Standing on the Shoulders of Giants Stadium

My old friend Russell and I saw Bob Dylan open for the Grateful Dead at Giants Stadium back in June of 1995. Living in the East Village at the time, we caught a chartered bus from Penn Station with one of Russell's co-workers that took us out to East Rutherford, New Jersey for the show. Still in our twenties, Russell and I were high octane drug buddy thrill seekers back then. Like Batman and Robin on a bender, we fairly leapt off that bus feet first into a long afternoon of bacchanalian revelry in the Deadheads' infamous Shakedown Street parking lot scene. We hit the ground running, downing heroic fistfuls of whatever you got. Russell's co-worker was mortified. Right away he knew he was in over his head. We got fucked up fast, ever mindful to overplay it once we saw how bad Co-Worker was freaking out. It was the game within the game and Russell for one was an all-star. Future hall of famer. Insecure people with a weak stomach fell apart like wet tissue in Russell's orbit. They were like a ham sandwich in the sun. Low shelf life expectancy. I was a casual dabbler and I did my research. My Dinky Increments Theory kept me from ever doing too much too fast. And Russell had two degrees from Fear and Loathing University. It was a perpetual journey of epic proportions, mind expansion meant to permanently broaden our horizons. Each day's perspective was deeper and wider than the previous and Dylan had a lot to do with that. It's why any and all of us are here right now, whether we know it or not.

I'd already been to a few Phish shows by '95, so I kinda knew my way around the hippie gypsies' bizarre bazaar parking lot scene. Dealers on foot, openly hawking a vast array of illicit substances alongside more quaint fare like hemp jewelry, bootleg t-shirts, beer, and the obligatory veggie burritos. Hissing nitrous tanks could be heard all around in the parking lot. A kind stranger offered words of sage advice, "If this is your first time, make sure you're sitting down." I felt my head and then my whole body expand in a flash of lightning insight, obliterating time and space. When I opened my eyes, I was on my back looking straight up at clear blue skies. It was only my second Dead show.

Of course no one knew that Jerry Garcia would be dead two months later. All we knew was the band's first four songs were so dreadfully boring that we couldn't exit the stadium fast enough so we could get back to where the action was: in the parking lot. Even then I recognized the Dead's following as the last bastion of a gypsy lifestyle in the USA. High or not, it was fun to submerge yourself in that scene for a day or two just for the socio-cultural adventure on what might as well have been another dimension. There's certainly nothing like it that I've ever experienced before or since and though I love their music the Phish crowd is another beast altogether.

Dylan was the whole reason for us being there and his performance was phenomenal. Some years later I began to pursue freelance writing more seriously. But the first thing I ever wrote that was published was a review of this show that an early version of a Bob Dylan message board type newsletter published.

Here it is:

Bob Dylan Review/Setlist 6/18/95

Bob started at 6pm sharp and played approx 1hr & 15min

Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood) Senor (Tales of Yankee Power) All Along the Watchtower Just Like a Woman Silvio Tambourine Man - acoustic (Bob sans guitar!) Gates of Eden - acoustic Love Minus Zero/No Limit - acoustic Seeing the Real You at Last I Believe in You Obviously 5 Believers E: Ballad of a Thin Man Bob's vocals were incredibly clear. He seems to be articulating a lot more clearly. The opening number "Down in the Flood" was rockin' and Bob's vocals were particularly spirited. I got the feeling the old guy was having fun. "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)" was tender and powerful. In the number three spot, "All Along the Watchtower" was pretty standard but the crowd reacted loudly. "Just Like A Woman" sounds great when this band does it. "Silvio" was heavy. "Tambourine Man'' was a serious high-point, and this was the first time I'd ever seen Bob sing without holding a guitar. My seats were way up in the nosebleeds, but this was still a major treat. He rocked back and forth from left foot to right. At first I thought maybe he was nervous, then I started to think he was just 'getting into it'. "Gates of Eden" and "Love Minus Zero" were very quiet but a nice sweet little acoustic break from the rest of this rockin' set. The last three songs of the set were so solid I was just mesmerized. "Seeing the Real You at Last" and "Obviously Five Believers" are great additions to this year's sets and sounded amazing. Bob's vocal delivery on "Seeing the Real You at Last" made me laugh out loud and "I Believe In You" almost made me cry. "Obviously Five Believers" was kind of an anti-climactic song to end the set with, but it sounded great. This band is so wonderful I hope Bob records a studio album of all-new compositions with them soon. I was expecting "Rainy Day Women #s 12 & 35" or maybe "Like a Rolling Stone" for an encore. My expectations were foiled and "Ballad of a Thin Man" was a welcome surprise, even though he plays it a lot these days. Like I said, Bob's vocals were incredibly clear and passionate all night. I don't know what the occasion is for this new-found inspiration to really sing out, but it is a truly great thing. Also, Bob's guitar is finally getting louder in the mix. His solos are very simple Blues licks, but very inspired and it's great to see him wobbling around and "striking poses", waving the guitar around, etc. The place was pretty empty when Bob started, but almost full by the time he finished. The Deadheads seemed to really respond to Bob's set. I think the Jerry Garcia Band does a couple of the tunes that Bob played tonight, and of course "Silvio" was co-written with Dead lyricist Robert Hunter; so maybe they were just reacting to songs they knew from Jerry and elsewhere, but they reacted, period; that's the good thing. I didn't stay beyond the Dead's 4th song and I found it ironic that their vocals seemed so muffled and unclear after Bob's deliberate attempt to really ar-tic-u-late every syllable. Seems like Bob gets a lot of bogus criticism about his vocals, but he sounded MUCH clearer than Garcia and Weir did tonight. Bob is on a serious upswing in my opinion, and this will be the year to see him as many times as you possibly can. Not that most of us don't try to do that anyway.