LouieB Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 As mentioned in one of the other threads, I made the trek out to the new Sears Center in Hoffman estates, spending big bucks to see Bob Dylan. It was worth it however. The Sears Center is a brand spanking new venue that looks like a hockey arena; clean and a bit sterile. Parking is $10, but the staff was nice and the seating and sound good. We had seats three rows up on the left side so we were facing Dylan, luckily. Fountains of Wayne, I mean Kings of Leon, were pretty good and pretty loud and very generic. They thanked the crowd on Saturday night by saying we were better than the crowd on Friday. Dylan was in fine form, performing pretty much the same set list as was mentioned in the other thread. It wasn't too hard to figure out the songs this time, except for one that seemed to be a Time out of Mind era standard blues number. Joey was a suprise, but not much else seemed unusual, but all of it was done fairly well. I thought Dylan was fairly feisty and engaged and the band its usual stellar self. It seems like this tour really is going to go on forever, but you just never know, so see him while you can. Califone at the Hideout on Sunday was excellent. A kind of wacky group from the northern suburbs called Bitter Tears opened with a fairly hystryonic set that included costumes and crazy between song patter. They were good enough and the two front guys for this group came out later and played horns with Califone. The Hideout was totally sold out for this show and Califone was completely on. The vocals and the song structure of the group less important and not always that engaging compared to the incredible improvisational aspect of their work and the interesting interplay between the three of them (it was three last night...). They did a variety of numbers from their new album and some older stuff. Their entire set was nearly two hours and every bit of it was engaging and none of it seem superfluous. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 Thanks for the review, Louie! I'll be seeing Califone twice in November (once in Philly, the other at the Aud with Wilco!). I'll be seeing Dylan in November as well (at Philly's Spectrum ), and I hope it's good! After an awesome show a few years ago, I swore I'd never see Dylan again to avoid tarnishing my positive memory. But by the time I see him at the Wachovia Spectrum, I'll have been the second show since the time I swore him off. Oh well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted October 30, 2006 Author Share Posted October 30, 2006 The one thing I missed this time out, from the show at the Auditorium with Merle Haggard was what I thought was a wonderful female violin player. Dylan actually interacted and smiled at the band toward the end of the show the other night. The guy is still having fun at 65. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
froggie Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 It wasn't too hard to figure out the songs this time, except for one that seemed to be a Time out of Mind era standard blues number. would it be Lonesome day blues??. (its on L&T)....one of those tunes that has gotten better over time as he plays it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Adam2 Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 was there any Califone merch (shirts)? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted October 30, 2006 Author Share Posted October 30, 2006 would it be Lonesome day blues??. (its on L&T)....one of those tunes that has gotten better over time as he plays itCould be. I didn't look up the set list. It was good, but there are several sort of generic blues on both those albums. was there any Califone merch (shirts)?Yea, they had shirts and albums. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
owl Posted October 30, 2006 Share Posted October 30, 2006 was there any Califone merch (shirts)? There will be a Califone store on pastrysharp.com in a few weeks, and it will have lots of new stuff! LPs too (hopefully)! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted October 30, 2006 Author Share Posted October 30, 2006 In this case albums = CDs, not LPs. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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