Iscgl Review

Well, Since I am a bit tardy on my reviews of Ischgl and Munich, I decided instead to transcribe my general journal of the weekend... I took a plane from Copenhagen to Munich last Friday, and went to both shows:

Friday 7:30 P.m.. Copenhagen- I've decided to give TooM a fresh listen for the trip down to Munich. I listened to this album incessantly in 98 , but of late "world gone wrong" and."good as I've been to you" have kind of replaced it as my studio staples... anyhow the recent 'son/sun' discussions on r.m.d have gotten me looking for religious imagery in TooM, and its there, but its so vague that I never know how to read it. Anyway, even though I'm sure to hear some good TooM standards this weekend, I'm really hoping for a 'standing in the doorway', (not likely), a 'mama you've been on my mind' (good chance) and a "Born in Time" (fat chance)

So as soon as this plane lands in Munich, I've got to high-tail it to the main train station and catch the train to Innsbruck......


12:05 AM- Well that went ok, and I'm on the Innsbruck train.

The Italian guy next to me has never heard of Bob Dylan. I show him my ticket and get a blank stare in return. "hip hop?" he asks... I decide to try to take a nap.

I'm now waiting at Innsbruck, and am kinda sketched out by the scene.

"Mona tried to tell me
To stay away from the train line.
She said that all the railroad men
Just drink up your blood like wine.

I think that it might be unwise to catch a nap in the station. So I put on 'Oh Mercy' and take a walking tour of Innsbruck...The town seems charming enough, but it understandably feels a bit dead at 3:30 AM.

Time passes slowly up here in the mountains.

I can't help but stare at the clock, and the last minutes inch by.
My mood shot up when I saw my 4:30 train rumble in. After another hour and a half train ride, I get in to Landeck, the closest train station to Ischgl. I'm in Landeck and getting closer, and I'm starting to get excited.
I take a quick tour of the area, but quickly decide that sleeping during my two hour wait here would be a good idea. I find an empty bench in the waiting room and drift off to 'Highlands'
I sleep intermittently for the next hour or so. When the dawn comes over the mountain ridge, I realize that I am in one of the most beautiful places i have ever seen.
The bus shows up at 7:50 , and we're rolling down the road to see bob.
We get to Ischgl about 45 minutes later- its really an incredible place. Steep, sharp mountains shooting up from a fast moving river bed, with a town town perched on the bank.

Could you kindly tell me, friend, what time the show begins?"

I got up to the mountain at about 9:00, and since I had to pay for a lift ticket anyway, I decide to ski while waiting for the concert to start.

I skiied until about 12:00, and then decided that it would really suck to break my leg half an hour before the show- and since I didn't sleep at all, I was getting a little exhausted. I stopped and grabbed some lunch. There was no reason to wait to stand up front since the stage is so high that the first row can't even see the band. What were these people thinking? The stage is built on top of a GIANT pile of snow.. Really sucks..
I watch them unload equipment from a snow cat..

After a REALLY annoying DJ cleared off, Mr. Dylan & Co. Climbed on stage about ten minutes after two.

THE SHOW

they opened with "Oh babe, it ain't no lie", and as often seems to be the case, Dylan kinda looked distracted throughout the opener. Of course the crowd was not into it at all either, and the scene was distractingly weird. The so-so opener was followed by Mr. Tambourine Man. Bob was in good voice for this tune, and the phrasing was well done Bob used his whole range singing some lines up high, and blurting out others in talkin' style. After a lengthy guitar jam, he picked up the harp, and played a nice solo.
Mr T. was followed by Masters of War. It was done well enough, but mow live just doesn't hit me that hard

Tangled up in blue next--- very cool.

Next came a fairly standard version of Don't Think Twice, except for cool treatment of the 'she wanted my heart.. line - bob said .. 'but i gave her my soooooouuuuuulll'''' the song also had a fun harp solo. By the time they got to the half speed close, bob was holding the harp in one hand and had the other hand waving free .
It was the end of the acoustic section, and the band slid right into Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Menphis Blues again. This one was a highlight for me- Larry was doing a new double-up riff doing most of it- and the jam built to bob making quick, sharp jabs at his guitar. This was also when Bob starting pouring on some Chaplinesque guitar poses--- Really nice.
The next one was a surprise- Under the red sky. It wasn't a particularly inspired version, but it was the first time that I have seen this tune live, and the slide guitar gave it a soft feel. I just don't get the 'baked in a pie' verse.. What is that one about???

"It takes a lot to laugh, it takes a train to cry." was up next- started real slow and real funky, with bucky going nuts plucking hard, and bob getting way into it, singing in an almost pleading tone- the solo was really cool- I don't think I remember ever having seen bob's fingers move so quick.
A quick word about the crowd:
I don't have anything against Austrians (or Germans, which I'm many of the people at this place were)... but many of the people at this show were frankly pretty annoying.. So many people were wearing ridiculous looking ski costumes, walking around with more attitude than they knew what to do with..
.
"And it ain't in the cream puff hair-do or cotton candy clothes"

But a really cool German dylan fan named wolfgang graciously poured me a gin and tonic, and it seemed to be just the trick to forgetting the crowd. Anyway, A hurried version of if not for you followed.-but once the band settled down, there was some real melodious guitar inter between bob and bucky, set on top of larry hammering out the basic riff.
After this tune came the only bob talk of the afternoon... he said "I'm happy to be playing here tonight, cuz Elton John played here. Anyplace Elton plays, I have to play." Bob is a weird dude. He introduced the band and broke into Highway 61. Again Bucky was up to some trickiness on slide guitar, and It was an energetic version.
The band left the stage briefly, and came back to start All Along the Watchtower. It was a new intro (for me anyway)-- it seemed to be larry's-it was very strange, totally unidentifiable start... But then they broke into a crazy version of it... It was cool, and the whole band was sporting grins... It was during this tune that I went up close to the stage...
After this tune there was general chaos on stage.. I dunno what they were doing, but they were joking around with each other, and I guess bob started tuning buckys guitar... really casual show..

They went into Simple Twist of Fate, which I think Dylan does really well live.. This version wasn't quite as intense as others I have seen, but that could just me..Nothing much to say bout watching the river flow..

The band closed with Blowin in the wind.. Even though its not my favorite live tune, I like the way they are singing, with Larry coming in solidly on the Chorus. The first time they tried it in Ischgl, bob was a bit was off, but each remain chorus got stronger and was quite beautiful actually..


So that was how it ended... Not the best show I've ever seen, but one of the most fun. The set list was one of the most unique ones of the year (simply because there was no TooM to be found, a first since he started playing toom tunes, perhaps?) But what made the show was the beauty of the venue, and the laid back attittude of the band.. I also met some really cool people, and agreed to meet up with them at Munich the next night... So then it was off to Munich...

(review coming soon)