Gallo Center Review
Jakob Dylan gets friendly at the Gallo Center Gala
By SceneIt_Marjike 8.22.08
Jakob Dylan was in a chatty mood with the crowd at the Gallo Center for the Arts second season opening-night gala Friday.
The frontman for The Wallflowers and son of Bob Dylan strode on stage without a word and launched into three songs with his three-piece, nattily-dressed backing band before addressing the crowd. But after his music-only introduction, the 38-year-old musician chatted amiably with the crowd for the rest of the night.
“Thank you,” said the lanky, dark-haired Dylan. “We have some new songs to play and we have some old songs to play. We're going to play them all.”
While he promised the old familiar favorites, the vast majority of Dylan's set came from his recently-released solo debut, “Seeing Things.”
Dylan's band was dressed for the gala night in black, slim-fit suits, but Dylan himself wore a more casual, all-black ensemble. The 400-seat theater, which was about three-quarters full, was a mix of dressed-to-the-nines attendees and cargo-shorts wearing fans. Dylan noticed and commented on how quiet and polite the audience was throughout.
“I don't want to put any of you on the spot, but you guys here with the suits and ties – what's going on?....Are you super fans?”
Then, less than a half hour into the show, one of his true super fans, Ann Quimby of Orange, was asked to leave her front-row seat by security for taking pictures of Dylan. The subdued argument, played out for the entire theater, had Quimby at first refuse to leave and then forcibly removed by security. Dylan couldn't help but take note.
“I'm not used to so much security,” he joked afterward. “I'm used to a lot of insecurity....Let's get her back in here.”
After a couple songs, Quimby was allowed to return to her seat and Dylan shook her hand from the edge of the stage.
“What happened to you? Where'd you go; what'd you do?” he asked, amiably. “You came all the way from Orange County to see me? Well that's far. I came all the way from Missouri (his previous night's stop) to see you. I'm glad you're back. I'm going to play you a song for your efforts. I appreciate it.”
Dylan's solo album is an acoustic affair where he plays most of the instruments, yet his live show was more upbeat with his capable backing band providing leads and fills. Mid-way through the evening they left for two songs while Dylan played alone with his guitar.
The night's only Wallflowers song came toward the end of his 14-song set. After completing “Three Marlenas,” he said, “I just didn't want anyone to think I wouldn't address the past. It's important for our evolution.”
Dylan dedicated his set's final song, “On Up the Mountain,” to his mother-in-law who was in the crowd. He apologize for having to leave, saying the band had to fly cross-country that night.
The crowd thanked him with a standing ovation, and Dylan obliged with a one-song encore.
“If I had my way we'd stay all night,” he said. “I don't know what you guys do here, it seems a little quiet. I did see a train station, or now a bus station. But we'd stay.”
