Last Curtain

Osaka is the second biggest town of Japan. So exploring the city in just 2 days it´s impossible. But it´s very close to the temples of Nara, and for a Bob follower, that place definitely is a must! So the three of us made use again of our JR Pass and took the train to the holy place. A light rain was falling, but not disturbing at all. The Nara shrine is so impressive, you have to visit by yourself. Walking through the parks, always in touch with the wild deer running free under them trees. Peace and quietness that´s what it is. Finally entering the big shrine with a huge sitting BUDDHA inside. Even I am not a member of any of the big religions, as a free-minded man, my church is everywhere, this place has an influence of your mind for sure. You can feel it. Some kind of spirit. And Bob did perform here so many years ago, with the big philharmonic orchestra, what a concert, how I wish I would have been there myself. I watched in on TV of course ;-) In the shrine is a small hole in a pole. Julia was the only one of us who could get through. Later we found out, slipping through the hole gives you free entrance to Nirwana,lucky Julia, only slim people will be around there I guess :-D On our way out we met Graziella and Andrea, small world for Bobcats!

The first Osaka show was the best of this tour for me. But many others did feel the same, as I found out after the concert. As usual we gathered outside for some 30 minutes, having a drink and sharing impressions. Bob performed "Workingman Blues # 2" again, "Scarlet Town" top notch and bringing the fans on the left side of the stage into permant wohooo screaming while Bob addresses them after each verse. Slight lyric variations in "Tangled Up In Blue". His voice was so clear that night, Charlie did a great solo during "Love Sick". I got in quite early and found myself a place 3rd row left of the stage. It was funny there, because of these real japanese Bobcats always gathering at that point. But I decided to get to another spot for the second part, more to the right and not that much pushing. Row 6 or so was good enough for me. Well, so I wasn´t in the wohoo crowd during "Scarlet Town", you can´t have it all, right?! The tour seems to split the followers a bit. Most of the Bobcats are really nice fellows before it gets closer to showtime. Then a change is coming on: some of them, not all of them, change into maniacs who try everything to get to the rail, no matter how. But the japanese system is not the same as in Europe or the US. Those numbers on the tickets tell you when to enter. And so some of the followers getting mad because they had to take a spot behind. I am so thankful, that my friends are going the same calm way like I do. If we have a lucky number, we´ll be front of stage. And the tall one of us always stands behind the smaller guys. No problems at all. But as I said, some are different. But, don´t you judge as Alrik said. The good ones are still on the road together and will meet again in Europe in 2 months. Can´t wait actually. Since right now I´m still on the plane, window seat, looking down on Siberia, covered in snow and ice. I do have to fly back today, work is waiting at home, and so I miss the last Bob show in Japan. Too bad I missed the one last night, too. Couldn´t get a ticket, nearly no spare tickets available. But that´s how it is sometimes. You can´t win with a losing hand. Julia, Alrik, Tim, Che, Shiobhan, Masato, Federica, Graziella and Andrea, they will be there. Hope they´ll see a good show, what do I say? Of course they will have a flashing night again. It won´t be the same without me of course :-D I miss Japan already, I miss the Ramen noodle soup, the Sushi, the Bento-boxes, the Shinkansen travel, the Onsen, the Fuji, the little triangle rice snacks which I couldn´t unfold correctly until I was undergoing a description how to do it by Alrik and Julia. See the world with Bob again, a country I´d never been before, making new friends like Masato and Toshikazu. Lost in translation a little bit, but always found my way out of confusion. Arigato Japan, arigato to all my dear friends, hope to see you soon again, Europe is next, can´t wait!

Just a brief view on Bob and his band :)

A few words about Bob and his band. How do they to in this time, how good and tight did they play? Starting with Stu who´s kicking off the show each night with his, what we call "noodle". Coming out of the darkness left of the stage as seen from the crowd, he stays right there, only seen as a silhoette since stage lights are still off. While "noodeling" some blues phrases on his tobacco-burst Gibson J-45, the other bandmembers appear on stage to take their places. Stu´s playing is very underrated in my opinion. As a guitar player myself, I really think that he´s kind of a driving-machine on strings. And if you think, that he´s only doing the rhythm, just check his playing at "Spirit On The Water". And besides that, he´s a cool guy. George on the drums, well, he´s a master! I had the opportunity to talk with Charlie Watts one day, and he told me, that beside George is a buddy of Keef, he´s one of the best rock drummers of the world. He told me to say hello when I meet him. Too bad, you can´t close to band members in these days, for good reasons as I must say. So I place Charlie Watts' greeting right here, maybe some of you who is close to George Recile can tell him. Even his machine-gun drumming on "All Along The Watchtower" is history, I still like the way he keep the guys together, counting the songs in, and my favorite is when he plays the Conga with his flat hand on "Forgetful Heart", what a brilliant performance. Donnie is the multi-stringer who definitely now owns the place of the unforgetable Larry Campbell. Okay, he´s not a singer like Larry, but he plays the fiddle, the banjo, the mandoline and of course the lapsteel in great style. Listen to him on lapsteel during "Soon After Midnight" and you will understand. Too bad, he´s not playing the trumpet anymore, that was a nice variation on "Beyond Here Lies Nothing" years ago. Charlie "the kneeling" Sexton, what can you say. Playing mostly on a Gibson Les Paul these days, is always kind of glued to normal leading standards. But he´s got some more space on this tour to add great solos in the set, and his "duet-playing" with Donnie on "Midnight" is a treasure of each show. Tony Garnier, 26 years in the band, and often called the bandleader, he´s definitely one of the best bass players I know. Before he joined Bob long time ago, he was doing kind of free jazz playing, and today he can do just everything! I love his playing on the double-bass, highlighted when he grabs the bow as he does on "Forgetful Heart". Strange to me, that he´s playing some songs on a 6-string Fender guitar. Wonder what bass-strings are on that thing, and why he does that. As far as I can hear, it gives kind of a sound which was produced in the sixties by bands like the Spotnicks. I can be totally wrong, so Tony, just tell me :)

And here comes Bob. Even a Fender is always sleeping in front of George´s drumset, I can´t see him play on strings anymore. It was different in 2007, when he came back with the guitar after that long period where he only played the organ. Remember those circus days? Now he starts the show standing middle of the stage, one hand on the microphone stand, facing the crowd and singing with a voice that seems to fit every song of the setlist perfectly. His harmonica playing is still top notch, it´s like a fingerprint of the man. The grand piano sounds much better to me than the keyboard and organ he used years ago. And his playing is somewhat, let´s say, genuine. Look at the bandmembers when they watch him playing the keys, there´s always room for some surprises even for Tony. I saw him smile quite often on this tour, when Bob was hammering unexpected tunes on that piano. And his acting, sitting, shaking, facing the crowd, then controlling the band. Jumping up, playing while standing, what a great song and danceman. And once you saw him singing the ballads such as "Simple Twist Of Fate" or "Forgetful Heart" with the gestures of a story teller who know´s what he´s talking about, you know what I mean. As Bono once said: Bob Dylan is the best Rock singer, because you believe in every word he´s singing! He´s not a fake like so many others. Go and see the legend when he comes to your town, go and see him even he plays far away, don´t you dare miss him! I count the years, but I shared no tears. Now 107 Bob shows I´ve seen so far, each of them was a touching experience. And the european tour is already on it´s way, see you all soon, Bobcat friends, the band and Bob himself, keep on keeping on stepping down the avenue, I´ll be there, waiting for you!

Fukuoka Show and Hiroshima Peace Museum

Captured in a big 777 flying over Ulan Bator and bound for Amsterdam at this very moment, I have to turn back the clock so we can start again by the end of the last chapter I wrote before I arrived in Fukuoka. What a difference to all the japanese cities before. Right at the train station there´s only one way for a foreigner: the wrong one :-D All of us booked different hotels so we spread out and ended up meeting again 60 minutes later, of course at a place which wasn´t the right one for any of us. I first was told to grab a bus, which turned out to be totally wrong, since I had to go for the subway, and no question, located on the opposite side of the train station. Julia and Alrik booked a hotel near the station, but even they went in another direction at first. Tim jumped on a bus and I was wondering if I would ever see him again. Well, how could I, he was at the venue 3 hours later. So were all the others, funny, it all worked out in the end. What´s life without detours?! Mine started after the simple subway ride. Again I grabbed the wrong exit, there were only 16 of them. And going round in circles it took me another 40 minutes to find myself in front of the reception, facing the friendly japanese ladies who gave me a warm welcome. Jump into my room, quick shower, changing clothes and took a bus directly to the Zepp Fukuoka, arriving just in time. This time I got a ticket with a low number and I ended up in row 3, right side of stage.

Since Julia was still looking for a ticket outside, we decided that she should yell my name when she made it into the venue. And so she did. My responde was a loud screaming: Wiggle Wiggle! 3 minutes later she stood beside me, wonder how she managed it, but that´s how it happens. Not a bad place to see the show, and we had a great one of course. There was only one tall guy in front of us, on the rail, I mean, what´s going on with these tall people? Why aren´t they going to see a basketball game anyhow? When Bob finished the first set, I just shot this guy in the neck, so he felt right away and was never seen again :-D Now I can´t go to paradise no more ;-) In reality, he just didn´t make it to the second half, you need to be in good shape to survive to be trapped in the crowd, that´s for sure.

Went to bed early that night since we wanted to take an early train for our way to Osaka. That´s because passing Hiroshima, it would have been a shame not to visit that historic site. We must show our respect to all the victims of the nuclear attack! So Julia, Alrik and me met the other day at Fukuoka station and on we go up north again. Hiroshima! I decided to make an 4 hours break to go to the peace museum, and the others had booked a hotel in advance and stay for one day. No Bob show on that date. I left my luggage at a locker at the station and went with them to find the hotel. We got the right bus this time and the accomodation was beside the peace park. Unfortunately, there was no room for my friends: Alrik put a wrong date when he made the reservation. Things happen like that while you´re on the road and you hardly can name which day it´s right now. So the ability to change plans is essential. And so we did. Store the luggage in the hotel for a few hours, go to see the historic site, and then all three of us back to the station for the Shinkansen to Osaka. Visiting the peace park and the museum will impress you the moment you see the ruin beside the river. As it was early in the morning, not too many visitors had arrived yet. Walking through the scenery now with blooming trees and keping in mind what it was looking here some 69 years ago put you into a state of quietness and respect. When I got the first glimpse of the building where the museum is located, I thought that it must be designed by the famous architect Le Corbusier. Same lines and strict forms, I would have swear it was him who done it. Later I found out that it was made by the famous japanese architect Kenzo Tange who´s teacher worked together with Le Corbusier. Here you go, the master was definitely engaged. The entrance fee was the lowest I ever paid for a museum: 50 Yen! Can you imagine? Why is this so? Do they want that really everybody can afford it? It must be so, because this museum is the one you have to see, I never was more impressed before. Of course going to the Louvre or the MOMA is impressive too. But there you go to see fine art. This is a museum of one of the biggest man-made disasters of the world. And it is a place where one can clearly see, that only Love and Peace is the answer, if mankind will stay on this earth for future days. The exhibition leads you on a path through that day when the bomb was thrown. First explaining the history of the former wars of Japan, and not without telling you how the japanese put prisoners of war into slave workers and how it finally results in the engagement of the USA in WWII in the Pacific. Pearl Harbour, Potsdam Declaration not accepted by the Japanese Leaders. The decision to bring this war to an end. And you see models of Hiroshima before and after. Which means, before and after 8:15 am on a clear and sunny morning, where everybody just made a start in a new day, not knowing that there would be no tomorrow for the most of them. The sound of the engines of Enola Gay appeared and shortly after that the Little Boy changed the world with a blast. Now you follow the path through the building and pictures, descriptions and exponates such as watches, toys, household, clothes and many more turns back the clock until you find yourself stuck in that very day, that very moment. Slowly the scenery get´s harder to stand, since you were told the stories of the little girl that grew up after the bombing as a normal child, and then at the age of 13 shows first symptoms of Leukemia. As time goes by, things were getting worse, and in hospital she was told that folding paper swans could cure her disease. So she started folding thousands af little swans, but in the end it didn´t help of course. Until today, children all over Japan are folding this little swans in rememberence of Akito, the girl who died because of the bomb years later. And so did many of the survivors of that day in Hiroshima. And some of their stories are told too in the museum. If you sit down in the rest areas to get yourself the chance to recover a bit from this overwhelming impression, you can see how the other visitors react. Everybody is walking the path in silence. And looking in their faces you can tell that shame and deep mourning has captured their feelings. I almost felt like crying at some points of the exhibition. But shared no tears. Stepping out after hours, the sun finally found a way through the clouds, and we walked through the park back to the hotel to pick up the luggage. Hard to tell, but slowly we came back into the present. That´s how it is, we have to go on, but definitely in another way after Hiroshima. Directly after the surrender of Japan the era of the Cold War did start. The possibility of a nuclear war kept the world splitted in two parts for more than 45 years. But it endend as we all know shortly after the German Wall came down. But wonder why, 911 happened, and today there are again countries who try to get nuclear power into military use, such as rockets, warheads and so on. When will they ever learn? Getting on the train to Oska, rushed through the city to my hotel and find another one for Julia and Alrik. That day has passed, and it was one of the most impressive for me during my stay in Japan.

Southbound

Together we fly south, actually riding again on the Shinkansen from Nagoya to Fukuoka. Julia, Alrik and Tim sharing the same car as me. Sunny day again, and the weather should be fine for a day on the beach. Unfortunately we will not have that much time, the show is at 6pm, Bob isn´t a beach boy I assume.

Nagoya left behind, not much to say about that industrial city, beside they have a car museum from Toyota, a technical and an art museum. Julia, Alrik and me did go out one morning for a short run which was quite nice through some parks. A bit of work-out to get back in shape for the rest of the tour. The hotel we stood had seen better days for sure, but they did compensate that by offering a free happy hour. That means free drinks for the guests for 2 hours in late afternoon. The lobby was crowded by drinking pals, too bad, we had to stay in line at this time already at the Zepp venue. Pay for your ticket and don´t complain, right?!

You know by now that Bob had one surprise song in his set the first night in Nagoya, Workingman Blues #2, which he delivered in a very smooth and mellow version. Kind of jazzy instrumental breaks between the lyrics. And yes, he added some new phrases, too, which made the song a highlight of this tour in Japan. I got myself a nice spot left of the stage, row 5 or 6, with a clear view on Bob and the boys. Great position on night two again. This time middle of the stage, row 6. It was always easy to get that close, even with the high ticket number. And without pushing or fighting. Lots of japanese fans seem to prefer staying in the back, enjoying their drinks and the show. Good for us who wants to get close. But not only because of "Workingman Blues # 2" for me the first Nagoya show was better then the following one. Bob and the band showed so much emotions and seemed to have fun during the whole set. The other night everybody was looking very tired. And Bob missed lots of rhymes, such as "you did wrong all day, then you do wrong all night". Or maybe that was how he wanted it? No way :-D Imagine he screwed "Blowin'" too. How many seas must a mountain exist, come on Bob, are you kidding? Just have to mention, that since the Tokyo shows Arthur Dexter Bradley and Alfred Bello haven´t show up anymore. You know they are famous for following Bob Dylan around the globe just for shouting "Hurricane" during the show. So I did yell "Wiggle Wiggle" last night instead, haven´t done that since Bad Reichenhall in 2001, was about time I must say. Hope the taper won´t blame me ;-) On that second show day, I was playing the first time for the crowd in line since Tokyo. And they seem to enjoy it. You have to play the popular Bob songs, otherwise they will not react to the performance at all. But as soon as I played "Like A Rolling Stone" or "Mr. Tambourine Man" , the second one with nice vocal support by Che, the folks started claping in rhythm. And the moment I blew the harmonica they reacted enthusiastic, well, in a that calm japanese way :-D So that was Nagoya, with that fine Ramen-Noodle restaurant, and the acoustic-signal pedestrian traffic light annoying you the whole night through, while you try to get some sleep in the narrow hotel room. And when you finaly fell asleep, you could be woken up again by some flat-chested junkie whore knocking at your door, ignoring the "Please Do Not Disturb" sign, which happened to Alrik the other night. So now our train is riding through a picturesque scenery, south of Kobe it starts to get more and more country style. Smaller cities, traditional japanese houses, green hills. I feel welcomed already since I am a country man by heart, well, at least I am sometimes. And the comfortable trains make you relax and give you that very enjoyable view on the passing landscape. Did I tell you, that you should enter the cars of the trains always from the back entrance? You should take my advice. Behind the last seat row in the cars there´s space enough for your luggage. You don´t have to lift the heavy pieces up above into the overhead compartments. Good to know, right?! So here we are, four travellers southbound. And it´s ride, ride, ride!

Working Man Blues # 2 in Nagoya

Just shot this little clip when Bob did a slight setlist change last night in Nagoya. Sorry since it´s quite dark, but the stage illumination is limited as you know. Anyway, hope you like it, very soft version, simply beautiful

I pimped the clip a bit, have a look. As you may know it´s not that easy to do filming, and one should not do it anyway. But since it´s not much filming of the current tour, I took this song from row 6. The quality of the video is poor, but the performance of Bob is phenomenal and new lyrics too. What a great show last night!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdDGSUkj3g8&list=UUrxtzXgYcsvqfo7u48pJlAw&feature=share

Blowin' Fuji San

My stop at Mishima is because I want to see Mount Fuji. And even it was a bit foggy today I took the train up to the mountains to that little village Gotenba. Actually I found out after walking for about 2 hours to get out of the town, that it isn´t that small at all :) Just walking ain´t talking, I got the impression, that even I was approaching the Fuji, it seems that he went farther away from me. Strange. Walking around the next corner, there he was, bright and majestic. Into the woods, walking under those old trees, stepping out again, he was still there, but looks as if he moved away from me for a hundred miles. Must be the light, the fog, I don´t know. Anyway, I hiked for about 6 hours today and couldn´t reach the slope. I should have done it like the tourists, take a bus to get to the mountain. But that´s the reality if you´re a traveller instead of a tourist, right?! You know what it means to walk to the mountains, that´s the point! After 2 hours I stopped at a meadow in near a little farm. Took out my travel guitar and just picked one verse of "Blowin' In The Wind". Fuji San was hiding behind me, maybe he was afraid of getting washed to the sea. Have a look and listen if you like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G6w3bYbDV4&feature=youtu.be So now I´m back at my hotelroom again. Time for another Onsen session. As I´m the first inside the hot tub, I do make some pictures, don´t you worry, no naked people, just the location on top of the Dormy Inn. And some pictures of Mount Fuji too, of course.

Tomorrow Bob and the band will be back on stage again, Zepp Nagoya. I will take the 10 o´clock Shinkansen, Nagoya here I come :)

Arigato Sapporo

So I got my train from Sapporo to Hakodate. This is the first part of that 12 hours ride down to Mishima, close to Fuji san. Bob gives himself, the band and us a 2 days break, so I decided to see Mt. Fuji while I´m in Japan. If the weather stays like it was the last 7 days, it´ll be a great picturesque interlude I asume. Sapporo is a big city, crowded with people running around, in the streets and underground, where they have huge shopping malls and food stalls. That underground thing makes sense. When I arrived it was a bright and sunny day, but freezing cold. And it´s spring time already. Wonder what it will be here during the winter? So it´s quite comfortable to do your daily life indoors. Sure you can stay also in the big buildings where they have shops and restaurants in each floor way up to the skies. But streets beneath the surface, that is something totally different. And these underground areas are actually streets, where you can walk for miles and miles safely covered from the cold or rain or snow outside. Strange for me anyhow, but that´s how it is.

The two Bob shows were held in a very small Zepp venue. That place holds just about 2000 people. As usual in Japan, you have a numbered ticket, such as B1 for the sector you are in, and another number to show you where you have to stand in line while waiting before the show. Typical japanese organized! Because that concert hall is located in a part of the city where there are lots of narrow streets, only A and B sector ticketholders could queue close to the entrance. All other sectors had to line-up in the streets around the blocks. Very funny, but anyway, that´s the only way it seems to work out here. So our whole group of Bobcats was splitted, since we couldn´t manage to get more than 3 tickets in one sector. That´s why I saw the first concert way back. But way back in this hall actually means: not that close. Good view and good sound was guaranteed. So Julia, Alrik and me could enjoy a nice Bob show on the first night together, all of us with sector F1 tix.

Of course the atmosphere is more tight front of stage, and we were lucky to get sector A for Julia and sector B for Alrik and me on the second night. Man, and this show was even better then the night before. Bob seemed to have had a few sakes before hitting the scene, that´s what Laurette was wondering :) She could have been right! Stu kicked off with the noodle, and then the boys appeared still shadowed because of the very limited stage lighting which is a mark of Bob shows. Then we saw the silhouette of His Bobness, and I was shocked for a second or two, when he sat down at the piano. That´s why his first song of the static setlist is delivered standing middle of the stage standing at the microphone. He did that seating in Rome last year, static set on the european tour as well as you know, but there he changed everything, and I know he enjoyed it. I was at the rail in Roma, directly in front of the piano, so you should take me serious :) But here, he just checked if the seat was well adjusted. He stood up again and whenthe lights brightened the scenery, there he was, black suit, white Zorro hat tonight, starting with the Wonderboys song. And as I said, the show was great. The japanese audience a bit calm as normally, but euphoric for seconds when they got the lyrics and realized what song he was singing. His ballads were highlights again. "Forgetful Heart" is always working, so does "Scarlet Town" and the beautiful arranged "Simple Twist Of Fate". And he even got the japanese rocking a bit with "Duquesne Whistle", waltzing with "Waiting For You" and swinging when the band get into "Spirit On The Water".

Nevertheless, for me a setlist change would add a bit "esprit" to the tour. So come on fellow Bob, give it to me. Aaaah, he´ll never do what you want, right?! That´s part of the game, so again: pay for your ticket and don´t complain. Even those of us who got their tickets for free, which happens every night. Isn´t that fantastic? If someone´s pal doesn´t show up, spare tickets are given to those who are in need. Shall I call it Bobcat´s Social Welfare?! The days I was broke, I was helped in this way, too. So thanks all of you guys out there who are part of this charity thing. I did it like this: I give what I got until I got no more, I take what I get until I even the score ;-) And now on the packed morning train down south to Hakodate. Still relaxed because I also had a short trip yesterday to the mountain area of Sapporo. Visiting and truly enjoying my visit to an old traditional Onsen there. The natural springs were so hot, I nearly got boiled, actually I felt that way. But getting used to it, it´s pure pleasure sitting in the Onsen outside, surrounded by snow covered mountains, dreaming, slowly slipping over the edge to a kind of non-thinking state of mind. I loved it. So even I´m still facing 11 more hours of train hustle, there´s a Dormy Inn waiting for me for the next 2 days in Mishima, where they have the Onsen, too. I will get well prepared for the climb of Mt. Fuji, even you are not allowed to make it to the top. It´s too early in the year, too much snow. Let´s see how high I will climb the Fuji san, I´ll let you know. In the meantime, it might be time for a coffee, but, Sara isn´t with us. And coffee without Sara, hard to accept....well that´s another story.