1999

Bob Dylan; Phil Lesh and Friends
@ The Apollo of Temple
Philadelphia, PA - Tue, November 9, 1999

The biggest act so far to grace Temple University’s newly built arena, and certainly the most acclaimed artist perhaps to ever step foot on the University campus, the Bob Dylan show at Temple was anticipated with curiosity by some and thinly-veiled expectations of disappointment by many, considering his voice and the venue. Indeed, there were more Deadheads for Phil Lesh than there were obvious Dylan fans at this thing. And certainly those scents of special herbs that could only be found at a Dead show were present. Lesh’s set was graceful, bluesy, and rocking. A true Dead set. The “friends” were an array of talented musicians and vocalists, including a surprise appearance by Susan Tedeschi (I think). Of course, idiot me, such a novice at the time, wasn’t quite sure what I just had just seen. Being so high up in the arena, I thought Lesh was Dylan and that it was a short jam together, so I proceeded to make my way out. Of course, I saw no one was leaving. So I went and got Nachos, feeling like an ass. As I made my way back to my seat, the lights went out, and I got a close-up view of the MAN himself, when the PA guy announced, “Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Columbia Records recording artist Bob Dylan”. As had become his routine, Dylan, and his band of dinner-jacket wearing melody-makers, began the set with an uncomfortable country-gospel tune. As the show progressed, Dylan turned more and more to his more popular material, including a terrific guitar solo and jam on “Highway 61 Revisited”. The god of all rock music made after 1966 spoke surprisingly more than once. He spoke twice. Once to mumble that his friend Bill Cosby attended Temple, and of course, to acknowledge his band (with more mumbling). How he got through the whole set without playing Like A Rolling Stone showed that Dylan, though his live presence doesn’t match his revived studio work, still has balls.

Lilith Fair (Sarah Mclachlan, Sheryl Crow, The Pretenders, Mya, MeShelle Negeochello)
@ Jones Beach Amphitheater
Wantagh, New York- Friday August 6, 1999

My first ever “rock” concert was an all-day music festival. Having discovered the music of Sarah Mclachlan 2 years before, just as she was engineering the first Lilith Fair tour, I looked forward to this event with rarely seen anticipation. The second stage, in the “Lilith Village” (where I ran into an ol’ crush that I thought about heavily in the time leading up to the show), featured Aimee Mann, who was the lead singer of the 80’s one hit wonder, ‘Til Tuesday and who would soon enough provide the Magnolia soundtrack. The main stage show began with Me’chelle Negeochello, who briefly hit mainstream success a few years before with a duet with John Mellencamp. The set featured African rhythms, revealing the multicultural tastes that had revolutionized the Lilith Fair shows for the last 2 of its 3 years. Mclachlan herself made an appearance at the conclusion of the set, a trademark of hers, which she did not fail at all night. Mya, the R & B princess who first hit it big with “Ghetto Superstar” with Praz and Ol’ Dirty Bastard, offered a soulful pop set, and one-upped the Spears and Aguileras of the time by leading a dance troupe through legitimate moves and sounds. Her rap-less version of her hit single awoke the growing crowd, who now prepped for the main three acts. The legendary Pretenders took the stage for a memorable rock performance. If there was any doubt left that the otherwise all-male Pretenders are really just the sensational Chrissie Hynde, their spot at Lilith Fair was supreme recognition of this. By far, the most intriguing moment of the night occurred during the Pretenders’ set when Hynde stopped a song halfway through “because I can.” Sheryl Crow’s penultimate set showcased the Missouri Rock queen in fine form, as her abridged set of hits came rolling out. “There Goes The Neighborhood” brought the house down, and Lilith Fair, for a moment, felt like a hard rock explosion, rather than a celebration of multi-cultured feminism. Finally, with the Atlantic Ocean fading into the dark behind the stage, the aura of night, coolness, solace, and comfort took hold as Mclachlan took the stage. The set was flawless as Mclachlan and her band had become a diligent workhorse by that time. Concluding with “Angel”, with help from Crow and Hynde, the encore for the final Lilith Fair in New York, included Joan Osbourne among all the performers. The whole night featured monologues by Fair emcee Sandra Bernhardt, whose rambling bursts of Yiddish certainly pleased my father whom I dragged along. The huge screens atop the stage featured VH1 sponsored pop-ups and some good Jerry Fallwell bashing. The night could only be topped off one way, trekking back across Long Island to Brooklyn for late night Roll N Roasters.