By Dan Bray (December 18, 2002)

What comes to mind when someone says the words "Bob Dylan Live"? If you asked most musically literate people, they would probably say a few of the following things: An old, barely mobile man on stage, playing obscure acoustic songs by himself. What fans got last Friday at the Patriot Center was something completely different. Dylan came out with a full band that included two guitars. Dylan also played the electric guitar several times. He and the band played with surprising energy and emotion. Dylan was even seen to smile at times during the concert.

They opened the show with an energetic version of "Maggie’s Farm" that seemed to instantly draw everyone in.. Dylan continued to play crowd favorites such as "Highway 61 Revisited" and "I’ll Remember You." Dylan continued to surprise the crowed, alternating between acoustic, electric, and keyboards. Of particular note were "Things Have Changed" and "It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)." Dylan seemed almost out of character when he and the band played their cover of the Rolling Stones’ song "Brown Sugar."

Dylan was joined on vocals by guitarist Charlie Sexton, who displayed his impressive talents on guitar throughout the concert. The cover seemed to epitomize the previously unseen energy that Dylan and his band exhibited during the two-hour set. The other notable cover of the night was "Old Man" by Neil Young. Dylan covered the song masterfully, and the crowd applauded for several minutes afterward.

Unquestionably, the most electrifying song of the night was an inspired version of the Dylan classic "All Along the Watchtower". Dylan and Sexton played an electric version that sounded more like Hendrix than anything else. The song capped off a night in which Dylan showed that an old man can still outplay, outwrite, and outlast the new wave of singer/songwriters who the music industry props up as poets of the new century.

Playlist for Bob Dylan’s Concert at the Patriot Center:
1.Maggie's Farm
2.I'll Remember You
3.Highway 61 Revisited
4.Accidentally Like A Martyr (Song by Waren Zevon)
5.Things Have Changed
6.Brown Sugar (song by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards)
7.Boots Of Spanish Leather (Acoustic)
8.It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (acoustic)
9.Positively 4th Street
10.Drifter's Escape
11.Shelter From The Storm (acoustic)
12.Old Man (acoustic) (Song by Neil Young)
13.Honest With Me
14.The Times They Are A-Changin' (acoustic)
15.High Water (For Charley Patton)
16.Mutineer (Song by Warren Zevon)
17.Bye And Bye
18.Summer Days
(encore)
19.Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic)
20.All Along The Watchtower