Bob Dylan
Sun Theater
Anaheim, CA
March 10, 2000

Early Show

01. Roving Gambler
02. Tomorrow Is A Long Time
03. It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding
04. Tangled Up In Blue
05. This World Can’t Stand
06. Dignity
07. Tell Me That It Isn’t True
08. Things Have Changed
09. Not Dark Yet
10. Highway 61 Revisited
11. Love Sick
12. Not Fade Away
13. Blowin’ In The Wind

Late Show

01 I Am The Man, Thomas
02 My Back Pages
03 Desolation Row
04 Mama, You Been On My Mind
05 This World Can’t Stand Long
06 Dignity
07 Country Pie
08 We Better Talk This Over
09 Things Have Changed
10 Not Dark Yet
11 Highway 61 Revisited
12 Ballad Of A Thin Man
13 Not Fade Away
14 It Ain’t Me, Babe
15 Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat

Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
Charlie Sexton (guitar)
Larry Campbell (guitar, mandolin, pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
Tony Garnier (bass)
David Kemper (drums & percussion)

Originally posted on my Substack

The Midnight Cafe’s Review:

I can’t remember when I first started listening to Bob Dylan shows from 2000. I’m guessing I posted some shows on the old blog, and some people highly praised them. That caused me to give one or two a listen, and I found I liked them, so I uploaded more. Those got praised. I listened to more; I collected and shared some more.

It has become one of my favorite years. I know some folks prefer 1999, and I have nothing bad to say about that, but I’m all about 2000. That may be because I listened to it first, or I’ve listened to it more. It doesn’t matter; both years are terrific.

I love that they almost always start with an old traditional song. Bob is steeped in the folk tradition; he got his start there, and starting his shows like this seems to call back to his early days. I love that there is so much acoustic guitar in these shows. I love that they often do a little jamming.

Really, I just love this band. This lineup is something special. Larry Campbell and Charlie Sexton on dual guitars is my jam. When I listen to these shows, I wish he’d kept this band forever. But that wouldn’t be Bob Dylan. He’s a changeling. Constantly on the move and constantly doing the unexpected. Besides, to have kept this band would have let us miss so many other great lineups.

So, I thought it would be fun to go on tour with Bob Dylan and his band in 2000. I’m not sure if I’ll cover the entire year or just the Spring Tour. I might get bored of this after a while and want something different. But for now, I’m excited to see where Bob will take us. And on to the show.

I always find it strange when an artist does two shows in one day. I generally assume it’s because tickets are selling fast, but the rest of the tour is booked, so they can’t add a second night at the same venue, so they just double-book the day. But I have no idea if that’s really true.

I also feel like the early shows are a little shorter and not as good. Like the band always seems to be saving their energy a little bit for the second show. But again, I might just be talking out of my arse.

The early show on this day begins with “Roving Gambler,” a traditional song that dates back to the earliest part of the 20th Century. It is wonderful, with some terrific harmonies. Next comes “Tomorrow is a Long Time,” which sounds like an old traditional but is actually a Dylan original.

This is where I admit I have no idea how to tell Charlie Sexton’s guitar parts from Larry Campbell’s. I like them both. “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding” has some great guitar work, whoever it is.

For “Tangled Up In Blue,” it seems like Bob is taking a deep breath before each line, or something. He’s always just slightly late coming in. That’s probably intentional, and Dylan has always had a very interesting delivery. He also screws up one of his lines, which seems unusual to me.

Their cover of Roy Acuff’s “This World Can’t Stand Long” is just lovely. “Things Have Changed” is one of my favorite late-period Dylan tunes, and the band just nails it here. Ditto for “Not Dark Yet,” a song I find myself listening to a lot these days, and it usually makes me tear up.

Some dude near the taper gets super excited when they play “Highway 61 Revisited,” as he hoots and hollers when it begins. He sings the first verse really loudly, and you can hear someone clapping along on this tape.

So many of these shows sound very light and warm to my ears. A lot of that comes from the choice of songs, especially the fun cover songs, but it’s also the use of acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies. It sometimes feels like some fellas sitting on their front porch just having fun.

And yet, they handle the darkness of “Love Sick” really well. You can really feel the heartache and pain of the lyrics.

Then we get “Not Fade Away,” the Buddy Holly song that’s played with utter joy. The early show closes out with a nice version of “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

The late show opens with another cover, “I Am the Man, Thomas,” which I believe is an old Ralph Stanley song, but it sounds like it could have come from a thousand years ago. It is a wonderful performance. Dylan played it something like 60 times from 1999 to 2002, and then I think he dropped it completely.

I’m usually not a big fan of “My Back Pages,” but this version is just lovely and tender. “Mama You Been On My Mind” gives us that back porch feel. It is so casual-sounding. They make it sound so easy.

“Dignity” is great; it reminds me of his performance on that MTV Unplugged thing.

My thoughts on most of the rest of this show are a little hazy. I typically listen to shows I’m going to review on my way to and from work, or maybe to the post office or whatever. These are relatively short trips. Ten to fifteen minutes, maybe twenty at the maximum. That gives me time to listen to two or three songs before I stop. While I’m listening, I make little mental notes, and then when I stop, I jot them down on a notepad.

I have a terrible memory, so if I don’t jot my thoughts down, they disappear. I listened to the back end of the late show on my way to a movie in downtown Tulsa. That’s more like a thirty-five-minute ride. When I got there, I thought I was late, so I rushed in without jotting anything down. When I got home, it was late, and I was tired, so again I didn’t jot anything down.

Guess what? My thoughts on those songs are gone. I very much liked them, but I have nothing specific to say. The only other notes I have are that “Not Fade Away” is spirited and that “It Ain’t Me, Babe” is tender and goes down easy.

In general, I’d say this is a very good show, but not as good as I remember this tour being. The start of the tour is often a little rough, and I feel confident we’re gonna get blown away soon.

For the early show, I listened to LB-440, which Lossless Bob rates an “A.”For the late show, my notes just say it is from a CDR and is probably not the source for an LB. I should note that this is the first review I’ve done on this Substack that is taken from an audience source. Previously, I’ve only done audience recordings. I’ve certainly listened to plenty of AUDs, so that’s no big deal, but I should make a note of it.

These two recordings are quite nice. The late show has a bit of crowd noise, but it isn’t too distracting.

Paul Simon/Bob Dylan
Jones Beach Ampitheatre
Wantagh NY
7-30-99

Tracks:

Paul Simon:

Bridge Over Troubled Water
Can’t Run But
The Boy In The Bubble
The Coast
Trailway Bus
Mrs. Robinson
Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard
Further To Fly
Graceland
The Cool, Cool River
Slip Sliding Away
Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes
You Can Call Me Al
Late In The Evening
Still Crazy After All These Years

Dylan/Simon duets:

The Sound Of Silence
I Walk The Line/The Wanderer
Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

Bob Dylan:

Babe, It Ain’t No Lie
Mr. Tambourine Man
Desolation Row
Girl Of The North Country
Tangled Up In Blue
All Along The Watchtower
Shelter From The Storm
Maggie’s Farm
Not Dark Yet
Highway 61 Revisited

Encore

Like A Rolling Stone
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Not Fade Away

My review:

In the summer of 1999, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon embarked on a four-month-long, 38-date tour together as co-headliners (they would switch back and forth in terms of who was the opening act).

This night in Wantagh is the penultimate night of the first leg of the tour. After the next night’s show in Wantagh, they took a few weeks off and came back together in Florida on September 2.

Some kind soul recorded the SBD feed beamed out to the stadium on an FM channel to help those with hearing difficulties. Rattlesnake Records bootlegged that recording on a disc they called Something Is Happening On Mr. Jones’ Beach. Lossless Bob indicates at least one other bootleg of the show, but as far as I can tell, it comes from this same recording (probably just a copy of the Rattlesnake bootleg). A taper named Doinker also recorded the show. And then someone calling themselves OctopusRider did a matrix mix of the SBD and the Doinker recording, but only for the Dylan set.

I listened to the SBD. It is missing “Babe, It Ain’t No Lie.”

The SBD is marred by some volume fluctuations, and it sounds very flat. At least to my (admittedly not great ears.) I listened to the first several songs in my car on the way to work. I immediately didn’t like the sound. It sounded not only flat, but cold and distant. I tried it on my cheap earphones, and it sounded worse.

That afternoon I took my daughter somewhere and put on some Big Thief for her listening pleasure. She immediately complained about the sound quality. We played around with the car’s settings and realized that something was off. The back speakers weren’t working at all, and there was no equalizer adjustments for the front speakers.

No wonder this recording sounded so terrible. The radio worked fine, but when I connected my phone up, something screwed up. It took me a couple of days to fix it. But what an improvement once I did. Now, as I mentioned, the sound still isn’t pristine. It still sounds a bit cold, and there are those annoying fluctuations. But it is highly listenable. I just did a quick test listen to the matrix, and it sounds terrific. You just don’t get the Simon performance.

I have a few Paul Simon concert recordings. The ones from the 1980s onward are all performed with a big band, creating what I call the Graceland sound. The shows are filled with lots of percussion and horns, and a large vocal section.

The opening track this night, “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” has none of that. It sounds more like something Daniel Lanois would produce. It is haunting and atmospheric. Simon can no longer hit those high notes, but he still does a nice job with it.

“Can’t Run, But” gets a little more robust, but not much. But by the time he hits the third song, “The Boy in the Bubble,” things get really good. There are big horns, big guitars, and big backup vocals. Graceland is one of my favorite albums, and this song is one of my favorites from that album, and this version is wonderful.

When I was a teenager, first discovering Paul Simon (or Simon & Garfunkel, rather), I absolutely hated “Mrs. Robinson.” The reasons were mostly stupid (but would probably make for a good My Life In Music post; look for that soon). I always skipped it when playing the record, or when it came on the radio. I’ve since gotten over those stupid reasons, but I still don’t really care for the song. It has some clever lyrics, but it’s never really done anything for me. This is a perfectly fine version.

“Me and Julio” is always fun, and this is an energetic performance. “Cool Cool River” is great, and it concludes with this wonderful cacophony of horns. He doesn’t have Ladysmith Black Mambazo with him (if you ever get to see them live, I highly recommend it; they are awesome), so the opening to “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” is toned down quite a bit. They do try a bit of acapella singing, but it doesn’t work very well. Once they get into the tune, though, it turns out well.

“You Can Call Me Al” and “Late in the Evening” are super fun with lots of great horn work.

Dylan comes out to duet with Paul on three songs. They sing together on “The Sound of Silence,” which is interesting. Simon has a traditionally good voice; it is very pretty, whereas Dylan has…well, he has Dylan’s voice. I love it, but he’s never been known as a technically great singer. It is full of grit and gravel. Put them together, and it’s not exactly a beautiful harmony, but it works. Next, they do a medley of “I Walk The Line/The Wanderer,” and it is clear they are both having so much fun.

But it is “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” that’s the showstopper. I believe it is Simon’s band still on the stage, and the addition of horns makes this rendition something special. They turn it into a reggae number, and it is just amazing. Bob and Paul trade off verses, with them both singing the chorus. Again, it is clear they are having a great time. Toward the end, they launch into a chorus of “I hear ya knockin’, but you can’t come in,” and I just love it.

Bob in 1999-2000 is some of my favorite Dylan ever. Larry Campbell and Charlie Sexton on guitars is where it is at. But the whole band really gels perfectly well. For my money, Paul Simon was the warm-up, and this is the show.

I’ve always loved how, during this period, Dylan always opened with an old traditional number. It really sets the stage. “Oh, Babe It Ain’t No Lie” fits that bill. Then we get into it with “Mr. Tambourine Man,” which finds everyone in fine form. There is a nice bit of duelling guitars at the close. Next comes “Desolation Row,” and it is fantastic. Great acoustic guitar playing. Bob’s vocal is so tender and pure on “Girl From the North Country.”

During this period, “Tangled Up In Blue” often had an extended acoustic jam that I usually just love. It feels a little off-balance here, but is still quite good. Larry Campbell sits at the pedal steel guitar for “Shelter From the Storm,” and it is amazing.

“Not Dark Yet” is one of my favorite late-period Bob Dylan tunes, and this version is fantastic. Long ago, I created a playlist for some of my favorite live versions of songs, and this went immediately into it.

“Highway 61” puts Larry back on pedal steel. There is some very fine electric guitar work.

The encore begins with “Like a Rolling Stone.” It is very good. Then we get treated to a ten-minute version of “It Ain’t Me, Babe” featuring some terrific acoustic guitar jamming. Then we close it out with a raucous “Not Fade Away.”

Great show overall. This is definitely not Paul Simon’s best performance. I’ve heard him do much better. It doesn’t help that the soundboard recording fluctuates so much. But it’s still good stuff. But it’s the Dylan set that makes this a must-have. That and the duets.

Bob Links has another review of the concert.

Lossless Bob has six LB#s for this show; you can find them here.

I have three sources. You can see text files and artwork here.

YouTube has a video of the show, recorded from the audience.