Natalie Merchant opened -> dynamite singer who is in constant motion around the stage, a dancer extraordinaire! Her band is just eh, imo, and her songs don't really move me (like they do her ;-)) - but I'm glad I got there early enough to see her (tightly choreographed, it seemed to me) show - she's very interesting to watch.

Everybody (around me, at least) was on their feet the whole show, just the way I like it! Although, the Mullins Center squeezes you in like sardines - makes for very limited dance space.

Opening numbers -> rockin' strong, haunting slithery swamp blues, rockabilly, and sung with passion :-), in that order.

Stuck Inside of Mobile was one of the highlights of the show for me. Done in a new AND old way, the chorus containing the gling.gling.gling of old, the pedal steel weaving it's floaty magic elsewhere. If'n I coulda spun, I woulda :-)

Masters of War was powerful, Just Plain Powerful. The words still sting; he still sings it with bite.

The Christian Bob spot was weak (imo) - it was almost like watching a wave as the people in front of me started taking their seats. Not that others' opinions sway mine (I stayed on my feet ;-)) - but hymns just don't do much for me.

During the acoustic set, Bucky played mandolin, Garnier played standup bass and then some sort of bigass guitar (probably some kind of bass too). During most of the rest of the show, Bucky played BEAUTIFUL pedal steel. LOVE that sound.

Tangled up in Blue was STUNNING. Quite a beautiful rendition, and even hearing it so many times, it still sounds fresh. Some tasty instrumental breaks.

Girl from the North Country was a treat. Dylan played 12-string in a solitary spotlight, the rest of the band in shadow. There was some out-of-sync clapping (?) going on from the back - couldn't quite figure it out - did they not like the slow pace of the song - hoped that Dylan wouldn't be affected by them because the song was so sweet. He didn't seem to notice.

I Don't Believe You was EXCELLENT, another highlight for me. Dylan seems to be putting more and more jams into more and more songs. Still doesn't quite let it get way out there, he's always reeling them back in before I'd prefer, personally. I think he should let Campbell cut loose!

Love Sick - wasn't the Grammies on last night? wasn't last year at the Grammies when Dylan was performing this song that the Soy Bomb guy came out to "dance"?? hehe, had me chuckling in remembrance :-)

Highway 61 ROCKS, absolutely rocks!

The 4 song encore started out s-l-o-w-l-y with Like a Rolling Stone - love the song, but the tempo was much too slooow, imo.

Everything is Broken is a fun ditty; they play it with a, I don't know, almost like a Batman theme in between verses ;-). Fun, yes, but wish it had been some other song instead (like, maybe Forever Young, ferinstance).

At this point, I ran down to the stage. Right down to the stage!! Staff Event people had been keeping everyone in their seats till then - but when someone in my row decided to leave, I followed him out to the aisle, then when he turned left and in front of the security dude, I turned right and rushed down to the front :-) 13th row is pretty close, but my eyes still can't see too much detail from that distance. Right up there, was COOL!! I could see Dylan's expressions - mostly dead serious, but some out-and-out smiles too, especially during Not Fade Away. Don't Think Twice was really really beautiful, some very nice finger picking (acoustic) by Dylan; I could see Dylan's ball-of-foot dance step, his one-leg-raise emphasis for "it's alright", his drop-knock-kneed stance during the good ol' rock'n'roll "power strums" ;-) of Not Fade Away. NFA was totally excellent! The crowd LOVED it, and the band clearly have fun playing it. Big smiles all around. Dylan hands off his guitar and comes around the front of the mikes to acknowledge the applause. Smile and bow.

Bringin' it all back HOME.