Laura Leivick's Take On Bob Dylan's December 5 Show at the Beacon

Photo courtesy Laura Leivick

I recently learned that O. Henry, the short story writer who made twist endings famous 120 years ago, used to get ideas for stories by hanging around busy hotel lobbies and eavesdropping on conversations. I identified with this because I, too, have had a number of blog posts triggered by things I overheard.

So it is that I enjoyed the opening of lines of Laura Leivick's lively review of Dylan's show last night at the Beacon Theater on the Upper West Side. The veteran writer (NYTimes Magazine, WSJ lit critic, Rolling Stone copy editor, etc.) and lifetime Dylan fan (how many of us began with Bob's first album) shared this review of the December 5 concert.

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ONE MORE TIME AROUND
Tonight, after the Dylan concert at the Beacon, I heard two guys in the 20-30-something age range, who had seen the show, having a manic exchange about how amazingly Bob's work defies age. "He could be 30," exclaimed one who looked like he might be 30 himself. Oh, yeah? That kind of stagecraft--not to mention the setlist--was built over a lifetime.

It was a great concert no matter how you slice it, though it took me a while to catch on. The opener was puzzling--Bob singing "Things Have Changed," great! but playing electric guitar--why? (If it's because he can, well, I guess that's as good a reason as any.) Soon enough, however, he was building up a head of steam, and by the time he reached the final encore, he was tearing up the place. I saw a bank of scofflaws, their cameras a-blazing; people were dancing in the aisles, even the skinny spaces between rows of seats. Near the stage, a girl with blond bobbed hair bopped so joyfully I thought Bob should put her in a wheel barrow and wheel her down the street.

I got off to a slow start--I was jarred by the volume of the new drummer, Matt Chamberlain, and thought his sound lacked variety for a few songs. Or maybe the acoustic balance was off (or my hearing was, or where I was sitting was a problem—tho’ mid-orchestra should be good).

But by the time Bob was singing "Trying To Get To Heaven," accompanying himself on piano, I had recovered. Tony Garnier played the violin. If that doesn't open the door, nothing will.

Next up, the night's power-packed versions of "Pay in Blood" and "Early Roman Kings," and then the mood changed utterly and we got "Girl From the North Country" with Donnie Herron's haunting, Irish-inflected fiddle. Best version I ever heard. I held my breath.

Photo courtesy Philip Hale from previous show.

I guess I should note that the stage didn't resemble a supper club tonight, as it has during other Beacon runs, and the band wasn't dolled up in matching dinner jackets. Bob was dressed fancy for the occasion and wore no hat. The stage was set up so that when he left the piano he could easily and quickly be center stage singing and playing harp or guitar.

I was sort of embarrassed by "Not Dark Yet," which Bob sang from center stage with Herron on pedal steel. I'd call it corny--the pause between "It's not dark yet" and "but it's getting there" struck me as pure melodrama. However, the hard truth is it's Bob Dylan singing his own song about (his own?) mortality, so that's that.

The last four songs and the two encores left us all screaming. Hope we'll reconvene next Fall.

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Thanks, Laura, for contributing your insights here. Rich! What a privilege we've all had who took advantage of the opportunity to catch one or more of the shows on this fall's chapter of the NET.

Tonight (if you're reading this Friday) is the last of 10 performances in the Big Apple, with a final punctuation mark for this leg of the Never Ending Tour at The Anthem in Washington DC Sunday evening. If you can find a seat, take advantage.

Related Links
Another Review of Last NIght's Concert, by Johnny B
Dylan at the Beacon--Philip Hale Shares Why Fans Keep Coming Back for More
A Brief Glance at the Life of William Sydney Porter, a.k.a. O Henry 
Spotlight on Writer and Expecting Rain Contributor Laura Leivick
Start Spreading the News: Dylan Still at the Top of His Game in the Big Apple

Start Spreading the News: Dylan Still at the Top of His Game in the Big Apple

Photo courtesy Nelson French.

For two decades from 1990 to 2010 Bob Dylan and his Never Ending Tour averaged 100 concerts a year. At 77 years old no one can quibble if the veteran performer has slowed down. Monday Dec 3 Dylan will be in Philadelphia for his 85th concert this year, after winding up a series of seven performances at the Beacon Theater in New York. Not too shabby.

I have a number of friends who attended one or more of these New York concerts that began on November 23. I tried twisting a few arms to get reviews. All said the shows have been phenomenal.

Laura Leivick, a familiar name on ExpectingRain.com, was one of these who attended and agreed to weigh in with her own perspective on the concert she attended.  (Thank you.)

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Can't remember the last time I had so much fun at a Dylan concert. He was in really good voice (best I've heard him in years), full of energy, and it seems he's finally used to being onstage without a guitar. When he wasn't at the keyboard (during "Scarlet Town," I think it was), he seemed freer moving around and gesturing for emphasis.  The band was brilliant. I'm not going to fall all over myself explaining --if you're here reading this, you know. The concert followed the now-familiar format: Dylan sang and played piano (plus some harp solos that tore up the place) for two hours straight, pausing only during the brief blackouts between songs that allow for changes in the setup.

I sat a little too far off center for an unobstructed view of Charlie Sexton, and wound up focusing on Donnie Herron, who does magic on every instrument he touches -- he played five tonight: pedal steel, lap steel, banjo, violin, electric mandolin (I checked on Bill Pagel's indispensable BobLinks site (http://www.boblinks.com/112918s.html).

As usual, I hated a few of Dylan's current versions of his songs -- "Like a Rolling Stone" (a mess except for Tony Garnier on bass) and "Don't Think Twice" (a calculated, corny performance) were the worst. But to my delight, I finally cottoned on to a few others, notably "Pay in Blood." Sometimes it can take years for a song to kick in for me.

Frankly, ole Bob was wearing me out (a new one on me) as the set was drawing to an end. Then the annoying big guy sitting in front of me began phone-filming the finale, a major "Blowing in the Wind" (hallelujah for that arrangement -- Donnie played a celestial country-style violin) and I...well, I smacked him* on the shoulder and said, "Stop it!" He did.  (*EdNote: The big guy, not Donnie.)

The young musician sitting next to me, astonished, said, "You really scared him!"

Then, gloriosky! Dylan came out and took a bow. I was there.

- by Laura Leivick

Laura Leivick is a regular contributor to Expecting Rain. One of her essays is featured in the recently published Dance in America, edited by Mindy Aloff.

Another friend shared this YouTube video (audio only) of the November 24 concert at the Beacon.  According to Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, this is Dylan's 78th concert this year, which varies from the count at BobLinks... It is what it is.
And here's a review from Glide Magazine.

Meantime life goes on all around you. Engage it. 

Spotlight on Writer and Expecting Rain Contributor Laura Leivick

Ms. Leivick on her way to a Dylan concert.

When I was a kid growing up in the Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights, my best friends were the kids on my block. Proximity brings people together. So it is that we become friends with classmates at school who likewise are "neighbors" in the sense that our lives intersect at a space in time.

With the advent of the Internet all kinds of horizons opened up for meeting people. Forums on every topic under the sun emerged, and even before the World Wide Web there seemed no end to the possibilities available through America Online and other portals.

The other day I found an "address book" of email addresses for people in the screen print industry back in the early 90's. In my drawer is a file of conversations with a disparate batch of early Usenet users that included a former member of the psychedelic rock band Strawberry Alarm Clock. But if you're a Dylan fan in the 21st century, sooner or later you will eventually discover these two ever-flowing springs: Boblinks.com and ExpectingRain.com. The former is our hotline to Dylan's schedule and a history of his playlists, with concert reviews, news and more. The latter is something of a mashup of Dylan-related stories, news and other tangentially related themes.

If you follow the latter, you can't help but have noticed that one of the ongoing contributors there in recent years is Laura Leivick. This past week I learned she has been a professional writer among other things. And it is apparent she is a serious Dylan fan.

EN: How long have you contributing to Expecting Rain?

Laura Leivick: I began around 2015, when my friend Lloyd Fonvielle died and his blog pretty much died with him. Like you, he was interested in almost everything of interest. He had posted at least one terrific account of a Dylan concert that ran on Expecting Rain, so I automatically visited.

Somehow, I ended up contributing nearly every day. It makes me happy. I also think it's become kind of a superstitious practice.

EN: You’re obviously a Dylan fan. When did you first take an interest in Dylan’s music?

LL: When his first album came out I was ready--and just succumbed. I was a precocious kid and already knew a million genuine folk songs--and lots of blues, because of Paul Oliver, Sam Charters (books and anthology albums) and the Library of Congress field recordings. I used to go to the LOC some afternoons (when I wasn't at ballet school) and sit trying to transcribe the lyrics of songs like Bukka White's "Parchman Farm."

EN: Do you have a handful of favorite albums you keep returning to?

LL: Just Love and Theft. Usually I get hooked on the last one I loved and play it for months and can't listen to anything else.

EN: How many times have you seen Dylan perform?

LL: No idea. A lot but not enough, never enough. He's always different--he moves so far so fast he don't cast a shadow. (I said that.) Many of his concerts find you changed and change you more.

EN: Do you have a “most memorable” concert experience?

LL: I was especially knocked for a loop by some Radio City shows he did with G.E. Smith (who can be an egregious showboat but at those concerts wasn't). They did "Gates of Eden" and I thought, "I am in the same room as Bob Dylan," and the world fell away.

The most exhilarating show I saw was at Jones Beach in 2000. Here's a link to Lloyd's review "Dylan in the Rain."

EN: I believe there are Dylan celebrations in a lot of places on his birthday each year. Have you ever been to one in New York? Do you think you’ll ever make a Dylan pilgrimage to Duluth and Hibbing?

LL: No to all of the above. (Though I did celebrate some of his birthdays here with Lloyd.) But a public event? I'm not that kind of girl. Concerts, recordings? Yes. Fan activities? No.

EN: Can you briefly share a little about your writing career? How did you come to take an interest in writing?

LL: I was a dead serious ballet student, but I failed at it. On the other hand I have always been an obsessive reader, and a writer/literary critic at heart. At 13 I got hooked by the Literary Horizons column at the Saturday Review of Books. I started publishing in my teens -- first subjects: rock, blues, ballets. Then I went to U.C. Berkeley and got serious about literature--wound up valedictorian of my class and so on. But I tell myself I was more a devotee than a nerd.

I spent the next six or seven years working for San Francisco Ballet, and writing a lot for Bay Area publications.

In New York I worked as a copy editor and did some writing that led to features in the New York Times Magazine and the paper's Arts & Leisure section. I also reviewed top-of-the-line literary fiction for the Wall Street Journal. I also reviewed two Dylan bios for a special music issue of Paper magazine.

I was lucky to freelance copy-edit at the Times and all over town. The best gig I had was at Rolling Stone in the Wenner era. That place had the best and most knowledgeable staff. (It also had a great house band and great parties.) Every day at work you heard a wild range of music coming out of the offices. And I got my first taste of Dylan cred, though it was strictly in-house.

I'm proud to say I made it my business to thank Jann for preserving the history of a great American art form. We were in an elevator.

EN: What did you think of Dylan's Chelsea Hotel door that sold this past week? Have you been in the Chelsea Hotel when it was a nest place for stars?

LL: I was fine with the door sale, who cares? Yep, I stayed at the Chelsea, around 1970. I was so clueless I associated the place most closely with Dylan Thomas, though I heard rumors. "Nest Place"?  More like a rat's nest! The place was famous for being cheap, like Paris in the 20's, and no doubt that's how it drew its on-the-verge clientele. Anyway, the Chelsea was roach-infested and at night there was always bedlam behind the thin doors and walls. My memory is of a demimondaine flophouse with all this art in the lobby. For some reason, it all appealed to me and I never wanted to leave. I wish I never had.

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Related and Indirectly Related Links
Dylan's latest venture: Heaven's Gate Whiskey
ExpectingRain.com
Boblinks.com

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Engage it.