message dispatched : Sun, 13 Oct 2002 06:53:24 +1100

Dylan : the fabulously eccentric string puppet, flanked by gunslingers, Charlie Sexton and Larry Campbell and grounded by bass and drums deserving of a purple heart for making magic out of madness ... man what a band and what a venue! Outdoors at the Greek Teatre, Berkley, California...8,000 people ... 21 songs ... Dylan braced against a keyboard in the centre of a guitar driven hurricane whose roots were set deep in the faultless and fertile soil of the rhythm section.

The highlights of the set were Accidentally Like a Martyr and the Mutineer, which were a true and heartfelt tribute to the ailing Warren Zevon ... with Bob restraining himself from ruining the moment with his inept attempts at a solo and singing from the heart. But, someone needs to burn his acoustic guitar to save it from the torture of his finger work. The most that can be said for maestro's solo's is that they are a comedic counterpoint to the brilliance of his offsiders, and at times had these wandering Mooks in stitches!

His work on the piano took the lustre off the diamond that is his band but also provided a frailty which otherwise would have been missed. As a group they were at their best with Dylan on electric guitar where his riffing found a house it could live in. Sexton and Campbell proved themselves true allrounders with backing vocals to die for and on Old Man it was as if Neil Young had fallen from the sky for a cameo. Not so Brown Sugar ... there is no way the international fuckwits could come close to replicating the genuine rock and roll spirit that this band injected in to the song ... no pontification, no big lips or bandanas, just pure radio heart.

Three cheers for Bob and Co and thanks for the harmonica solos, pedal steel and suits.

Your correspondent.

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