PERFORMERS (in order of appearance):
Marcus Carl Franklin
Calexico
Jim James
Joe Henry
Mark Lanegan
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
Mira Billotte with Lee Ranaldo
The Million Dollar Bashers
Gomez
Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks
Terry Adams
Yo La Tengo and Friends
My Morning Jacket
Mason Jennings
John Doe
Jimmy LaFave
Tift Merritt
Lee Ranaldo
J Mascis
The Roots
Bob Dylan's catalog is nothing if not immense, eclectic, magnificent and occasionally mystifying. The same is true for this show, featuring many of the soundtrack contributors to the Bob Dylan biopic I'm Not There.
Highlights abound, beginning with My Morning Jacket's Jim James backed by Calexico on "Goin' to Acapulco." Ian Ball and Oily Peacock of Gomez give a compelling version of "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright," and Tift Merritt is riveting on "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."
Dylan himself reinvents his songs on a regular basis, and it's interesting that, of the two top moments of the show, one is the straightest cover of a Dylan version played that night while the other is the most original reworking. The cover is My Morning Jacket's take on "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You," which is straight from Dylan's version of the song he performed during his 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour. They absolutely smoke it, and the crowd responds immediately. In contrast, The Roots incredible version of "Masters of War," replete with musical references to the "Star Spangled Banner" and Jimi Hendrix' "Machine Gun," is definitely not your father's Dylan. They brought the house down.
The show features numerous collaborations, many of which include the amazing David Mansfield on fiddle, mandolin and pedal steel.
Wolfgang's Vault was a major sponsor of this show, proceeds of which benefited 826 National, an educational nonprofit organization.
