Sometimes There's Shows in April
Four requests: Asheville 2004, Atlantic City 2005, Atlanta 2015, West Lafayette 2025
 |
The newsletter is already coming fast and furious with the current tour, and it’s about to come even faster and furious-er with a big anniversary series coming up. So, since I know your inboxes are already groaning under the digital weight, I’m combining April’s four paid-subscriber requests into one newsletter. Let’s go.
By the way, I’m finally catching the spring tour in a few days! I will report back from Bowling Green, Chattanooga, and Jackson (paid subscribers only). Hope to see some of you there.
PS. If you don’t get the reference in the subject line, as I was laying this entry out I happened to be listening to this Meshell Ndegeocello cover of a Prince song. Kind of a stretch, but I went with it.
Request #1: Asheville 2004
Requester Josh knocks it out of the park with a killer first show. This spring Asheville date coincidentally came only a few weeks after my own first-ever Dylan show. (This will be a trend with these requests: The first three connect closely, in different ways, with my very first Dylan shows).
This Asheville show was also, unfortunately, one of Freddy Koella’s last. Not that he knew it at the time. I interviewed the wonderfully inventive guitarist for my book, and he explained that he experienced sudden kidney failure during time off between tours:
“I called the manager and I told him,” Koella recounted. “This is when I’m at the hospital in really bad shape. I missed the tour after, and I was still sick for the next one, and the third one I was still sick. So they said, we’re gonna keep the guy who replaced you. I lost the gig because of that, which I will say was very depressing at the time.”
He went out blazing. This Spring 2004 tour was mostly small venues (The Orange Peel’s capacity is 1,050), and Dylan pulls some wild songs. “If Dog Run Free,” “I Believe in You,” “If Not For You,” and, for the first time in almost 10 years, “Unbelievable.”
None of those rarities are the highlights for me though. To me, the Time Out of Mind songs stand out the most. Even though Love & Theft is the newer album, there’s something about Time Out of Mind that inspires him to dig deep. It’s one of the most fiery “Can’t Wait”s I’ve ever heard, growly and menacing. And check out “Cold Irons Bound” with that killer vocal echo:
 LISTEN NOW · 5:52 |
George Receli’s thundering drums shine on that one, as they do everywhere. He’s also the recipient of the dad joke in the band intro.
“George comes from a broken home,” Bob tells the crowd. “His kids break everything in it.” 😂
No comments:
Post a Comment