Friday, March 18, 2005
On November 15, 1975 Bob Dylan brought the Rolling Thunder Review to the Niagara Falls Convention Center. Years later Tom Knab and I discovered that we were both at that show, and next month we will go to Shea's to see what Bob is doing these days. In the meanwhile, I have been able to locate this resource, which documents the Rolling Thunder tour, and includes a set list from the performance we saw 22 years ago. It seems to me that Joni Mitchell put in an appearance, but it is possible I am mistaken; I recall a long, flashy guitar number by Mick Ronson-- something about "Mars Bars", and a joke at the end by one of the other members of the band about Ronson "inventing" David Bowie-- apparently this was part of the opening set by the band, which was called "Guam". I really don't remember too much else about the show-- I went with Mark Crawford, who lived in the dorm room next door to mine, and this trip was the first time I'd ever been to Buffalo. I remember being blown away by it all-- when "Live 1975" appeared last year, I was pleased that it better documented what I saw than "Hard Rain" did. (I remember being shocked when "Hard Rain" aired-- it was just noise, I thought, and horrible compared to what I'd seen. I'd love to see it again.) Our seats were along the right hand wall as you went in, and were pretty good. It looks like we saw a pretty good show, too, based on the set list. There was no white grease paint-- that surprised me later, too.
Further Dylanology: forty years ago, "Like a Rolling Stone" was recorded and released. Greil Marcus has written a book to mark the anniversary.
Further Dylanology: forty years ago, "Like a Rolling Stone" was recorded and released. Greil Marcus has written a book to mark the anniversary.
// posted by Bill @ 8:44 AM 
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