The master seemed to enjoy the occasion and the mild summer evening. He looked fit and slim as ever, almost as hanky as in his youth, and was apparently in a good mood. Bob Dylan showed an easy & laid-back attitude (I didn`t find an expression for the German word "locker", which describes his easiness much better) and good-humored.
The concert was in a swinging (in German we call it "beswingt", another untranslatable term) summerly mood. The legend was a bit posing, almost dancing and showed a glimmer of loopiness. Maybe he had a bit of fun copying Cate Blanchett´s rendition who played him as the young Bob Dylan during his psychedelic phase in the fascinating Bob Dylan biopic "I`m not there" (imdb).
His voice has got even more raspy with age which suited his songs well. As expected, he presented a cross section of his song universe. His collection fit the summerly atmosphere (here's a link to the set list bobdylan.com). No wonder, that some of the audience became animated and danced.
Thanks a lot Bob.
Enjoying this concert required some effort. We travelled by ferry from Manhattan to Hoboken. It is a small city on the Hudson River which separates it from Midtown-Manhattan. The concert was on a little grass place which is shaped like a pier in the river. We learned from the media that around 15.000 tickets were sold for this event. Attendants had to accept a hilarious long list of prohibited items, including "ALCOHOL; Audio recording equipment ; Backpacks; BBQ Grills; Beach/Golf Umbrellas; Bicycles, Skateboards, Scooters or personal motorized vehicles; BLANKETS; Professional still camera equipment (no detachable lenses, tripods, big zooms, or commercial use rigs); UMBRELLAS; Video equipment - no video recording allowed"; and so on.
We arrived around 4.30 pm to get a nice place close to the stage. The event, called "Americanarama Festival of Music" started punctually at 5.30 pm. Before the master himself approached (around 9pm) there were 3 more bands. I found the long waiting and listening to different bands with different quality a bit tedious. There was just one of the "warm up" bands I remember - and liked - : Wilco (wilcoworld). This group played a kind of alternative rock with powerful and sometimes grungy elements (playlist: .setlist ).
The crowd was peaceful, but the drunks and jerks, who suddenly appeared and blocked our view to the stage, spoiled a bit the joy.
My wive had a day dream: It would have been nice, to sit on a blanket in the grass and to watch Bob´s concert with a bottle of wine. The reality didn`t allow that. But anyway, thanks to the legend, the July 26th Hoboken concert was a lot of fun.
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