Bob Dylan August 4, 1996 House Of Blues Atlanta, Georgia, USA Tradeable
1 DVD D342 Professional Low NTSC 4:3 01:08:30 A A
Multiple 1
To Be Alone With You Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You All Along The Watchtower Under The Red Sky Watching The River Flow Silvio Love Minus Zero/No Limit Tangled Up In Blue The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll Stuck Inside Of Mobile [cuts after 2:45]
Running time: 01:08:30 Video standard: NTSC Authoring: DVDs with menu and chapters are circulating
D342 ATLANTA 4 AUGUST 1996 ~ HOUSE OF BLUES II
If farewell performances are your cup of meat, if swan songs float your boat, then this early August night in mid-nineties Atlanta you‘d have been spoilt for choice. No doubt about the biggest show in town - the closing ceremony of the XXVI Olympiad pulled a crowd of some 80,000 (not to mention the TV millions) for an orgy of flag-waving, speechifying, Stevie Wonder, even (no expense spared) Gloria Estefan. But, meanwhile, down at the House of Blues on Luckie Street, a more modest 3,000 gathered to celebrate another significant finale, an event less newsworthy perhaps, but guaranteed still to ripple its quiet way around the arcane byways of the networked world. After four years and nearly 400 gigs, for his last live outing with Bob and the band, ladies and gentlemen ... Mr Winston Watson!
Sadly, although D342 preserves in good shape the first nine of the night’s 14 songs, the missing last four and a half mean that a sight of the very end of WW’s tenure is denied us. From what we do see, in fact, there’s no indication here whatever that this is Winston’s last hurrah. But the band seem determined to send him off in style and the gig kicks off with a six-song electric set that’s lots of fun. Maybe because of its strange midnight start (which means, strictly speaking, that the two House of Blues shows took place on the same day) or for some other reason, through all of HoB#1 (see D006) D was in very dour mood. But tonight he’s much perkier and it’s not until the acoustics are strapped on that the first signs of ill-discipline set in. Of 7-9, only Hattie Carroll really convinces. (Watch out during LMZ, though, for Bucky’s smile as a soloing D lazily frets approximately the right notes.) Then, 2:45 into Mobile, an abrupt mid-verse cut brings proceedings to a jarring halt and we’re done.
My no-frills version of D342 has several glitches (all minor) and lacks a menu. That I prefer an electric set over an acoustic is very rare, though here the best definitely comes first. A more engaged and rewarding performance than HoB#1. Shame about the premature end.
