First off, for all of the Joni Only's, this is nothing but Bob - but by virtue of their shared qualities, I feel he fits the Joni Only category. If you disagree, feel free to delete now, with my apologies.
I saw Bob in Chicago last night, as a surprising empty Allstate Arena (by empty, I mean it was only 80-85% sold out). If you haven't seen Bob perform in a while, and you consider yourself even a minor fan, do yourself a favor, and get tickets the next time he comes around in your area. I can't imagine you being disappointed. If seen him numerous times in the last couple of years, and he seems to really be enjoying himself. His set list is pretty much top drawer from start to finish, and covers the gambit from a strikingly beautiful acoustic version of Masters of War, to a rambunctious cover of Brown Sugar. His version of Niel Young's Old Man was a revelation, and coming from someone of Bob's age, it put a new twist on the song - instead of plea to the Old Man to recall what he was like in his youth, it had the air of a confessional, that even though he couldn't relate to his Old Man while growing up, now that he is there himself, he isn't all that different. "Old Man take a look at my life, I'm a lot like you". Definite goose bump material. As a man in upper 40's who never got along with his father, this definitely hit home. Other highlights for me were a blistering, Slow Train Coming sort of take on the new High-Water (For Charley Patton), an amazing version of Just Like a Woman, a storming All Along the Watchtower, and two beautiful covers of Warren Zevon songs (Accidentally Like a Martyr and Mutineer). Oh yeah, and a killer version of Things Have Changed. My only complaint is about Bob's new found fondness for playing the keyboard. While it served High-Water extremely well, for the most part, the songs he played guitar on seemed to kick it up a notch. But hey, if playing the keyboards is giving him pleasure, what the hell. Anyway - if you have the chance, go see him. I can't imagine you walking away disappointed that you did. Jack
