I was there / I’m Not There
My good luck (either directly or by association) continued this week when I scored free tickets from CMJ.com to the Bob Dylan tribute show at the Beacon Theater. The show was put on in conjunction with the forthcoming Todd Haynes Dylan “biopic” I’m Not There. The concert featured several artists on the film’s soundtrack covering songs by His Royal Bobness, with 100% of the proceeds going to 826 National, a non-profit organization that helps students with creative writing.It was a decidedly ramshackle affair, probably hastily assembled with whichever artists were without prior commitments (thus, heavy hitters from the soundtrack such as The Hold Steady, Stephen Malkmus, Eddie Vedder, Cat Power, Sufjan Stevens, etc. were absent). But amongst those who did show up were My Morning Jacket, Mark Lanegan, Yo La Tengo, J. Mascis, John Doe, Lee Renaldo and others of esteem.There were some sloppy moments, such as the laughably awful rendition of “All I Really Want To Do” by an obviously stoned Edward Shapre & The Magnetic Zeros (complete with utter tunelessness and constantly flubbed lyrics) and the sight of punk legend John Doe in an ill-fitting suit, singing “Ballad Of A Thin Man” with the aid of a lyric sheet.But those cringe-worthy moments were offset by highlights such as Lanegan’s perfectly growly “Man In The Long Black Coat”, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” by two blokes from the band Gomez, Tift Merritt’s soulful “Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall”, and Mason Jennings’ “Times They Are A-Changing”. But the most thrilling portion of the evening was The Roots’ re-imagination of “Masters Of War”, which completely brought the house down.
Set list:
When The Ship Comes In’ (Marcus Carl Franklin)
‘Billy 1’ (Calexico)
‘Goin’ To Acapulco’ (Jim James and Calexico)
‘Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)’ (Joe Henry with Calexico)
‘Long Black Coat’ (Mark Lanegan with Calexico)
‘All I Really Wanna Do’ (Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros)
‘It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry’ (Al Kooper and the Funky Faculty with the Uptown Horns)
‘As I Went Out One Morning’ (Mira Billotte and the Million Dollar Bashers)
‘Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright’ (Ian Ball and Olly Peacock)
‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ (Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks)
‘Rainy Day Women #12 & 35’ (Terry Adams)
‘I Wanna Be Your Lover’ (Yo La Tengo)
‘Fourth Time Around’ (Yo La Tengo)
‘Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You’ (My Morning Jacket)
‘The Times They Are A-Changin” (Mason Jennings)
‘Pressing On’ (John Doe)
‘Buckets Of Rain’ (Jimmy LaFave)
‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ (Tift Merritt)
‘Can’t Leave Her Behind’ (Lee Ranaldo and the Million Dollar Bashers)
‘Santa Fe’ (J Mascis and the Million Dollar Bashers)
‘Ballad Of A Thin Man’ (John Doe and the Million Dollar Bashers)
‘Masters Of War’ (The Roots)
‘All Along The Watchtower’ (The Million Dollar Bashers and guests)
The Roots performing Masters Of War at Coachella:
Wolf Songs For Lambs 