Wednesday, August 25, 2004
By John Sinkevics

The Grand Rapids Press

Sometime during Tuesday night's blistering rendition of "Highway 61 Revisited," perhaps Bob Dylan's most intense version of the song ever, a novel musical spectacle officially went from being a fun summer event at a minor-league stadium to a real rock 'n' roll show.

With the legendary Dylan hunched over his electric keyboard and guitarists Stu Kimball and Larry Campbell trading ZZ Top-like riffs, Fifth Third Ballpark finally laid claim to being a bonafide, outdoor concert venue.

It's certainly hard to envision a more perfect concert debut for the Comstock Park stadium: a diverse, easygoing audience of 8,200-plus enjoying a breezy August evening with two legendary singer-songwriters, Dylan and Willie Nelson, on stage in left centerfield.
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Even the weather cooperated. There was no need for Dylan to trot out "Shelter from the Storm" or "Rainy Day Women #12 and 35" because showers held off until two hours after the last note was played.

At first blush (and maybe even second blush), putting Dylan and Nelson on the same tour covering 22 minor-league ballparks seems an unlikely, unseemly pairing of two guys with vastly different audiences. Add to that their choice of a Western swing/jazz trio (Hot Club of Cowtown) to open the show, and one starts to wonder whether these guys should stick to collecting their Social Security checks and leave the business of concert marketing to somebody else.

But Dylan has never shied away from live innovations, whether it's going shockingly electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival or assembling a 2004 summer tour of minor-league ballparks in towns he's rarely played.

So, bravo, Bob: This unorthodox batting lineup really works.

Starting with Hot Club of Cowtown's engaging, fiddle-laced half-hour opening set of joyous, energetic swing music through Nelson and band's Grateful Dead-like jamming on outlaw country, classic country and blues tunes to Dylan's driving rock display, this quickly evolved into a special night for just about everybody involved.

Fifth Third Ballpark certainly took on a new aura. Baseball team officials viewed this as a possible launching pad for future concerts and nothing that happened Tuesday night should prevent that from happening.

Although some fans complained about Dylan's management restrictions that prohibited binoculars from being brought into the stadium, and lines for the restrooms seemed awfully long after Nelson's set, Fifth Third Ballpark seemed as concert-friendly as any sports venue that hosts musical events.

Even the sound was surprisingly clean and crisp, from the outfield section in front of the stage to the concourse behind homeplate (though it wasn't as impressive in grassy areas beyond the seats in left and right field).

And Nelson's set in particular evoked the spirit of this all-American, baseball-flavored tour, as he encouraged sing-alongs and engaged his devoted fan base with a host of his most recognizable tunes -- "Whiskey River," "On the Road Again," "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," "Crazy," "Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground," "Always on My Mind."

Ably assisted by an eight-piece band (including several family members), Nelson's vocals were as smooth as ever, his stage presence as comfortable as you might expect it to be for a 71-year-old artist with several decades of performing under his belt. With an American flag, and later a flag of Texas, as a backdrop, Nelson didn't chitchat but moved quickly from song to song with barely a pause, though he did take time to toss a baseball cap and a cowboy hat into the standing-room only throng in front of the stage.

But until Dylan and his band took the stage, Tuesday's show wasn't so much a concert as it was a pleasant outdoor event and an excuse to drink beer and exchange banter with friends on a fine summer evening smack dab in the middle of a baseball stadium.

Dylan upped the ante by cranking up the volume and the intensity.

Starting with "Down Along the Cove," which featured Hot Club of Cowtown's Elana Fremerman on violin, Dylan did his best work on uptempo, fiery rock numbers.

Some may not think of Dylan as a rock star, but it's what he does best these days, as Tuesday night's renditions of "Honest With Me," "Masters of War," "Summer Days" and "Highway 61 Revisited" proved.

Eschewing his guitar on this tour, Dylan spent the entire evening at his electric keyboard, preferring to let Campbell and Kimball exchange licks on their guitars while drummer George Recile and bassist Tony Garnier laid claim to being one of the tightest rhythm sections anywhere.

Dylan's brittle rasp was less effective and more difficult to fathom on slower songs such as "Mr. Tambourine Man" and a brief duet with Nelson, but suited the rhythmic rocker "Tweedle Dee &Tweedle Dum" to a T.

And when the 63-year-old singer and his band virtually sizzled on an encore comprised of the razor-sharp "Like a Rolling Stone" and "All Along the Watchtower," it was abundantly clear that Fifth Third Ballpark would never be the same again.