Bob Dylan in Concert: April 3, 2004, American University, Washington D.C.

A raspy Bob Dylan made three appearances in Washington, DC this past weekend. We caught the middle show on Saturday, April 3, 2004, at American University, Washington D.C. A terrific show and lots of classic Bob tunes.

I was somewhat dismayed that he never played guitar and stuck to the keyboards the entire show. Aside from some harmonica breaks, it was all keys all the time. Not to worry though. Maybe he was trying to save his voice which sounded like he'd been on the road a long time.

Here's a short movie clip of Highway 61.

The Washington Post.com's critic Joe Heim had this to say about the previous night's 9:30 Club appearance:

"Barely acknowledging the sold-out crowd, he crouched behind his keyboards at the left side of the stage and faced his band instead of the audience. For the length of the two-hour show it was as if the exuberant fans who greeted each song with roars simply didn't exist."

From Bob Dates a review by Shoe Shine:

"From the get go, Dylan blasted out of cd's, books, and vinyl to give you
the real thing with full on throttle and delivered maggie's farm like it
was written hours ago. Some would say his voice is worn, but I'll say it's
just evolved and there were times throughout the evening when right out of
nowhere you heard a voice dead on pitch from 30-some years ago. Still
sings 'em like he knows his song well and each song was a keeper,
re-electrified as another would say and handled with care."

Setlist from Bob Links fro April 3, 2004, American University, Washington D.C.

Maggie's Farm
The Times They Are A-Changin' (acoustic)
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
Ring Them Bells
Down Along The Cove
Ballad Of A Thin Man
Dignity
Ballad Of Hollis Brown (acoustic)
Highway 61 Revisited
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (acoustic)
Bye And Bye
Honest With Me
Standing In The Doorway
Summer Days
(1st encore)

Cat's In The Well
Like A Rolling Stone
All Along The Watchtower
(2nd encore)

Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

Also, over on bobdylan.com, some of the DC stand's concert cuts are available including "Tryin' To Get To Heaven" at Warner Theatre, Washington, DC, 4/4/04, An exceedingly rare performance of "Hazel", Washington, DC, 4/2/04, and "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine", Washington, DC, 4/2/04.

And check out the story behind Bob and Neil.

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