Here I am, post-Bob, and very happy. In my extensive Bob-reading on the blogs, it appears that he either blows hot or cold. And I am delighted to report that we got a Hot Bob last night.
It was like Bob knew my secret (or not-so-secret) wish list and complied. No Maggie’s Farm for us, nope, he opened with Absolutely Sweet Marie (Wish No. 1), and I was absolutely thrilled with that.
So happy was I, in fact, that he was well into Senor (talk about your obscure numbers) before I noticed he was hatless (Wish No. 2). We had good seats, not close enough to really see his face, but his hipster sideburns were clearly visible.
Wish No. 3 came true when he played Tangled Up in Blue. Now and forever one of my favourite songs.
Bob remained hatless until the halfway point. Then we got the black cowboy hat: which I’m forced to admit, looked pretty dang cool.
Bob’s voice? Put himself, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen in a blender. That’s it.
Leave it to Bob to knock me off-kilter with a terrific version of Girl from the North Country. It was oddly, pleasantly jingly, almost like a countrified, electrified Christmas song. That was an unexpected pleasure, one of the high points of the night.
Another high point: all of his wiggling and bobbing at the piano during Highway 61. Bob was channelling his inner Jerry Lee Lewis. That rocked!!! Wow. Terrific stuff. I’ve seen complaints that he doesn’t move on stage. That is a lie. The man had ants in his pants.
Then he did Nettie Moore, which I knew he would, and he did it well, which I knew he would. My fave off the new record.
Then came Summer Days, which Ms. Chicken Coupons was waiting for, and by all accounts I think she was happy with that number. Right?
Bob does not speak to the crowd. I knew this going in and, you know what, it isn’t a problem. Because even though he didn’t talk, I felt he was very engaged with the crowd and the audience felt close to him. He gave us the songs, which is his job. And he does his job very, very well.
One tiny disappointment: not nearly enough harmonica playing. But if the trade-off for the harmonica is to have Bob doing a lot of toe-tappin’, hip-wigglin’ groovin’ at the keyboard, so be it. I’ll take it.
So now that’s over. What do I do with the rest of my life?
6 comments:
Glad you had a great time, and got the performance you were hoping for!
Thanks. How's that novel coming along. ahem ahem...
glad bob came through for you in "the reds"
Although I was one of the people in the webmistress's posse last night and we spoke walking out after the show, and Mrs. Coupons and I returned home to the babysitter, it only now occurs to me that he didn't play IT'S ALL RIGHT MA (I'M ONLY BLEEDING), which had been on the set lists for a number of recent shows. But if the tradeoff was Absolutely Sweet Marie instead of Maggie's Farm, I won't complain.
If you had driven down to Portland, Maine, last night, you could've heard It's Alright Ma.
That Bob, changing his show every night. Does he expect us to follow him all over the world? hmmm. (scratches chin)
thank goodness anonymous said something...I was beginning to think I was Ms. Chicken coupons and wasn't let in on the joke. N.
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