First appeared here-
http://www.expectingrain.com/discussions/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21747
I somehow managed to squeeze my way down to the main floor, and my 3rd row seat. What you must understand about the people in Omaha, is that they are all very tall, and they are all very wide (among other things). My seat, 23, was directly in the middle, and since I had already missed Amos Lee, I was forced to crawl across the laps of 23 tall, wide people. I get to my seat, and not two minutes later, Costello appears, directly, I mean directly in front of me. He begins w/ Angels Want To Wear My Red Shoes, and gets better from there. My suspicions about the audience aroused during my time in the lobby seemed to be actualized. Absolutely no one was standing, or even moving in their chairs. They just sat and starred at Costello, as though he were some sort of oddity on display. I sat too, as I would have felt too out of place being literally the only person standing. I swore that I would stand during Dylan, even if that meant standing alone. The tear in my sense of time really began to take hold of me, and Costello’s set felt as though it lasted 10, maybe 15minutes at most. It seemed he had just gotten started, and all of the sudden, he was taking a bow.
I have no recollection of how long the stage switch took, but it felt like 10 minutes before the new, less epic intro music was playing. Thankfully, everyone got to their feet, but there was a tall, wide Omaha-ian on either side of me, and an extremely tall, not wide one in front. I asked him if he wouldn’t mind switching places w/ his shorter girlfriend, to which they happily agreed.
I was very happy to hear Pill Box open, and even happier when Lay and Tom Thumb’s followed. I had never seen any of them live, and they were very energetic. I have been reading a lot of reviews about how the band has really “come together” and I really saw what they meant. Even Stu was dancing around, and everyone seemed to be having a really great time up there. I have never seen Donnie smile before, but he was really grinning and dancing that night. Perhaps there is a reason he doesn’t dance; he really looks like a chicken walking around when he does haha (W/ Dylan’s stage setup, Donnie ended up being the one directly in front of me). The next was Love Sick, which I’d really been looking forward to seeing. It was amazing, as I’d hoped. Stu really nailed it.
The audience, however, was far less energetic. Even those on the rails didn’t seem to move, they just stood there (there were a few dancers, but maybe like 6 at the most). Some even stayed seated in their front row chairs. I danced though. The tall’n’wides next to me stood in their place w/ their arms folded across their chests. Occasionally they sat back down, arms folded. WHATS THE POINT?!?!?! They also seemed a bit put off by me actually enjoying myself and as the show wore on, they inched their way towards each other, into my (very small to begin w/) area, as though that would make me stop moving. All that did was make me accidentally brush up against them more. No one actually said a word to me though.
After Spirit, the lights went down, and T and Donnie both ran over to pow-wow w/ Dylan about something. Donnie runs back, and I see him putting on his banjo……High Water!!!!! I’d been wanting to see this ever since I knew Donnie played banjo. I listen to it while snowboarding a lot, and I believe it was the song I was listening to at the moment I broke my collarbone. In any event, I was very excited to see it, and it didn’t disappoint. Ain't Talkin' was great, my first time seeing it, and it was lit beautifully, w/ only soft, warm footlights, a very eerie feeling which perfectly complimented the song. After what felt like 20 minutes, Summer Days came up. The whole show seemed to pass in a flash! During the jam, Bob and T kept looking at each other, and T dragged his bass over to the drum risers, like he was going to leap up on it as in the past L&C shows, but at the last minute, smilled at Bob and grabbed his back, faking pain and went back to his pocket between George and Denny.
Instrument news as follows- Denny is playing a new LP, a brown, wooden looking one. It might have been a Gibson, but my view of stage right was greatly obscured all night, and I never got a good look at it. T is also playing a different standup then the one he had this summer (I think). The one he played this time was the same one that’s in my avatar over there (perhaps his personal standup?), but I could have sworn the one he played this summer was newer and had a slightly bigger body.
*****
EDIT- Its been a year now, and what I thought was a once in a lifetime thing turned out to be anything but, so I dont really feel comfortable w/ this whole thing being pasted on the net for anyone to read. Check the cliffnotes, you're not missing much
Cliffnotes- Great show. I met Denny.
