Well, last night's Bob Dylan show at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was a unique cultural experience that I'm glad I was a part of. The people watching was fantastic. The crowd was not your usual Rodeo crowd...lots of young people, and only about 20% of the crowd was in Wranglers, boots & hat. Dylan was dressed up in a black cowboy suit and white hat. He was dancing and moving around more than he was the other 3 times I've seen him perform. The Dome sound was typical Dome, but it was tougher with Dylan since it's hard to understand what he's singing anyway. Here is the setlist... I Am the Man, Thomas Don't Think Twice, It's Alright Searching for a Soldier's Grave Highway 61 Revisited Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You I'll Be Your Baby Tonight Cry A While High Water (for Charlie Patton) Summer Days Lay Lady Lay Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 All Along the Watchtower The setlist was heavy on his country-ish tunes, and it was a good setlist for people who aren't too familiar with his music. A fun night had by one and all, especially when you get to hear an Astrodome full of people yell out, in unison, "EVERYBODY MUST GET STONED!". I'm glad I went.
Cool; my wife could have gotten tickets, and I wish I would have gone. I've just been so damn busy this week. I will be at ZZ Top tonight, and I sure hope they pull out some of the old bluesy stuff.
I think ZZ Top will pull out the older bluesy stuff tonight. It is their first-ever Rodeo appearance in their own hometown. I think tonight will be very special.
Pole...I heard ZZ Top absolutely tore the roof off the Astrodome last night, and that they pulled out a ton of their old stuff. How was it????
Well...you know the accoustics in the dome; they suck. OK....that's all the negative stuff I have to say. Oh yeah...one more thing: I wish wish wish wish wish...wish to God I could have been parked at the front of their stage....even though our seats weren't bad. They were ****ing awesome!!! I didn't jot down the set list, but other than some well received Eliminator stuff, it was ALL the old stuff that I love, inlcuding: Tube Snake Boogie Just Got Paid La grange Waitin' For the Bus Jesus Just left Chicago Tush I'm Bad, I'm Nationwide Cheap Sunglasses Tube Snake Boogie They also played: Gimme all your lovin Got me under Pressure Sharp Dressed Man Legs. One more negative thing: Not that the crowd was out of hand (though I've never seen a Rodeo crowd more amped up over a Rodeo concert), but I wish everyone would have been put to sleep but me...and I wish you could have heard a pin drop....when they played one of my personal favorites: Blue Jean Blues I swear...and first you have to understand that there was a LONG, very formative time in my life...that ZZ Top was my all time favorite band. And in that time, I was really into them along with someone else in my life.....someone that I was very close to and someone who's since passed away. That and the fact that they were just so DAMN good. It was very emotional for me. My eyes were glassy for a good part of the show....as they are as I'm typing this. You wanna know how it was? It was awesome. Bad accoustics and all. And in all my years of following them, I never knew just how friggen COOL Billy and Dusty are. Not just the fact that they're incredible musicians, but they're just COOL on stage. After their last song, you heard this loud rumble like a harley or a drag racer, and out of the dephs of the dome came the Elimanator. Headlights on, all shined up, some Cowboy drove it out into the Rodeo arena and up to the stage. He got out and opened up the door and Billy, Dusy, and Frank all got in. They drove around the arena once, gassed it a few times, did a quick donut.....and drove out. God I hope to see them again.......but it will never be like that.
Pole...sounds like you had a great time and that they played what you wanted to hear. I have some friends that went last night and I can't wait to hear from them. This year was definitely a special year to go to the Rodeo.
ZZ Top closed with Johnny Cash's 'Folsom Prison Blues'. Nice touch. I thought the Dylan show was very cool. Although I thought the audience was pretty sh*te. They left in droves, rather rudely.
Dimsie....was that really their last song? Damn I'm getting old; I hear the memory is the first thing to go. Anyway, that was a cool number. Dusty did a good job singing it.
Unless there's another song with the lyrics 'I killed a man in Reno just to watch him die', I think that was their last song. I, personally, loved the fur guitars.
