“Instead of an image, Dylan has created a magic theater in which the public gets lost willy-nilly. Yet he is more — or less — than the sum of his illusions.”
— Ellen Willis
Artpark, Lewiston, New York, 6 September 2012
Feng Shui Lady at the U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville, North Carolina, 30 April 2013.
Note the mirror surface on the bass drum, too.
Photograph courtesy of Duncan Hume.
Feng Shui mirror at rakish angle at the U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville, North Carolina, 30 April 2013.
Photograph courtesy of Duncan Hume.
Feng Shui mirrors save our hero at the U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville, North Carolina, 30 April 2013.
Photograph courtesy of Duncan Hume.
Mirrors still visible on stage.
Bob Dylan – Things Have Changed – Memphis, TN – 20130702
Mirrors still visible on stage.
White sage (Salvia apiana)
The smoke from burning white sage is used widely as part of purification ceremonies. This power to purify is said to be released from the plant by the burning of the leaves, which are typically bundled into a wand or stick.
http://pages.citebite.com/
http://plants.usda.gov/
Hiroyuki, Aono; Kazuo Koike, Jun Kaneko, Taichi Ohmoto (1994). “Alkaloids and quassinoids from Ailanthus malabarica”. Phytochemistry 37 (2): 579–584.
Bob Dylan burned Nag Champa at his concerts from April 1995 until November 2011. The Grateful Dead and more recently The Black Crowes and Third Eye Blind have also been found to burn Nag Champa at performances. Rapper Common has a song entitled “Nag Champa (Afrodisiac for the World)”.
t was 1974 when we had domestic lampshades on stage. And a candle. Not smoke and mirrors, but odd…
Opening night of tour. Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois, 3 January 1974.
“It helps to know, for instance, that the stage setup was one of cluttered homeliness – complete with couches and floor lamps — giving the impression of a group of old time friends getting together to sing a few tunes.”
“There wasn’t just a rug, some candles, a sofa and a coat rack, but also a Tiffany-styled table lamp, a roll-top desk, an antique rocking chair, a set of conga drums, a bunk bed with frumpy blue mattresses, a multi-colored wood chest housing a fire extinguisher and, at the bottom of the stage steps, a mat reminding the stars to Wipe Your Feet.” — Ben Fong-Torres (Rolling Stone, 31 Janueary 1974)
http://dylanstubs.com/
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Carpet on floor. Lampshade dark in lower right of the photograph.
And even a hat stand on stage. But no hats? Chicago, Illinois, 3 January 1974 again…
erspex (5.6 mm thick clear), not mirrors, but why? And did it serve its purpose well? Why was it discontinued?
Van Morrison, Winston Watson & Bob Dylan, Molde Jazz Festival 1996.
A drum screen, drum shield or acoustic shield is used by audio engineers to avoid the sound control problems caused when louder instruments overwhelm quieter instruments and vocals on stage. It is a transparent system of panels that are used to separate loud instruments from other musical instruments and vocalists that may be in close proximity. And were the broken drum sticks that flew across the stage in Winston Watson’s time a factor? in Molde, Norway.
Burning candle, bottom right. Small flame compared with 2013… Chicago clutter all gone except the candle?
2420 Mid-South Coliseum
Memphis, Tennessee
23 January 1974
“We went to Memphis in 73 or 74 to see Bob and the Band…It was in a big arena…My friend, Bobby Harris, went way up over to one side and crawled out on a girder and inched out over the stage and got these shots….He woulda got more but security was waaay upset and made him come down and threatened the worst if he got back up there… I believe they were doing “Most Likely You’ll Go Your Way” and when they finished, Bob moseyed over to the piano and jumped into “Ballad of a Thin Man”…. It was along about then that security figured out there was some idiot up in the rafters snapping pictures…T hey went into high alert mode and made Bobby get down or else… And we didn’t wanna know what “or else” meant….” — Daniel W. Merry III
Photograph courtesy of Bobby Harris, out on a limb
1999?
he Oscar statue (from Cairns, Australia, Cairns Convention Centre 28 March 2001) and the traditional New Orleans Mardi Gras beads from February 2002 are seen on stage. The purple symbolizes justice; the green represents faith; and the gold signifies power.
The Gasparilla Pirate Festival of Tampa, Florida may be the source of the beads, but the idea is the same as New Orleans Mardi Gras beads…
http://pages.citebite.com/
The placing of the Oscar and beads has varied over time. Agganis Arena, Boston, Massachusetts, 6 November 2006:
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http://pages.citebite.com/
“Meanwhile the Sydney Jumpers, unwilling to let such a momentous occasion go unmarked, through great ingenuity and not a little expense, obtained a plastic Oscar replica statue. The replica had a plaque bearing the words “World’s Greatest Grandma” on it and, now being considered superflous, that was removed to be replaced with a more appropriate inscription to mark this historic occasion in the life of Our Hero.
Though standing in front of the stage was not an option in Cairns the Jumpers, miserably deprived of their usual front and centre position, had amongst their group an undeterred person called Darren. He found a way to the front of the stage when The Master began to play Things Have Changed. It was the first song of the first encore. At the end of the song, Darren launched the plastic Oscar onto the stage, missing the sphere of Bob, but serendipitously landing at the shuffling feet of bassist, Tony Garnier. Many miscellaneous items get thrown onto the stage almost every night at a Dylan concert. They mostly go unnoticed by Bob, get kicked to the side by the crew and are usually never seen again.
Not so the little gold Oscar guy. Tony picks it up and shows it to Bob who is clearly thrilled. If this story ended there, it would have been cool enough. But, wait! There’s more. The very next night, at the Brisbane concert, the little plastic Oscar was sitting on top of Bob’s amp, near where he keeps his harp and picks and setlists! ”
http://pages.citebite.com/
The fake Oscars have to be careful they are not exact replicas. A real one would be larger at 13 inches, not the 8 inches of the replica on stage…
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Darren Mitchelson, indeed!
—
He said, “Let’s set up a fort
And start buying the place with beads”
Just then this cop comes down the street
Crazy as a loon
He throw us all in jail
For carryin’ harpoons
Photograph courtesy of Manfred Piltorp.
Flame?
Bob Dylan performs ‘Susie Baby’ (Bobby Vee)
20130710
St. Paul, Minnesota
Midway Stadium
14. Susie Baby (song by Bobby Vee)
(Stu Kimball on acoustic guitar, Tony Garnier on bass, Charlie Sexton on lead guitar, George Recile on drums, Donnie Herron on pedal steel, Bob Dylan on grand piano)
Flame seen to the right of the photograph.
And to the left. Is it Ma Rainey? Is it a bedroll? Is it a tuba player? No it is Beethoven!
http://
http://www.boblinks.com/
“Thy wordes may nat be queynt ne of subtel maner vnderstadinge. Freel witted people supposen in suche poesies to be begyled.”Geoffrey Chaucer (1385)
(Ἀφροδίτη (Aphrodite) the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation looks similar, but these Poesie busts are widespread, often in auction and cheap copies are common.)
(A bust of Pallas (Athena) came to many minds as she appears in Edgar Allan Poe‘s the Raven, but no.
“And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting
On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted–nevermore!”)
—
Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing
Blowing like she never blowed before
Blue light blinking, red light glowing
Blowing like she’s at my chamber door
http://
Poésie by Antonio Garella.
16 June 2014, Live at the Marquee (Festival), Docklands, Cork, Ireland.
Photograph courtesy of Manfred Piltorp.
Photograph courtesy of Andrea Orlandi.
2014-12-07
has a friend!
The Beacon New York City
2017-11-22
A tennis racket on the piano?
Aaaah, we are at Forrest Hills!
2016-07-08
Ludwig van Beethoven with harmonicas.
June 23, 2014 (Monday)
Athens, Greece
Terra Vibe Park
GFI ULTRA
Photograph courtesy of Andrea Orlandi.
20140712 — in Kristiansand, Norway.
1964-07-24 — at Newport Folk Festival.
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