Archive for the ‘Jack White’ Category

The legendary Bob Dylan wrapped up a two-night stand at the world’s famous Ryman Auditorium last night.

I was fortunate enough to attend the show on Wednesday night.  It was indeed a special evening of music.  Highlights included a surprise 45 minute opening set by a solo and half-plugged-in Elvis Costello AND a soon-to-be-legendary version of “Meet Me In The Morning” featuring relatively new Nashvillian Jack White.

I wasn’t able to attend last night’s show.  From what I understand, there was no Elvis opener this time around, however Jack White did join Bob on stage for two songs this time around, “One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)” and “Outlaw Blues.”

Were any of you out there fortunate enough to attend both shows?  Which one was better?  Were they both incredible?  Share!

The facts:

• The one and only Bob Dylan kicked off his two-night stand at The Ryman Auditorium last night.
• Amos Lee opened.
• The Rymanazis were in rare form, so no pictures or video. I like living too much to have tried.

The celebrity sightings:

• Predators head coach Barry Trotz was rocking out in the balcony with his lovely wife.
• Too many more to list. More on that later.

The observations:

• I caught the very last song of Amos Lee’s set. This dude is extremely talented. I did hear him say he was felt so honored to share the Ryman stage with two of the greatest songwriters ever. Only Amos and Bob were on the bill, so I thought that was weird.
• After Amos and his band shut down, the crew came out and began clearing away their gear. Some roadies came out and began setting up a microphone and a guitar stand with 4 or 5 different guitars. All of Bob’s gear was covered up and nobody was working on uncovering it. Then someone in front of me said he heard there was a second opener but he didn’t know who it was. I got on the phone with one of my buddies to see if he had heard anything but I was promptly shut down by the Rymanazis who asked me to put my phone away because the next act was taking the stage in 5 minutes. I asked who it was and he matter-of-factly told me “His birth name is Declan McManus. Just some Irish guy with a guitar. It’s not Bono.”
• Five minutes later the house lights went down and Elvis freaking Costello walked on stage. The crowd went nuts when they figured out what in the crap was going on. Elvis fired up what looked to be a Gibson J-160E with this cool half-acoustic/half-electric tone and played for the next 45 minutes or so. I didn’t love his song selection (like 4 protest songs!) but he sounded great. As this was the first time I’ve seen Elvis live, I now appreciate what a showman he is. Outstanding. Oh, and he has the shiniest shoes ever made. Seriously.
• Bob and his band took the stage about 15 minutes after Elvis’ guitars were cleared away. He played several songs I wanted to hear (”Masters of War,” “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat,” “Desolation Row”). It was a very bluesy feeling show, and now that I look back on it, it may have been designed that way because those guys knew what was coming! The highlight of the night: After “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I Go Mine),” the lights went down and when they came up a blistering version of “Meet Me In The Morning” had begun with freaking Jack White on lead guitar and vocals. The entire place erupted. Has Nashville embraced this kid or what???!?!?! It was beautiful and Jack seemed legitimately humbled. Side note: Geez, I just know that Jack and I could be best friends! Jack, call me! Jack was lights out on the guitar and it was great to see him coax Bob to the mic to share vocals later in the song. I didn’t realize until this morning that this was the first time the song had been performed live. Unreal. From now on when people ask me if I have a favorite Dylan song, I will have an answer.  Complete set list can be found HERE.
• Elvis showed up in the sound booth at the back of the balcony about half way through the show and stayed there until the end.

The conclusion:

• Being my first Dylan show, I have to say it wasn’t what I expected to see. It was very good though, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. Elvis and Jack were worth the price of admission alone. Seeing a living legend in Bob Dylan was just icing on the cake.

Don’t forget, relatively new Nashvillian Jack White, along with his sister/ex-wife Meg, released a new White Stripes album this past Tuesday.  They’re calling it Icky Thump and apparently, it kind of rocks hard.

And don’t buy it at iTunes or Amazon, but rather shut the laptop down for a while and visit Grimey’s.  You’ll be glad you did.