Concert Review Number 11: Bob Dylan, St. Louis October 22, 2007

Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Amos Lee
The Fox Theatre



Sooooo...my second $180.00 concert ticket in three days. Who is a millionaire genius? Not me...on either count. There was a chance my wife would eventual start to speak to me again after I paid this much for a concert ticket...several times... but that chance has been...frittered away. Heading out to the Fox on what seems like the first day of winter. I was looking forward to the Fox after having suffered the indignities of U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington. I was also looking forward to (in no particular order) seeing the hot Elvis Costello set and getting home and being in bed by 11. Such is the life of the sad pathetic 46 year old man.

I have made a strategic decision to Miss the Amos Lee set. As I stated he was deemed non-essential. This is the second harshest epithet I could dump on him but on more careful reflection he is entitled to the number one unkindest thing I could say about ANY live rock show. He was...pleasant. There is nothing more unforgivable in rock then being pleasant. Save it for the Holiday Inn Lounge my friend where people can talk over your set and enjoy a tequila sunrise. Of course that is just my opinion.

We arrive at the Fox and it has been a while since I have been there. I do not remember who I saw there last but every show is an experience just because it is such an impressive venue. It is gaudy and beautiful at the same time with over worked detail in every nook and cranny. there is no plain space in the building and from the moment you walk in... it is just wow. it is also nice because even though it is a pretty venue with nice padded theatre seats you can take e your cocktail to your seat.
We were in row E in the center in front of the stage. Unfortunately it is not the fifth row because the orchestra pit is full of folding chairs. The crowd is an older crowd but full of regular people. I see a few people I know as well as Steve Pick, music critic and Euclid Records clerk...very good guy. It was a fairly mellow vibe when we walked in on the end of Amos Lee’s set. We found our way to our seats and evicted some people who were supposed to be on the other side.

After seeing the show the other night I was really looking forward to Costello. From reading prior reviews I knew that the set, the jokes and the stage patter did not vary a great deal. It didn't. He started off with “Angels Want To Wear My Red Shoes” and other then mixing the order up (slightly) he stayed with the same set i had heard a few nights before. The strange thing was that he was still kind of hypnotic and compelling for me. Once again...I just like to hear the guy sing. He is a weak guitar player but plays well enough to accompany his voice.

He tried to lead a sing along again tonight just like he did in Bloomington on the song “Wake Me Up”. It was a little of a reach there and was a big reach at the Fox in St. Louis. I have seen a lot of bands do this more or less successfully but it is really best done in the intimacy of a bar with a lot of beer involved. It was hard in the Arena atmosphere in Bloomington and was really disconnected in the padded seat theatre of the Fox.

Nothing made his set stand out from the other night. He made references to T-Bone Burnette and Henry Coward (the same person) as writing partners, told the same Schwartzenegger joke and talked faux nervously about his American born kids needing to be in a war. With “Radio Sweetheart” he broke into the Jackie Wilson song “Let It All Hang Out” and attempted another failed sing along but it did not seem to bother him.

He closed once again with “Peace love and Understanding” and a new song I think that was called “Willow From The Rye” which was an anti war song from the point of view of a mother speaking to the country’s leaders since she had lost her son to the war. It was a quality sad, pretty song containing the poignant line “Admit you lied and bring the boys back home.”
Pretty good stuff... then after a short break Dylan came out, just as he had the night before. The thing is... I had just seen him a few days before and he was not that great then. The bad was dressed in leather suits and bowler hats. Dylan was dressed like Dylan still with the big hat and sadly...he still could not really sing. The good news/bad news was that he played a dramatically different set list. That is impressive on a number of different levels:

1. His band can play anything and they could wing almost anything he wanted to play.
2. Dylan has some respect for his craft and his audience and is not mailing it in.
3. He remembers the words to songs like “Visions of Johanna.” (no one else does)

So we got that going for us. Danny on guitar was awesome again and it was not quite the same Soulard Blues Band feel that we had in Bloomington. He also did not play my favorite song “Tangled Up In Blue” so I did not have to suffer through it. he opened with “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat” which is a classic and went into “It Ain’t Me Babe” which... is a classic. Those classics are from almost 40 years ago. Then he hit some new classics. “Sick of Love” and the still timely “Levees Gonna Break: which he had also performed two nights before and really got the band and the crowd rocking. There was sweet pedal steel guitar through most of the show and it just swung and twanged a little better then the the night before.

“Visions of Johanna”....”Things Have Changed”...”Nadine”...on and on. A little numbing. When I say he cannot sing I do actually mean it. Some people love his voice from when used to be able to sing (me) and some-people think he never could. Now however he really has no lung capacity so every delivery is breathy and forced, jamming words into too small a places and ruining the flow and timing. Still...he is Dylan and on this night Costello came out to join him for a few encores and well...you just do not get to see two members of the holy (little h) trinity sharing a mike for the night.

Anyway... I think I am done seeing that nice Bob Dylan. I am happy I got to see him several times... once with my oldest son and I needed to see him a few times before he croaked. Unlike some of my music snob friends I will miss Dylan...it has been nice to have him croaking around for the last 45 years or so. That is a long ass time. So we got that going for us. Danny on guitar was awesome again and it was not quite the same Soulard Blues Band feel that we had in Bloomington. He also did not play my favorite song “Tangled Up In Blue” so I did not have to suffer through it. he opened with “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat” which is a classic and went into “It Ain’t Me Babe” which... is a classic. Those classics are from almost 40 years ago. Then he hit some new classics. “Sick of Love” and the still timely “Levees Gonna Break: which he had also performed two nights before and really got the band and the crowd rocking. There was sweet pedal steel guitar through most of the show and it just swung and twanged a little better then the the night before.

“Visions of Johanna”....”Things Have Changed”...”Nadine”...on and on. A little numbing. When I say he cannot sing I do actually mean it. Some people love his voice from when used to be able to sing (me) and some-people think he never could. Now however he really has no lung capacity so every delivery is breathy and forced, jamming words into too small a places and ruining the flow and timing. Still...he is Dylan and on this night Costello came out to join him for a few encores and well...you just do not get to see two members of the holy (little h) trinity sharing a mike for the night.

Anyway... I think I am done seeing that nice Bob Dylan. I am happy I got to see him several times... once with my oldest son and I needed to see him a few times before he croaked. Unlike some of my music snob friends I will miss Dylan...it has been nice to have him croaking around for the last 45 years or so. That is a long ass time.