And I'll Be With You When the Deal Goes Down

Bob and I spent the evening together at his sold-out show at the Taft tonight.

He always makes me laugh a little, cry a little. I sometimes wonder if Bob even knows there is an audience there to see him. I suspect he'd play and act exactly the same whether the house was full or not.

Ol' Bob cracks me up when he turns his foot, points his boot out and moves his leg from side-to-side. That means he's really gettin' on it. And sometimes, he'll kinda bend and swing, maybe raise his arm a little. Look out. Dylan dances.

At the end he and his band came back on stage and he stood there, like he might say something, but instead he just kind of gestured his hands outward from his sides a few times, like maybe he was pointing to people off-stage but wasn't looking at them. I've seen Bob too many times to think he's going to say anything, but the crowd gets all riled up thinking he might.

My wish was granted tonight when he played When The Deal Goes Down. (The link is to the YouTube video.) I imagine myself waltzing into the sunset whenever I hear it. It always tears me down. Reminds me how mutable, how ephemeral life and relationships are.

Tonight I imagined waltzing into the sunset with Bob. I lead. Because we agreed I'm a better dancer.

I was about seven the first time I saw Bob Dylan. My parents took me with them to Elliot Hall at Purdue University. All I remember is seeing people holding up lighters into the air.

I don't know how many times I've seen him, but it's about 7 or 8. Maybe 9 or 10. Anyway, here's what he played tonight at the Taft Theater in Cincinnati except for whatever song he played third. I wasn't able to recognize enough of the lyrics to figure it out.

1. Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat

2. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

3. Something about a river? Maybe gold?

4. Love Sick

5. Rollin' and Tumblin'

6. When The Deal Goes Down

7. Blind Willie McTell

8. Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again

9. Workingman's Blues #2

10. High Water (For Charley Patton)

11. Spirit on the Water

12. Highway 61 Revisited

13. Ain't Talkin'

14. Summer Days

15. Ballad of a Thin Man

Encore

16. Thunder on the Mountain

17. Blowin' in the Wind