20 years ago on halloween night, i travelled to evanston to see bob for the first time. even though i've seen him 41 more times over the years, that show still contains my favorite versions of desolation row, tangled, and not dark yet that i witnessed in person. that band is the best i have seen with bob.
i was hoping that i would get to celebrate this fall, but covid had other plans. i've seen shows from march through november, but there is nothing like seeing him in the fall. half of the shows i've seen were in october or november.
2000? So that was Larry and Charlie with David Kemper on the drums? Damn, that was a great band wasn't it. Were they still doing the bluegrass harmony stuff then, I've forgotten? Sounds like a great show - Happy Bobiverary!
yes, 2000 with kemper on drums and larry/charlie harmonies on duncan, soldier's grave, released, and blowin. i still laugh that i have not gotten the first acoustic song (duncan) or first electric (country pie) at any other show.
Duncan And Brady (acoustic)
To Ramona (acoustic) (Larry on Mandolin)
Desolation Row (acoustic)
Girl Of The North Country (acoustic)
Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic)
Searching For A Soldier's Grave (acoustic) (Larry on mandolin)
(song by Johnnie Wright, Jim Anglin and Jack Anglin)
Country Pie
Tryin' To Get To Heaven
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
Not Dark Yet
The Wicked Messenger (Bob on harp)
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
(encore)
Things Have Changed
Like A Rolling Stone
If Dogs Run Free (acoustic) (Larry and Charlie on electric guitar)
All Along The Watchtower
I Shall Be Released (acoustic)
Highway 61 Revisited
Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic)
i was in college and knew only of his protest anthems, rolling stone, and everybody must get stoned. chicago stations don't play him a lot. but driving home one weekend i heard a song start with "you got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend". the intensity of the lyrics spoke to me like nothing my 19 year old self had ever heard. i started shortly afterward getting his greatest hits through columbia house, then vol 2, then vol 3, then budokan, believe it or not. then by may of 2000, i had most of his albums and wanted to see him live. alpine valley and noblesville in july were too far for me as a college kid, so i had to wait til october. i should have done west lafayette a few days later as well, as my college is actually closer to there than evanston, but hindsight is 20/20.
i will also say that no live version of 4th st comes close to the studio version. the 66 australia ones are the best of his attempts.
I envy you! Those were such great shows. (I saw none of them here in NZ.) But I do have DVDs of Munster, Portsmouth and London. And they are indeed a thing of beauty!
That would have been a great show (1996!), but this is definitely Munster 2000 - 1st October, Halle Munsterland - with the live debut of If Dogs Run Free...