Pawtucket Arts Festival Current and Past

2006 Dylan on display from the Projo

The many sides of Dylan on display

01:00 AM EDT on Friday, August 25, 2006

BY RICK MASSIMO
Journal Pop Music Writer


PAWTUCKET -- Bob Dylan's annual summer tour of minor-league ballparks came to McCoy Stadium, and the Hibbing, Minn., kid who wanted to play piano with Bobby Vee was front and center in a set with a mix of classic and recent material.

Dylan, exclusively playing an electronic keyboard that sounded as much like a calliope as anything else, came out of the gate fast with a charging garage-rock "Cat's in the Well" from 1990's Under the Red Sky album, and after a bouncing "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" pulled out the Bo Diddley-inspired "Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum" from 2001's Love and Theft.

Around the time of the 2004 tour that brought Dylan to the Ryan Center at the University of Rhode Island, much was being made of the way he was restructuring and reinventing his old material. It was true that those renditions were very different from the records, but they weren't very different from each other, particularly in the vocal-melody department.

Last night was another matter, particularly in the midsection of the show that drew 10,031. "Masters of War" was a full-band rendition, with Dylan's bursts of melody an interesting update of the seething whine of the original; "Highway 61" was faster and meaner; "Shelter from the Storm" was slower and more stately. And "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" got a nice dynamic build with the help of the band.

Dylan's voice, more ragged than ever, came out in staccato bursts that seemed, particularly on "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and "Like a Rolling Stone," designed to throw listeners off the melody and give them the lyrics with no chaser. But when he eased into low, long notes, such as on "Just Like a Woman," there was an extra tenderness that lent an air of ramshackle grandeur.

The regular set ended with a blazing "Summer Days," and on the first song of the encore, "Like a Rolling Stone," the guitars took over the signature organ part, but in general it had a nice autumnal glow, not least (again) because of Dylan's voice.

Where 40 years ago his claim to be a long-haul entertainer was iconoclastic for its ambition; now it's iconoclastic for its modesty. But it might be right on the money. He didn't utter a word the entire show until he introduced his five-piece band before the last song of the encore ("All Along the Watchtower"). He stood spectrally, his thin face glowing above his black suit. But judging from his playing and singing, the traveling-circus, mid-America vibe of the show suited him well. Two years ago, his attempts at stage banter reeked of misery. Last night, he sounded like he was having a blast.

Guitarist Jimmie Vaughan and his band preceded Dylan with a short set of the Texas-Louisiana roadhouse blues that Vaughan has made his name on, both as a solo act and as a member of The Fabulous Thunderbirds. In fact, he did the T-Birds numbers "Extra Jimmies" and Slim Harpo's "Baby, Scratch My Back."

Singer Lou Ann Barton joined Vaughan after several songs, lending her non-nonsense twang to the middle of the set, particularly on "Natural-Born Woman" and "In the Middle of the Night."

Vaughan's vocals sounded eerily like his late brother, Stevie Ray's. And while his guitar playing has never had the same jaw-dropping speed of his brother's, his tone was alternately sweet and stinging. The tempos, however, were uniformly mid- and slower, and the set could have used more of the kick of the closer, "Extra Jimmies."

Stately, black-suited, deep-voiced Junior Brown explored the territory where country and rock first met, throwing in a Spanish-language waltz and a couple of Ventures-style instrumentals for variety's sake.

Elana James and the Continental Two (which, despite their name, consisted of two electric guitars and an upright bass) opened the show with a mix of gypsy jazz and Western swing."

rmassimo@projo.com / (401) 277-7206

Pawtucket Arts Festival Rough Draft of 2009 program

Pawtucket Arts Festival 2009 - Program Lineup (to date)

July 21 (Tues.) PawSox Pre-Festival Event
(Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, John Mellancamp)


Aug. 14 (Fri.) Greek Festival 5-10pm
Aug. 15 (Sat.) Greek Festival 2-10pm
Aug. 16 (Sun.) Greek Festival 12-9pm

Aug. 23 (Sun.) Payne Park Block Party (ck. Arthur)

Aug. 28 (Friday) Festival Gala 6-11pm
Taste of Pawtucket 6-8pm
Slippery Sneakers/CJ Chenier & Red Hot Louisiana Band
YMCA/Kids Night 5:30-8pm

Aug. 29 (Sat.) Dragon Boat Races/Taiwan Day Festival (8-5pm)
Francophone - (Slater Mill) - 12-5pm
RI Antiques Mall (Appraisal Day) - 11-4pm
Pawtucket Library “Paperback Book Sale” – 12-5pm
Preservation Society – Quality Hill Tour – 1-2:30pm
Mixed Magic Theatre (Greatness of Gospel) -Amphit. – 7pm $10

Aug. 30 (Sun) Slater Mill Labor & Ethnic Heritage Festival (12-5pm)
Antique Car Show - Apex Lot - (10-3pm)
RI Antiques Mall (Dealer Day) - (11-5pm)
Mixed Magic Theatre (Greatness of Gospel) – Amp. – 7pm. $10


Sept. 4 (Fri.) Pawtucket Film Festival (big kickoff)

Sept. 5 (Sat.) Pawtucket Film Festival (2 shows)
Aurea – 8pm. St. Paul’s Church

Sept. 6 (Sun.) Pawtucket Film Festival (2 shows)
Pawtucket Nite Out – 4pm (march from Tolman to Roosevelt/Main)
Rocktucket ’09 4-11pm

Sept. 9 (Wed.) Gamm Theatre (Much Ado About Nothing) – 8pm.

Sept. 10 (Thurs.) Pawtucket Library – 7pm. (Old movies)

Sept. 11 (Fri.) Pawtucket Film Festival
Community Players "Kitchen Witches" $10 - 8pm Jenks JrHS

Sept. 12 (Sat.) Pawtucket Film Festival (2 shows)
Boys & Girls Club - "Battle of the Bands" - 10-4pm
Stone Soup Folk Fest/Arts Fest in Slater Park (10-5pm)
(1-5pm) Lindsey Adler, Superchief Trio, Santa Mamba
RI Watercolor Society - "Paint Out RI" - 9am
RI Philharmonic
4-5:30pm The Shananagans
“Pops in the Park” – 5:30pm
Community Players "Kitchen Witches" $10 - 8pm.- Jenks JrHS

Sept. 13 (Sun.) Pawtucket Film Festival (2 shows)
Stone Soup Folk Fest/Arts Fest in Slater Park - (10-5pm)
(1-5pm) Ellis Paul, The Jason Spooner Trio, Ellis Paul
Photo Contest Awards Ceremony - Visitor Center - 2pm
Community Players - "Kitchen Witches" - 2pm - $10 - Jenks JrHS
RI Watercolor Society –
“Eyes that Speak” – 1-1:45pm (classical music)
Exhibit 1-4pm (through 10/1)
Paint Out RI - (raindate)

* RI Philharmonic (raindate)

Volunteers Needed 2008

SEEKING VOLUNTEERS:
For 2009 Pawtucket Arts Festival
Pawtucket –The Pawtucket Arts Festival seeks VOLUNTEERS during the events held Aug-September 2009. Volunteers are needed for food & drink assistance, setup and cleanup, ticket collection, and parking For additional information or a full listing of events visit www.pawtucketartsfestival.org, or call Diane Agostini at (401) 724-5200

Email us
Diane@PawtucketArtsFestival.org

Festival stuff

Pawtucket Arts Festival Website