Robert Hunter
March 31, 2003
The Odeon
Cleveland, OH
Had a lot of fun at Hunter last night. I was prepared for a small crowd and it was actually a little bigger than I thought. Maybe 4-500 people total. Arrived in Cleveland at about 6:30. Had a beer and watched the Indians blow their lead twice versus Baltimore. Went into the venue, which was sort of a warehouse and walked right up to the rail front row center at about 7:30. As usual Hunter had a "living room" set up on stage. An Oriental rug surrounded by a love seat, a chair and a table, with a few plants and lamps to add to the effect. The show was about as close as I am likely to get to seeing him actually play in my living room. I was so close and could see and hear everything. Hunter came on at about 8:15 and launched right into "Candy Man" which settled the somewhat rowdy crowd down for awhile. Next was "Cruel White Water" which is a great solo song of his. I think it is from Tiger Rose, which I need to get I guess.
A rearranged version of Silvio followed. It was a little slower and spookier than the way Dylan does it. Also, in the first set were "Liberty", "Mission in the Rain" and "Cumberland Blues". He closed out the set with a nice extended "Doin' That Rag" which really worked as a solo song.
Overall the sound was very good. Hunter again used a headset microphone just like Brittney Spears. I thought it was tweaked much better than last time I saw him, where it seems like you could hear every breath (which was distracting).
The second set included solid versions of "Uncle John's Band", "Stagger Lee", "Wharf Rat", and "Easy Wind" segued into "Mr. Charlie". He also played a relatively new song called "Into the Blue" which was really good and well received. He closed out the set with a sing along of "Scarlet Begonias" which was nice.
Even though the "Ripple" encore was predictable, it was still nice to hear and a crowd pleaser. As usual he ended the night with the accapella, "Boys in the Barroom" which is always a highlight for me. Standing about six feet from the Hunter as he stood there on stage with his guitar at his side singing "Boys in the Barroom" with his arms outstretched made the drive home totally worth it. That and the fact that I found an AM station with Coast to Coast Live. The new guy George now has a "Time Traveler Hotline" where only Time Travelers can call in.
Jer Out