Greater Sudbury Northern Life
From listening to the roars of applause after most of his songs, Bob Dylan and his band pleased thousands of fans, young and old, Thursday at the Sudbury Arena.
"I loved the concert, said Matt McLean, manager of Books & Beans, a cafe on Durham Street. "The energy in the crowd was great."
McLean was not sure if it was the show that Dylan and his band put on or the fact that the folk music legend was right before his eyes that mattered most.
"I was just in awe," he said.
His boss, Liana Bacon, owner of Books & Beans, said the show "was very nice."
Their cafe is noted for playing a number of Bob Dylan albums regularly, including the rare bootleg Talking Bear Picnic Mountain Blues from the 1960s.
"People tell us it is nice to hear him," said Bacon.
The crowd at the arena got worked up over renditions of famous Dylan tunes from the past including Watching The River Flow, Mr. Tambourine Man, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Girl From The North Country, It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding), Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine), Highway 61 Revisited, and ending with an encore of Like A Rolling Stone and the epic All Along The Watchtower.
Many in the audience said the band backing Dylan was tight. While Dylan's voice had a raspy quality, some preferred it.
"I knew by the voice it was Dylan," said Glen Dahl.
Some fans commented negatively on the acoustics of the Sudbury Arena. But Rebecca Ziegler-Girouard said she just kept moving around the arena to catch the best sound.
"The arena is not the perfect venue, but it is a great venue. It allows me to move around at will," said Ziegler-Girouard.
"I love the man (Dylan). He sits in my heart. He is very cool."
Sarah Kettle said she likes the way Dylan plays his
repertoire of songs "his way."
After the show, Dylanmania continued at the Townehouse, across
from the arena.
Though Dylan did not stop by after the show (he had the next day off), a number of local musicians took the stage and played songs from his vast songbook.
The line-up included Matt Foy, Christopher Dardick, Brian Dunn, Nathan Lawr, Paul Loewenberg, Kate Maki, Nick Krawczuk and Don Kunto. They played for hours to the delight of the packed crowd, many of whom had just arrived from the arena.
Young and old danced to the Dylan renditions.
