Americanarama concert #16 - Bridgeport CT 7/19/13

[MKHstudios]

Tonight's set:

 

Was I In Your Dreams

When The Roses Bloom Again

Misunderstood

Don't Forget The Flowers

Handshake Drugs

Nothingsevergonnastandinmywayagain w/ Lucius

IATTBYH

One Wing

Impossible Germany

Waterloo Sunset [Kinks] w/ Lucius

California Stars w/ Lucius

Born Alone

Radio Cure

Art Of Almost

Heavy Metal Drummer

ITMWLT

 

[The Inside of Outside]

Tonight's set:

 

Was I In Your Dreams

 

Nothingsevergonnastandinmywayagain w/ Lucius

 

Waterloo Sunset [Kinks] w/ Lucius

 

Cool, cool, and cool. Was I in Your Dreams is a gem. And I am a new, bandwagon-jumping Lucius fan (especially when they play with Wilco).

[Cold as Gasoline]

At the Dylan forum, they said Jeff and Jim joined Dylan for a cover of Blind Willie Johnson's "Let Your Light Shine On Me".  How's that for obscure?

 

http://instagram.com/p/b-PLt3r0qG/

 

(edit: replaced super blurry photo with much better one).

[dvigs24]

Just got back from the show which was probably the best value I've ever gotten for $68.  Very impressed with Ryan Bingham and his band - very country-rock, bluesy (almost Zeppelin-esque on one song near the end of the set), they had a cool sounding fiddle in the band and were very loud, particularly the lead guitarist (at least from where I was standing).  Ryan himself plays a pretty mean slide guitar.  In my opinion they fit in quite nicely with the "Americanarama" theme.  I'm sure Wilco will work him into their set at some point ("California Stars" seems like an obvious easy-entry point).  MMJ played a solid set, either you like Jim James and his schtick or you don't (It's hard to imagine any other front man making his hair such a big part of his onstage act), but 75 minutes of them is definitely enough to get a sense of what the band is capable of, which is quite a lot of rocking alternated with mid-tempo balladry and a lot of howling from James. "Gideon" was the highlight for me, as it's my favorite MMJ song and the one I really wanted to see them do.  Definitely worth checking out at least once.  Wilco's set was very strong.  I has a spot on the rail right in front of Nels, who was really nailing everything tonight.  His solo at the end of "Art of Almost" was amazing to watch from that close.  "Misunderstood" was a highlight for me, nice to see "Waterloo Sunset" again (I was at Solid Sound), and of course opening with "Was I In Your Dreams" was a nice surprise.  I know it's played all the time, but IATTBYH is my favorite song, and I never get tired of seeing it live.  I love when Jeff starts strumming that first chord over and over during that cacophonous intro, and the emotional payoff when the band kicks back in after the last "I am trying to break your heart" just kills me every time. Very little banter from Jeff due to the short set I'd imagine.  Having now seen Wilco a number of times, the guitar techs were definitely working double-time to speed the transitions between songs in order to maximize the time.

 

I'm a huge Dylan fan and have seen him about 25 times (most recently this past fall), I'm familiar with all the recent albums, knew exactly what to expect and certainly was not disappointed.  If you're a casual Dylan fan, or even a pretty big fan that listens mostly to the albums, I'll admit that it's probably very easy to be disappointed seeing him for the first time at this point (or maybe even if you've seen him in a late-period touring high point like 1999 or the early 2000's).  One of the things I love about Dylan is the constant re-working of songs that he's done throughout his career (tonight was no different as he had some new lyrics in "Simple Twist of Fate" and "Tangled Up In Blue" that I hadn't heard before), and I have no trouble recognizing tunes at this point.  When Dylan is starting every show on the tour with the opener "Things Have Changed" (from the Wonderboys soundtrack), you better listen up and take him at his word.  Five songs into the set the oldest song he had played was off of 1997's Time Out of Mind album.  You're definitely not going to get a greatest hits set, although there are plenty of huge songs peppered throughout.  Highlights for me were "She Belongs to Me", "Simple Twist of Fate", "Things Have Changed", "Blowin' in the Wind", "Blind Willie McTell" and "All Along the Watchtower".  It's nice to be up front for Dylan because you can see all of his little stage idiosyncrasies, and how he interacts with the band, and even the fact that he's smiling and clearly enjoying  himself up there.  It's easy to imagine during a song like "She Belongs to Me", a young kid up there with nothing but his acoustic guitar and harmonica keeping the crowd spellbound, tapping his foot much the same way he does now as he stands center stage and does his "song-and-dance man" routine.  Another interesting thing about seeing Dylan is watching how intently the band watches him in order to follow along with his musical whims on stage, particularly as to when to actually start singing a verse of a song.  To me it seemed that a large portion of the crowd tonight was there to see Dylan, and stayed to the end of the set.  It was definitely the most crowded up front leading up to and during Dylan's set. 

 

Of course, the moment of the night was when Dylan called Jeff Tweedy and Jim James back to the stage to play a tune. From where I was standing I could see through the legs of Dylan's piano, then barely through the curtain to the backstage area - I saw a figure with a hat and a guitar, which I was pretty sure was Tweedy, with a few songs left in Dylan's set and was hopeful we'd get a collaboration.  A few songs later, seeing Tweedy and James sneak through the curtain while the stage was dark, almost kid-like running over to the back of Dylan's stage set-up, and then just hearing Dylan say "Jeff Tweedy", was thrilling in itself.  Although I didn't know the song (apparently it was "Let Your Light Shine On Me" by Blind Willie Johnson), which had a call-and-response verse structure and sing-along chorus, seeing Tweedy and Dylan, two of my musical heroes together on stage was a spine-tingling moment for me, and was certainly what I was hoping for the second I heard about this tour months ago. 

 

Bingham played 30 minutes, MMJ 75, Wilco just a bit over 80, and Dylan was probably somewhere between 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  The whole show started promptly at 5:30 and was over by about 11:20.  Pretty impressive to see the crews work on this show.  Considering the amount of gear that needs to be set up and broken down, there was really minimal wait time between the sets. 

I picked up a ticket to the Jones Beach show next Saturday where Beck replaces MMJ, and can't wait to catch Americanarama again. 

[Cold as Gasoline]

Thank you so much for the detailed description.  You were so lucky to be there to see Jeff, Jim, and Bob all together!  I've been listening to the cover of Waterloo Sunset that Wilco did at Solid Sound a lot and it is really stuck in my brain.  

[Magnetized]

dvigs24, that was a fantastic writeup. You really conveyed what it felt like to be there. I'm hoping to have exactly your vantage point in 5 days. I had no idea what to expect with Ryan Bingham--I had figured it would be just him, not a band. And really cool to feel your enthusiasm for seeing Bob, Jeff and Jim up there together. I'm not quite there with you on Jim--yet--but I'm open to being converted. Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a personal account.

[dvigs24]

Thank you so much for the detailed description.  You were so lucky to be there to see Jeff, Jim, and Bob all together!  I've been listening to the cover of Waterloo Sunset that Wilco did at Solid Sound a lot and it is really stuck in my brain.  

 

 

dvigs24, that was a fantastic writeup. You really conveyed what it felt like to be there. I'm hoping to have exactly your vantage point in 5 days. I had no idea what to expect with Ryan Bingham--I had figured it would be just him, not a band. And really cool to feel your enthusiasm for seeing Bob, Jeff and Jim up there together. I'm not quite there with you on Jim--yet--but I'm open to being converted. Thanks so much for taking the time to write such a personal account.

 

Thanks for the kind words!  With a much clearer head this morning I went back and edited a bit. 

[Cold as Gasoline]

I've been following these shows like a sports fan following her favorite team.  The different collaborations add such a fun twist to the proceedings.  Wish there had been one with Dylan in Chicago.  Just saw this very good video posted of the Blind Willie Johnson tune from last night.  Seems like Jeff's and Jim's mic was off or turned down very low until the middle of the verse Jeff sang, but once it was on, Wow!  Sounded great.

 

[bböp]

Tonight's set:

 

Was I In Your Dreams

When The Roses Bloom Again

Misunderstood

Don't Forget The Flowers

Handshake Drugs

Nothingsevergonnastandinmywayagain w/ Lucius

IATTBYH

One Wing

Impossible Germany

Waterloo Sunset [Kinks] w/ Lucius

California Stars w/ Lucius

Born Alone

Radio Cure

Art Of Almost

Heavy Metal Drummer

ITMWLT

 

Lucius! Love those ladies. Too bad they didn't do Waterloo; don't know if the Dylan crowd could've handled that...

 

What'd they do on Nothing'sever? Handclaps, I hope.

[JAK2112]

Lucius! Love those ladies. Too bad they didn't do Waterloo; don't know if the Dylan crowd could've handled that...

 

What'd they do on Nothing'sever? Handclaps, I hope.

 

No handclaps, they did the "aaah" in the verse, and "nothinsever" background vocals in the chorus. Love the colab, they sounded great on Waterloo sunset again, but they didn't really do much on nohtin'sever. 

 

Show was great last night. Can't say i'm a huge fan of dylan live, but MMJ and Wilco both put great sets together. My only real complaint is one that i've had every show i've seen wilco for the last few months (bonnaroo, solid sound). Not sure if they have a new sound guy, but John's bass is super inaudible in the mix, couldn't even hear him on that prominent "Handshake Drugs" bassline, which is upsetting. Otherwise a great set though, loved Radio Cure, loved opening the set with Was i in your dreams as well!

[EMF]

great review dvigs.  thought the show was excellent myself.  not really a big fan of mmj, but I can see why people dig them.  great energy and jim james has some serious vocal chops.  thought wilco stole the show.  initially I was concerned that we wouldn't get enough wilco, but I have to say the set they played worked and while I could have used more wilco, in the end I felt that it was a solid set and I was more than satisified.  I was also happy that they played songs that they didn't get to at solid sound lilke handshake.

 

was wondering how dylan was going to follow such a solid act and have to say the old boy held his own.  his band sounded tight as a drum and he was in good form last night.  my guess is having such solid opening acts inspired him.  kind of like  bob's version of "get off my lawn you whippersnappers"

great moement when he has jeff and jim come up duriong his set and he had a hearty handshake for both of them as they exited the stage

 

another thing I noted was both mmj and wilco had headliner volume going during their sets which is not usually the case for opening acts.  kudos to bob for letting them do their things and not sabotaging their sound. 

 

I wonder if bob ever checks out the openers sets?

 

lastly, in the shameless plug dept. if any of y'all are in the Bridgeport area tonight my band BigFoot County will be at BRYAC tonight.

 

peace

 

Eric

[dvigs24]

Jeff and Jim were also on stage with Bob for Thunder On The Mountain.

 

I know it says this on expectingrain.com, but they most definitely were not. 

[Analogman]

Thanks for the update.

 

 

My Morning Jacket
Golden
Circuital
Heartbreakin Man
The Way That He Sings
Masterplan
Slow Slow Tune
Victory Dance
Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 1
Wordless Chorus
Butch Cassidy
Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Pt. 2
Anytime
Gideon

Bob Dylan
1. Things Have Changed
2. Love Sick
3. High Water (For Charley Patton)
4. Soon After Midnight
5. Early Roman Kings
6. Tangled Up In Blue
7. Duquesne Whistle
8. She Belongs To Me
9. Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
10. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
11. Blind Willie McTell
12. Simple Twist Of Fate
13. Thunder On The Mountain
14. Let Your Light Shine On Me (Song by Blind Willie Johnson) (with Jim James on acoustic guitar and vocals and Jeff Tweedy on electric guitar and vocals)
15. All Along the Watchtower //
16. Blowin' In The Wind
 

[Bosco]

Great show and some great reviews, I'd like to point out that I'm not so sure most people were there to see Dylan, by the second half of Dylan's set the place had significantly cleared out, I'd say less people saw the end of Dylan's set then saw the beginning of Wilco's, which surprised me.  My Morning Jacket were great, they had a nice groove going their whole set, Wilco were obviously the highlight, I loved the looks on the faces of the people who were clearly not familiar with Wilco, you could just see them becoming more and more into it ;^)  I've seen Dylan many times over the years, he's usually hit or miss, I'm sure he confuses people the way he rearranges his songs, I appreciate it, however it doesn't always work, I just love it when he has several lines to go in a verse and he just rushes them in there, no one else could get away with that, it only felt awkward a couple of times so overall it worked, one of the better Dylan shows I've seen in a while.

[Three dollars and 63 cents]

There were so many sloppy drunk people around us that at one point I wondered if they were giving beer away. The sound was better inside than I was worried it was going to be. We had no problems getting relatively close for Wilco (maybe 8 rows back on Nels' side), which sort of surprised me, but I was glad to get away from the group of completely trashed girls who didn't shut up for two seconds of My Morning Jacket's set. MMJ lost me for awhile, but I think it was more because of the people around me than because of them.

 

Wilco sounded great, as always, though we had another set of constant talkers behind us. A few too many "hits" in the set for me, especially compared to other set lists from the tour so far, but I was really happy to get to hear Misunderstood, Nothing'severgonnastandinmyway(Again) and Radio Cure. And I'm almost positive that that was the first time I've heard them do When You Wake Up Feeling Old, too. I'm going to the show tonight and the one next Sunday, so I'm interested to see how different the set lists are. I'm really hoping they play Too Far Apart again, because I think I've only heard them play it once or twice.

 

I confess it occurred to me on the way home that this tour would be a lot better if it didn't include Dylan. He wasn't nearly as good as when I saw him last September, and it's a shame to see him not make better use of all the talent he has on the tour with him. Jeff and Jim James making a tiny cameo was kind of lame, especially when we've seen Wilco and MMJ do so many cool collaborative things for the whole tour. I know by now to go into a Dylan show with no expectations, but I kind of think after the run of shows this week that I may be done with seeing him. 

 

Bridgeport was an okay place to spend about 18 hours. I loved getting off the train and seeing an inlet of the ocean and seeing and hearing seagulls. I also really liked all the art on the run-down buildings downtown. Unlike so many towns in the northeast past their heyday, I feel like they're trying to renew themselves at least a little. That was nice to see.