Another music legend off the list
The sun was still fairly high in the sky on the day of my 30th birthday when we arrived at Toyota Park to find Kentucky psychedelic rockers My Morning Jacket already on stage. I was a little surprised that they were the first to take the stage, but I guess that Wilco is a local favorite. The venue was still most empty, but we still took our assigned seats towards the back of the floor, assuming seats would fill up soon. My Morning Jacket’s set was enjoyable and they pulled a lot from their most recent album, Circuital (2011), which I thoroughly enjoy. They performed at least a bit from much of their catalog including a song each from The Tennessee Fire (1999), At Dawn (2001), Z (2005), and Evil Urges (2008) and more heavily from It Still Moves (2003) and Circuital. Frontman Jim James sported his massive beard and was wearing some kind of navy admiral’s cape.
My Morning Jacket Setlist:
The Dark
Circuital
Magheeta
Golden
Slow Slow Tune
Masterplan
I'm Amazed
Victory Dance
Wordless Chorus
Phone Went West
One Big Holliday
Next up were Chicago-based alternative rockers Wilco, another band that I enjoy but probably wouldn’t have paid to see them again on their own. They were another good warm up for Dylan, playing about an hour and fifteen minute set. Like My Morning Jacket, they dug deep into their discography, going back to their debut album A.M. (1995) and continuing through to their recent collaboration with Billy Bragg, Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012), in particular from the more recent albums like Sky Blue Sky (2007) and The Whole Love (2011). They were joined on stage by opener Richard Thompson for a few songs and by My Morning Jacket for the Neil Young cover, “Cinnamon Girl.”
Wilco Setlist:
At the Window, Sad and Lonely
When the Roses Bloom Again
What Light
Misunderstood
Poor Places
Art of Almost
Sloth (with Richard Thompson)
California Stars (with Richard Thompson)
That's Not the Issue (with Richard Thompson)
Hummingbird
Impossible Germany
Cinnamon Girl (with My Morning Jacket) (Neil Young cover)
Born Alone
Dawned on Me
Bob Dylan, the main act of the night and artist I was most excited to see, took the stage a bit after 9:30pm. He was joined on stage by five other musicians, all wearing khaki suits compared to Dylan’s all-black threads. His band included a pair of guitars, a bass guitar, an upright bass, and a drummer. Dylan actually played the keyboard the majority of the set.
I had low expectations for the show, because I’ve heard that Bob Dylan’s performances are very hit or miss. Some nights, he puts on a great show for several hours. Other nights, he’s done after a half hour of garbage. We ended up hearing a fairly solid hour and fifteen minutes, so I was pretty pleased. Recently, it appears that he has recently been playing more or less the same setlist every night, which I find a bit odd considering the enormity of his catalog. Nonetheless, the list was pretty diverse, going all the way back to the classic song “A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall” from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963). Except for a pair of songs from Blood on the Tracks (1975) and three from his most recent, Tempest (2012), he didn’t pull more than one song from any of his albums. Most songs were from the 60’s, 70’s, and 2000’s; fewer were from the 80’s and 90’s.
In preparation for this show, I had recently finished listening to his entire studio catalog. Even though he would sometimes purposefully also change the way he sang from album to album, it’s easy to hear how the natural timber of his voice has changed over the years. However, it really hits you when you hear him sing old his older songs now. It doesn’t’ even sound like the same person, more like a Tom Waits cover of a Bob Dylan song. He has also since changed the arrangements of many of his old songs so drastically that they’re barely recognizable other than using the same lyrics. All and all, I’m glad to have seen the legendary songwriter perform. He’s right up there with Paul McCartney in terms of being a music legend, even if he hasn’t aged so gracefully.
Bob Dylan Setlist:
Things Have Changed
Love Sick
High Water (For Charley Patton)
Soon after Midnight
Early Roman Kings
Tangled Up in Blue
Duquesne Whistle
She Belongs to Me
Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Blind Willie McTell
Simple Twist of Fate
Thunder on the Mountain
All Along the Watchtower
Encore:
Ballad of a Thin Man
The sun was still fairly high in the sky on the day of my 30th birthday when we arrived at Toyota Park to find Kentucky psychedelic rockers My Morning Jacket already on stage. I was a little surprised that they were the first to take the stage, but I guess that Wilco is a local favorite. The venue was still most empty, but we still took our assigned seats towards the back of the floor, assuming seats would fill up soon. My Morning Jacket’s set was enjoyable and they pulled a lot from their most recent album, Circuital (2011), which I thoroughly enjoy. They performed at least a bit from much of their catalog including a song each from The Tennessee Fire (1999), At Dawn (2001), Z (2005), and Evil Urges (2008) and more heavily from It Still Moves (2003) and Circuital. Frontman Jim James sported his massive beard and was wearing some kind of navy admiral’s cape.
My Morning Jacket Setlist:The Dark
Circuital
Magheeta
Golden
Slow Slow Tune
Masterplan
I'm Amazed
Victory Dance
Wordless Chorus
Phone Went West
One Big Holliday
Next up were Chicago-based alternative rockers Wilco, another band that I enjoy but probably wouldn’t have paid to see them again on their own. They were another good warm up for Dylan, playing about an hour and fifteen minute set. Like My Morning Jacket, they dug deep into their discography, going back to their debut album A.M. (1995) and continuing through to their recent collaboration with Billy Bragg, Mermaid Avenue Vol. III (2012), in particular from the more recent albums like Sky Blue Sky (2007) and The Whole Love (2011). They were joined on stage by opener Richard Thompson for a few songs and by My Morning Jacket for the Neil Young cover, “Cinnamon Girl.”
Wilco Setlist:At the Window, Sad and Lonely
When the Roses Bloom Again
What Light
Misunderstood
Poor Places
Art of Almost
Sloth (with Richard Thompson)
California Stars (with Richard Thompson)
That's Not the Issue (with Richard Thompson)
Hummingbird
Impossible Germany
Cinnamon Girl (with My Morning Jacket) (Neil Young cover)
Born Alone
Dawned on Me
Bob Dylan, the main act of the night and artist I was most excited to see, took the stage a bit after 9:30pm. He was joined on stage by five other musicians, all wearing khaki suits compared to Dylan’s all-black threads. His band included a pair of guitars, a bass guitar, an upright bass, and a drummer. Dylan actually played the keyboard the majority of the set.
I had low expectations for the show, because I’ve heard that Bob Dylan’s performances are very hit or miss. Some nights, he puts on a great show for several hours. Other nights, he’s done after a half hour of garbage. We ended up hearing a fairly solid hour and fifteen minutes, so I was pretty pleased. Recently, it appears that he has recently been playing more or less the same setlist every night, which I find a bit odd considering the enormity of his catalog. Nonetheless, the list was pretty diverse, going all the way back to the classic song “A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall” from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963). Except for a pair of songs from Blood on the Tracks (1975) and three from his most recent, Tempest (2012), he didn’t pull more than one song from any of his albums. Most songs were from the 60’s, 70’s, and 2000’s; fewer were from the 80’s and 90’s.In preparation for this show, I had recently finished listening to his entire studio catalog. Even though he would sometimes purposefully also change the way he sang from album to album, it’s easy to hear how the natural timber of his voice has changed over the years. However, it really hits you when you hear him sing old his older songs now. It doesn’t’ even sound like the same person, more like a Tom Waits cover of a Bob Dylan song. He has also since changed the arrangements of many of his old songs so drastically that they’re barely recognizable other than using the same lyrics. All and all, I’m glad to have seen the legendary songwriter perform. He’s right up there with Paul McCartney in terms of being a music legend, even if he hasn’t aged so gracefully.
Bob Dylan Setlist:
Things Have Changed
Love Sick
High Water (For Charley Patton)Soon after Midnight
Early Roman Kings
Tangled Up in Blue
Duquesne Whistle
She Belongs to Me
Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
Blind Willie McTell
Simple Twist of Fate
Thunder on the Mountain
All Along the Watchtower
Encore:
Ballad of a Thin Man
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