holler so Charlie and I went for a snowcone and Charlie played on the bullpen pitcher's mound for most of the show. Scarecrow was the only thing that made me turn and listen. It's a cut above his usual stuff, musically, I think. Lyrically they're all fine. He's done a lot of good over the years so I was glad to see him.
 
Dylan. Huge. Great weather, nice entrance. Took him about 5 songs to get his voice up to normal and of course "normal" in his case is a rough croak so the first few were remarkably unintelligible at any speed. Great, tho. The arrangements were different from what I remember from 10 years ago. All electric. Zero conversation with the audience (par for the course with Dylan) until the encore when he introduced the band. It was Charlie Sexton's birthday so Bob led us all in singing Happy Birthday dear Charlie (twice) which a certain boy in the crowd was particularly impressed with.
 
Sound was good, Rollers adequate volume, quite pleasant. Mellencamp loud, bass-heavy. Dylan smokin' loud, all persons in  the outfield should have hearing protection. We retreated to the grass to the left field side, out of the direct line of the speakers so it wasn't too bad, and we could still see. 80% of the grass was covered with a rigid "portafloor" plastic to protect the grass, but off to the sides we could sit on grass. Dylan occupied stage right with the organ and came toward the center when he played guitar but was still right-most. So if you're going to stake out a side of the stage, go left and you'll still be able to see him when the players on the left of the stage are hidden behind the stacks. Charlie Sexton is center stage primarily.
 
None of Dylan's songs adhered to the studio arrangements and most had different hooks and fills so you might not recognize any of them right from the start. That makes it fun. And Dylan's lyrics pile up like snow in a fence so your brain's singing along thinking "to be without a home!" and he's singing " . . . . . . . . . . . tbethoutahome!"
 
Go early have a good time good night.

 islander wrote: 

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
VERY NICE! I love that song.
here's an RP link to the book

 
 
Click it...

 islander wrote: 

 islander wrote: 
White Wedding > White Christmas

 dmax wrote: 
Billy Idol: That's impossible, I can't possibly owe that much money

Manager: Amazing isn't it? Those bills stack up quick when you party like that though.

Billy Idol: Well, just use some of the royalty money to pay it off.

Manager:  Yeah, about that. What wasn't committed to the mansions and sports cars was invested in this insurance company called AIG - have you heard of it?  Funny really, you'd think an insurance company would understand risk .. .heh  heh.

Billy Idol:  So how much is left?

Manager: Well, after fees and all.... nothing, nada, zilch. In fact we'll have to put the sports cars up for sale and find you a nice apartment.

Billy Idol: NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!  There must be something else we can do.

Manager: Well, there is one thing. Why don't you sit down first...

 Inamorato wrote:

Just bought my tickets yesterday for the only Canadian stop on Dylan's current tour - he's playing right in my home town (Kitchener, Ontario) on November 7th. I'm quite surprized that this is the only stop, and he's not doing any of the major cities. It's a small venue too with max capacity of about 7,000. Tickets were cheap too at $50 and $70. I would have expected a lot more for Dylan!

Should be a great show!

 steeler wrote: 
Had they lived, would we have Jimi Hendrix doing "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing," Janis Joplin warbling "Away in a Manger," Kurt Cobain crooning "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and John Bonham thumping "The Little Drummer Boy"?

 Inamorato wrote: 

Somehow, I don't see this as a good idea.

Snowin' in the Wind? Dylan Christmas album due

LONDON (Reuters) - Bob Dylan is set to release an album of Christmas songs, including "Here Comes Santa Claus" and the carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem," according to music websites.

Rumors of the album first emerged on Isis magazine website, which is devoted to Dylan. It later reported the songs had been recorded in Jackson Browne's studio in Santa Monica, California, in May.

David Hidalgo of Los Lobos, who played accordion on Dylan's chart-topping latest album "Together Through Life," is one of the musicians who took part in the sessions, it said.

"It is a personal project of Dylan himself rather than an idea put forward by his record company," Isis said.

Billboard magazine said it had confirmed the album existed. Other songs included "Must Be Santa" and "I'll be Home for Christmas," it said.

Dylan was originally of the Jewish faith and was a Born Again Christian from 1979-1981, releasing three religious-themed albums.

"At first glance it may sound bizarre, but I don't think Dylan cares much about what his detractors might make of it," Scott Marshall, who has written a book 'God and Bob Dylan: A Spiritual Life' told bullypulpit.com.

"He's both never renounced being Jewish or renounced his experience with Jesus some three decades ago," Marshall said.

Dylan, now aged 68, is currently touring the United States as part of his so-called "Never Ending Tour."

Britain's Uncut magazine meanwhile poked fun at the project, serving up Yuletide puns on Dylan songs such as "A Hard Reindeer's A-Gonna Fall," "Sleigh Lady Sleigh" and "Girl From The North Pole Country."

No 1 on both sides of The Atlantic !

Go Bob

 steeler wrote: 



Missing you terribly, of course!

It has been a fabulous year so far - finally took that trip to Peru we've been talking about for years, volunteered/attended the Dallas AFI Film Festival, went to a pastor's conference on using creativity in the church (yeah, I'm not sure what I was doing there either but it was actually really good), read way too many books, and am currently spending hours and hours outside in the garden.  You should hear me talk about plants and stuff.  Sounds like I actually know what I am talking about!  Every week I check out more books from the library with names like The Low Maintenance Garden, The 20-Minute Gardener, Sparetime Gardening, etc.  We are heading out to San Francisco next month but then we need to make a trip out your way to see Aunt Cynthia.  I'll let you know when we have dates.

How have you been? 

Oh, and to stay on topic:  The article includes links to listen to almost all of the songs listed which is great for people like me who like instant gratification.

 edieraye wrote: 



Where ya been?