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SEPTEMBER 20, 2000 NEC, BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND 1. I AM THE MAN THOMAS @ 2. THE TIMES THEY ARE A- CHANGIN' @ 3. IT'S ALRIGHT MA @ 4. ONE TOO MANY MORNINGS @ 5. TANGLED UP IN BLUE @ 6. SEARCHING FOR A SOLDIER'S GRAVE @ 7. COUNTRY PIE 8. BALLAD OF A THIN MAN 9. DOWN IN THE FLOOD 10. TRYIN' TO GET TO HEAVEN 11. COLD IRONS BOUND 12. LEOPARD SKIN PILL BOX HAT 13. THINGS HAVE CHANGED 14. LIKE A ROLLING STONE 15. IT AIN'T ME BABE @ 16. HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED 17. FOREVER YOUNG @ 18. EVERYTHING IS BROKEN 19. BLOWIN' IN THE WIND @ Initially my wife and I had planned to skip the shows in Birmingham and Aberdeen. But we did go to both of them anyway, and we are glad we did. By the time we arrived at the N.E.C., we found out at the box office, that only seating tickets were available, way in the back (standing was sold out long ago, because it was only a small section in front of the stage at this one). The scalpers outside wanted 50 Pounds for each standing ticket. It was almost opening time and they had let some standing ticket holders inside to a small area next to the box office. I asked at the window, how many standing tickets were sold, and found out that three of those just went back on sale. So we bought two for 46 Pounds and joined the small crowd just mentioned, waiting for the “real door” to open. Now, we had heard, that at other shows on the tour security people had picked out some people out of the waiting crowds outside, and had led them through side doors to the very front, before the doors opened; to ensure that Dylan and the band would not always see the same faces. Well this time they chose to do it another way, and two minutes after we had purchased our tickets, we were walked in and ended up front row center (I mean like “CENTER”). One hour of chatting to our next neighbour from Spain, and to a friendly security guard (as this was not Newcastle), and we were almost as close to Dylan as we were at Vicar Street a week before, but this time with no one obstructing our view. And a memorable view it was. The only downside with having the best spots to watch this show was our position exactly between the main speakers, which meant, that Dylan’s voice in the mix was not so clearly audible for us; but his guitar we could hear very well through his Fender amps. So I am really looking forward to hear a field recording of this show some time. For again it was a fine setlist with four additions to this tour. “ONE TOO MANY MORNINGS” we had not seen since Gotha 1994. Bob was playing his harp at the end, dancing and bending his knees. “BALLAD OF A THIN MAN” and the new and powerful version of “DOWN IN THE FLOOD” were performed back to back, and Bob’s third eighties-song for this tour, “EVERYTHING IS BROKEN”, even had his first stage appearance for this year, after appearing already on the Glasgow cue sheet. Two notable first repetitions for this tour were the challenging opener “I AM THE MAN THOMAS” and the magnificent show stopper, “TRYIN’ TO GET TO HEAVEN”, both of which he also performed at the second Dublin show. Again simply beautiful. For him who has ears to hear I would like to add some observations about the order of the setlist by quoting some lines of some songs in the order he performed them. I know, some of them are quoted out of context, and I don’t want to read too much between the lines which is not there, but I juxtapose them anyhow, in order to spotlight what Bob Dylan actually said last night merely twelve feet away from us, starting with his own vocal spotlight on his risen saviour: “They nailed me to the cross … they laid me in the tomb … in three days I rose … I am the man … look at these nail scars here in my hand … the first one now will later be last … not much is really sacred … the day is getting dark … the night comes in a-falling … something is happening here … if you go down in the flood, it’s gonna be your fault … I’m trying, trying to get to heaven before they close the door … people are crazy and times are strange … I’m well dressed, waiting on the last train … it ain’t me you looking for … you are looking for … someone who will die for you and more … may you have a strong foundation … may you always know the truth … people bending broken rules … everything is broken … how many ears must one man have?” |
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