Welcome to Bob Week at the Beacon

By Rita Houston

In a month where I went out to see Beck, Moby, Gomez, Josh Rouse and more, my three nights with Bob Dylan at the Beacon Theatre were the highlights. Simply, he's just the coolest old guy ever!

The three nights were very different - the set lists, the outfits, the moods. I went on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, April 25, 26 and 28.

The crowd was mostly an older one, but there were plenty of young folks too. I saw friends from all over, WFUV Members who got their tickets through our online pre-sale, and fans like actor Fisher Stevens and NBA star Bill Walton.

Since I saw they were selling "If Dogs Run Free" T-shirts in the lobby I was hoping I'd get to hear that one and didn't, but there weren't too many other disappointments.

It's clear that Bob loves performing - he doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want, and he's out there every night. And I will gladly debate the critics who say you can't understand what he's singing or tell what song he's playing, because I can hear it all (almost).  Maybe there are songs he feels he has to play for the fans, like "Tangled Up in Blue" for example, but he can't really relate to them any more, so those he mumbles through. But the songs he wants to do, he really does with feeling. There is real emotion in his voice, especially for the more recent songs like "Bye and Bye," "Summer Days," "Honest With Me" and "Mississippi." Seems that Bob is invested in those songs, and they're rewarding to him to play now.

I do miss his old band, with Larry Campbell and Charlie Sexton. And I do miss Bob himself playing the guitar, instead of standing behind the organ all night. But there were good musical touches, and the added instrumentation of banjo and fiddle gave things an appropriate old-timey sound.

The musical highlights for me were squeezing all the way up to the front of the stage for "Mississippi," getting "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" and "To Be Alone With You" back-to-back opening night, and all the times Bob stepped out to center stage for fluid and musical harmonica solos. Also, I was so psyched to hear "This Wheel's On Fire" and "Blind Willie McTell". Set lists are posted at bobdylan.com and you can even stream some songs.

Merle Haggard played right before Bob each night, representing for the roots of country music that are such a big part of Bob's music. Even Merle varied the set lists each night. He's been playing lots of standards lately, and his "Unforgettable" was beautiful. In fact, Les Paul was in the audience for the Monday night show, and I hear that Merle later joined him at his weekly Iridium gig.

Newcomer and relative youngster Amos Lee opened up each night - that's a long way from the Living Room where I last saw him. He also represents the roots of country music, although he presents it with his amazing soulful voice. I was really happy that he was so well-received, and that a lot of folks were obviously familiar with his songs... we've been playing him for months on 'FUV and have heard great things from listeners. A favorite part for me was his version of Sam Cooke's "Change Gonna Come."

But it was all about Bob as he still pulls it all together for me. There were many moments my eyes would well up with tears from both excitement and sadness. There aren't many artists with 40-plus years who still enjoy performing and whose new music still has relevence. If you were there and you heard someone screaming out "Peggy Day," that was me... Oh well, there's always next tour!

Hear the excitement for yourself: There are live tracks from the Beacon shows on Bob's web site.