Sunday, October 11, 2009

Bob Dylan @ the Greek Theatre, Berkeley, 10/10/09

Saw Bob Dylan last night night in Berkeley. Quick and to the point: best Dylan show of the five I've seen to date (previous shows I've seen were summer of '97 at Great Woods in Mansfield, Mass. with Ani DiFranco; spring of 2005 at the Paramount Theater in Oakland with Merle Haggard; fall of 2007 at the Ryan Center in Kingston, RI with Elvis Costello; and this summer at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, CA with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp).

His voice was clear and strong (relative for this period of his career, anyway) and he sounded like he was really enjoying the set. Spent part of the time at the keyboard, part of the time on guitar and harmonica, and part of the time singing without an instrument. Opened with an old Jesus song from his born again days, played some sweet new arrangements for "Mama, You've Been On My Mind" and "Cold Irons Bound," got the crowd all riled up with that "you think I'm over the hill" line in "Spirit On The Water" (just like he did at the Ryan Center), and best of all... NO opening acts, just Bob, with Charlie Sexton back in the band on guitar, and a nice long set in the open air. Show was sold out. He plays again at the Greek tonight (though I won't be there...)

Set list:

Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking
The Man In Me
Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
Mama, You've Been On My Mind
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
I Don't Believe You
My Wife's Home Town
Spirit On The Water
Cold Irons Bound
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Highway 61 Revisited
I Feel A Change Coming On
Thunder On The Mountain
Ballad Of A Thin Man

ENCORE:
Like A Rolling Stone
Jolene
All Along The Watchtower

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

sounds amazing. that's great to hear. what time did they open the doors at the greek since it was general admission?

harmolodic said...

Doors opened pretty early, though I don't know what time exactly. I got there maybe around quarter to 7 and the place looked like it was already 3 quarters full.

Anonymous said...

Going tonight - Doors open at 6:00pm