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Songwriting icon sings, plays only the piano, fails to address Asheville crowd
By DAVE ROWE
Special to the Daily Planet
Hard to believe the guy’s 71.
Bob Dylan in his April 30 Cellular Center appearance in downtown Asheville — along with his seamless five-piece band — played a two-hour set, consisting mainly of his music of recent years leaning mainly on this year’s release “Tempest,” his 35th album.
A stylistically varied work, Dylan performed its blues “Early Roman Kings,” “Roll On John,” a gentle tribute to John Lennon as well as several others.
Also included in the set was 1998’s “Love Sick,” the tune punctuated by a streaker when performed at the Grammys.
Decked out in a dark-blue suit and pointed-toed cowboy boots, Dylan did dip back into his voluminous catalog, offering up 1974’s “Tangled up in Blue,” 1966’s Visions of Johanna,” 1967’s All Along the Watchtower,” and 1965’s “Ballad of a Thin Man,” the encore.
Initially, Dylan stood at the front of the blue-lit stage without an instrument, singing in his gritty yet expressive voice before chiming in on a grand piano, which he played for the most part standing up. At no point did he touch a guitar, and signature harmonica riffs were few and far between. At no point either did he say a word, although he did give the crowd a bow at the end.
The crowd, which filled roughly three-fourths of the center, consisted mainly of the middle-aged, although some appeared to be the age of Dylan himself. Some were younger and several people commented on how the acoustics of the building had improved following multi-millions of dollars of work.
Opening the show — precisely on time — was the Los Angeles-based Dawes.
This band, which recently recorded a CD here, played clean, catchy rock ‘n’ roll, not unlike that of the Wallflowers, the band fronted by Dylan’s son Jakob.
The Wallflowers recently played Asheville’s Orange Peel nightclub, as did the senior Dylan four years ago. For Bob Dylan, it was on to Charlotte the next night, Raleigh the next night, a night off, then on to Charleston, S.C., as part of a several-months-long tour.
Tagging behind the black-and-gray tour bus is a smaller one populated by people — unauthorized by the tour — who stand outside facilities passing out literature dissecting Dylan’s spiritual leanings.
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The set list for Dylan’s eighth concert in Asheville was as follows: “Things Have Changed” “Love Sick” “High Water (For Charley Patton)” “Soon After Midnight” “Early Roman Kings” “Tangled Up In Blue” “Pay In Blood” “Visions Of Johanna” “Spirit On The Water” “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’” “Blind Willie McTell” “What Good Am I?” “Thunder On The Mountain” “Scarlet Town” “All Along The Watchtower” “Ballad Of A Thin Man” |
