I broke two promises to myself when I got a ticket to Bob Dylan at Jones Beach.
1. After a nightmare trying to return to Jones Beach one night, I think it may actually have been a Bob Dylan show, I swore I would never go back again. It is a train and a bus to get there, but worse than that sounds. I already know I have to skip the encore or I will be in line an hour trying to get the bus. Maybe they’ll have taxis there, who knows? But anyway, I made myself a promise Jones Beach and I were done with each other.
And
2. After an awful set by Dylan at United Palace in which Dion blew him so far off stage it wasn’t funny , I swore off the man. Especially since I was actually writing about it at the same and I didn’t want to write a yearly Dylan pan.
So what happened?
1. I booked a flight to Toronto at the end of August to see the Replacements and figured if I was willing to spend north of five hundred bucks and take a 90 minute flight to Toronto to see the replacements, I could certainly switch from a train to a bus mid trip to see bob Dylan on a Saturday night.
And
2. The setlist is pretty good and if Dylan hadn’t been playing Barclay’s the same night as Conor ws playing Carnegie last week, I’d have weakened earlier. Also, Beck is opening and I haven’t seen him in a decade
So I checked out the setlist and crossed my fingers. Here is the setlist by the way, it has changed only minimally since April:
1. Things Have Changed – From “The wonder Boys” soundtrack, his long awaited follow up to “The Time’s They Are A Changing” and they had changed. Just not the way we had hoped they were. On the other hand HE USED TO CARE… A+
2. Love Sick – Deep blues from his comeback album – A-
3. High Water (For Charley Patton) – Even better than “Love sick” a rumbling blues Americana style – A
4. Soon After Midnight – Pretty but slight – B+
5. Early Roman Kings – This is fairly stunning stuff, his third blues out of four songs – A
6. Tangled Up In Blue – A masterpiece as the grade proves, but I don’t really need to hear it live especially since Dylan fucks it up so much – A+
7. Pay In Blood – He seems to bark it nearby the tune, verses are great but
8. Visions Of Johanna – The miracle is he can remember all the words! – A+
9. Spirit In The Water – “You think I’m over the hill, think I’m past my prime? Let me see what you’ve got, we can have a whomping good time”. I used to sing that to the girl I was dating, what, knocking on ten years ago – A
10. Beyond Here Lies Nothing – And even more blues, this time as a bossa nova – B+
11. Blind Willie McTell – Folk blues – A+
12. What Good Am I – From the exquisite Oh Mercy – A
13. Scarlet Town – Blues nothing – B
14. All Along The Watchtower – Is he still doing the Hendrix version? – A+
15. Ballad Of A Thin Man – A touch gnomic, sending us home with this – A+