Second row in the section to the left of the stage right on the isle could not have been more perfect. I walked in to hear what I thought was the last strains of Ward Allen's "Maple Sugar" playing over the intercom... I wished I had entered just a tad earlier to confirm that as that would've been a major gesture on Bob's part to his one Canadian gig on the tour include a local legend's music in the entrance music. Other "entrance music" included Howlin' Wolf, Bob Wills, Tex Williams, Maddox Bros & Rose and... Wilco (with their version of Spirit On The Water, Sky Blue Sky). Enjoyable, like hearing Theme Time Radio Hour without the DJ.

With the Nag Champa lit, the mood was set - the lights went down, the old familiar sarcastic (is it sarcastic anymore though?) introduction and out come the band... and I saw Bob step out on the stage for the first time since October 13, 2007 - 10 months, the longest dry streak I've had since 2005. With Bob mixing up the setlist the two previous shows somewhat, I wondered if the Canadian detour was going to get a similar treatment.

The following is the setlist containing my thoughts, personal 5 star rating and, in brackets, the total number of times I've seen Bob play the song, including the Hamilton performance.

1 CAT'S IN THE WELL (6)
** 1/2
- The band was tight but the show started off a little rough on Bob's part... or maybe it was the audio mix needing some adjusting, but Bob was muffled and somewhat mumbley to start, which had me concerned, plus the fact that this can be a standard phone-it-jam to start a show that could also fit the mold. I had a hard time understanding Bob to start and I knew the words. But he got better towards the end of the song and the band's performance was sold throughout.

2 IT AIN'T ME BABE (6)
***
- Crowds in Southern Ontario usually live up to every cliche you can imagine about Canadians... ie, completely laid back, non-chalant, unexcitable.... or, in other words, really boring and bad crowds to play for. The crowd in Hamilton was no exception and 99% of the folks on the rail were not there to dance or get very excited.
I usually am not a dancing / moving around type as I'm there to watch, listen and learn from a master of his trade. But I felt obliged to give Bob something to feed off, or at least try, and considering I was in his eyeline, I got my chance to repeat the little connection I felt was going on in Pittsburgh (Oct11 2007), which consisted of me singing along (which, of course, is no small accomplishment considering how Bob's always trying to mix up his phrasing)... and matching his own little dance moves. I stuck out like a sore thumb with my own black bolero / bandito / gambler's pork pie hit and embroidered roses western shirt. Bob enjoys that shit - back at Comstock Park in '06, during Summer Days he spotted me on the rail, laughed and smiled and nodded. In Pittsburgh, me, Greg and Corey were the only ones standing in the first few rows and doing anything, so it seemed Bob was working on us through that show, which was a memorable experience. This was an opportunity to try it again. So anyways, I tried giving something Bob to get interested during this one. It was standard fare for Bob, but was improved over the opener. It seems Bob needs a few songs to get things in gear these days.

3 STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN (6)
***
- More standard fare from Bob, but he started to get interested in singing during this one, trying different things with the vocals... and I was out there trying to match him on it. Standing was apparently annoying the old fart fellow and his wife behind me (Them: "we want to sit down! We can't see him sitting down if you're standing up!" Me:"Then you shouldn't have bought tickets so close to the stage - sit in the stands!")
Previous versions I saw of this in 2007 (Ypsilanti and Cleveland especially) this had a nice new turn around to break it up a bit, but sadly this was removed and it was back to the Plow Through It style it was in previously. Stu kept looking for a signal from Bob, presumably if Bob was going to give up trying to make the song work right without it, but it never came. The band looked pretty stern all night, especially on this number though. Looked like work to them. I've never felt he's completely mastered this one, which might be why he's still giving it a regular turn as he's trying to wrestle something of what he feels is a definitive version out of this before giving it a rest. It was, overall, solid and, as usual, fun to hear him sing (the lyrics' humor has an added fun factor as Bob gets older and sings about getting caught beneath trucks and drinking Texas medicine and getting punched and whatnot). Still, overall, another step forward in terms of vocal quality on the night from Bob, not to mention interest.

4 GIRL OF THE NORTH COUNTRY (3)
*** 1/2
First semi-"surprise" of the night, Bob's little nod to Canada and acknowledgment of his geographical location (as he seems to enjoy doing - last time he was in London, ON, he pulled out Not Dark Yet for everyone... "I've been London / I've been to gay Pair-e"). The only show north of the "borderline" was treated to a nice version of this one. Denny, though, perhaps alluded to his dis-interest by quoting a little of "Dixie" in his guitar solo (wish I was in Dixie? Meaning perhaps he'd rather be playing something more blues based? hmmm).

5 High Water (For Charley Patton) (7)
**** 1/2
- Until this point, I had not seen this band do this song justice, as it was always played very timidly. The gloves were off on this one and they finally found a niche here and this was pretty damn good. The "loud" parts were actually played like that and George was the motivator behind the kit, pounding away to give everyone a swift kick in the ass on the turnaround / chorus.
Fun continued with Bob on this one, as he started giving me The Stare.

6 JUST LIKE A WOMAN (3)
****
- Still in the open-singalong chorus incarnation I last heard in a beautiful version in Sterling Heights in July 2007. The Detroit area crowd knew what the space in the chorus was for and eagerly sang their part (which was made even better for me with Bob Seger sitting two seats directly in front of me singing along with all his might). This was a great version, even if it took the crowd quite a while to muster the effort to sing-a-long... which they did rather poorly and lazily. Crowd gets a 1/5 on this one.
In a way though, this seemed to motivate Bob, giving him something to play for... to wake this crowd up some.

7 ROLLIN' & TUMBLIN' (4)
*****
- This got the joint rockin'. First Modern Times song of the night, seven songs in. Best version of this I've heard... band seems solid and tight. Denny is imitating Bob's vocal phrasing with some slide parts that were interesting. Another fine moment with Bob singing and dancing along with him to this one. He even smiled a few times.

8 TRYIN' TO GET TO HEAVEN (2)
****
- Only the second time I've heard this, first for me since a fantastic version at an amazing full marks show at Eastlake in August 2005. That would be hard to live up to, but this was a solid version, still in the arrangement from '05. It's nice to hear Bob sing out some prolonged notes too and this proves he's still capable of doing that when interested. This was on Jeff's personal wish list of songs to hear, so that was another benefit. My only wish list for every show is to hear something from my favorite album, Time Out Of Mind, so I was a happy camper as well. Had my little sing-a-long battle with Bob going in full force here, which would culminate in some kind of direct acknowledgment in the next song.

9 HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED (16)
**** 1/2
- There are many who think this is boring to read on a nightly basis in Bob's setlists and that he should give it a rest. I'm reminded, though, of why setlists are not really indicative of anything other than Bob's interest in song order and selections (which may or may not be challenges to the band, references to real life events, etc). This was, once again, a barn burner. I've only been to a few shows where this wasn't played, and I was glad to get it in the rollicking version presented in Hamilton. The band was tighter overall in a much sharper version than I've seen hammered out with jamming in the past (all to varying degrees of great success, I might add). And this always injects any show with a shot of adrenaline. Loved the "Go out there! Get rid of these things!" bit.
With the white lights on the crowd, Bob had a clear view of the first few rows and our little duel seemed to climax with my acknowledging my approval of the way he sung and phrased the "fifth daughter" lyric - I stopped dancing along, pointed, gave him the thumbs up and mouthed "that was good, that was really good". He smiled, nodded his appreciation, and maybe I'm completely nuts, but seemed to mouth "thank you" - and then added to the style in the next "rovin' gambler" verse and sang that even better and more trickier.

I know most fans think you're completely insane when you tell of stories like this, as Bob could slap you in the face in the street and most fans would have a hard time believing it even happened in the first place. As with most shows at the rail or in the first few rows, you get the impression that, despite Bob looking right at you, he's not actually looking at you at all. But Jeff even noticed this and was one of the first things he mentioned after the show - and he hasn't been polluted with Dylanology mythology to the point where he thinks that when someone is looking right at you and gesturing that that is not what they're doing.
So this was worth the price of admission alone right there. And, should Bob ever be bored enough to read this one day on whatever website this is posted on elsewhere, thanks - the gesture was sincere on my part, as I was indeed impressed.

10 MOONLIGHT (4)
**** 1/2
- Only the second time I've heard this with this version of the backing band, and this was great. This "Modern Times" band, shall we say, does the "Love & Theft" ballads better than Larry & Charlie for my money, one place where they are actually superior. They are better suited to subtlety and the MT ballad tracks were better than the ones on L&T as a result. This was a nice version for a nice summer's night, plus new lyrics added which I'm sure will be discussed elsewhere... new lyrics in most places are improvements.

One of those songs for me that I'm glad to get live as I completely prefer the versions of it live to the studio version.

11 IT'S ALRIGHT MA (I'M ONLY BLEEDING) (9)
*****
- I liked the previous version of this a lot, and the newer one is much sharper, trimmer and forward in it's riff and arrangement as a blues song, if that makes any sense at all. One of Bob's absolute masterpieces, so I'm never going to complain about hearing this song, but this was a fantastic version that made it blues-tough. Terrific work from the entire band, including Stu with some solid riffing on electric.

12 WHEN THE DEAL GOES DOWN (5)
****
- My favorite of the ballads from Modern Times, so I'm happy to get this one. Not as strong as the '07 versions I heard but still tastefully played. It's aging well in it's live incarnation. Only the second MT song of the night - surprising.

13 THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN (9)
*****
- best version of this new warhorse I've heard, the band let off the leash for a bit on this one and they've worked it into a solid number. Ending jam was terrific as they played with the riff a bit. Bob enjoys singing this one.

14 AIN'T TALKIN' (2)
*****
- Only my second Ain't Talkin' - the first being Oct13 2007 in Columbus. Great version. Red stage floor lights seperate the band from the audience, which turns things insular on stage to the benefit of the song, which was very focused and well played. Great mood from the lighting folks on this - red tinted from the floor, suggesting they're making their way past the hellish fires of a world gone very wrong.

After only one MT song for the first three quarters of the main set, one might have thought Bob was dropping his faith in those new songs but with the main set ending with three solid, improved versions of MT songs, he managed to prove they're still effective and haven't yet reached their full potential yet. More versions up to the quality of this one tonight and some of the MT doubters might be convinced.

(ENCORE)
15 LIKE A ROLLING STONE (11)
****
- Another of Bob's absolute masterstrokes and another song I will never tire of hearing. Good, suitable version as usual. Always very strange to watch a crowd sing-a-long to such mean, spiteful misery. This had been given a little bit of a break, but I was glad to get it regardless. George threw a double-bass triplet in towards the end, which caused Bob to go over to him after the lights went down and have a good laugh.

16 ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER (17)
*****
- This too had been given something resembling a break previously, and it appears to have served it well. Solid, tight and (actually) a major highlight of the night in terms of band performance and Bob's vocals. By this time, the crowd had been won over, Bob accomplished his mission, they lined up and that was that.

Bob is obviously aging on us all here, and he was showing signs of the length of a show and constantly standing for that amount of time at his age (67) is getting to him... I've never seen him stretch (specifically his legs) so much, even during songs. Even more alarming was seeing him uncomfortably squat beside his keyboard to stretch his knees and legs... and then again during the lineup formation at the end of the show before the lights came back on to reveal the band. He may not feel like the fightin' rooster he sang about on L&T's Cry A While, but at least he's still willing to fight, even if he knows he's only going to win a few more battles from this point on but is, inevitably, going to lose the war. More than a few moments in the Hamilton show reminded me I'm still learning things from Bob and the fights - and the battle to torture the metaphor here - is worth witnessing.

Overall, a good show that had a slow start but managed to work it's way up to being above average by the end.

7.5/10