Santa Barbara Bowl Santa Barbara, California Sept. 27, 2000 Jump down to... Nicky Fletcher's early review (more reviews coming) Also See: The show details. A Santa Barbara News Press review.

1. Motorcycle Mama
2. Powderfinger
3. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
4. I Believe In You   [electric]
5. Unknown Legend   [electric]
6. Fool For Your Love
7. Buffalo Springfield Again
8. Razor Love
9. From Hank To Hendrix
10. Daddy Went Walkin'
11. You And Me
12. Walk On
13. Winterlong
14. Bad Fog Of Loneliness
15. Words (Between The Lines Of Age)
16. Harvest Moon
17. World On A String
18. Tonight's The Night   [on piano]
    Encore 1
19. All Along The Watchtower
    Encore 2
20. Mellow My Mind
21. Down By The River

Something extraordinary happened tonight in Santa Barbara. Admittedly i was in the front row which always makes a huge difference, but you could tell a few songs in that this was a great crowd. Like the response DURING Razor Love, for instance, was amazing. And that Neil and the band were definitely affected by that.

Neil kept commenting on what a great crowd it was. By the 2nd solo in Words i was thinking that in my 30 years of listening to Neil this was the most sublime moment i've ever had. (Apart, possibly, from that day in '71 when a friend sat me down and said i think you should listen to this and played me After the Goldrush.) And it just got better from there.

i saw each night at the Greek and he was brilliant there (except maybe the last night there) -- but this was something else. The crowd was beaming. Neil and the band were beaming. (Duck Dunn is a dead giveaway when he's happy.) Even the road crew was beaming.

Tonight's The Night was the most extraordinary, long and brilliant version i've ever heard.

Then they went off, i think (i'm a bit vague about the exact order as i think we transcended the setlist!) but came back for a most intense and endless Watchtower. Then off again, then back for Mellow My Mind. Then half-way off, but Neil came back to the front and put on Old Black. He mentioned how we still had time before curfew. Someone came on stage and whispered in his ear, and Neil said "Six minutes and counting..." and started playing Down By The River. The rest of the band were still coming onto the stage!

So we had the most intense six minutes (at least) of DBTR. Then Neil thanked us again, and we thanked him, and we all went home bathing in the afterglow.

i remember once David Bryne explaining how just occasionally a band and the audience will become one -- i think that happened tonight. i actually felt like we were really involved!

The obvious thing to do next would be to go to tomorrow's show as well, but i don't think i'll risk it. It could never be as good as tonight! But if it is -- well, that'll be a very lucky crowd.

Oh, i got a pick. : )

Thanks Neil,
    Nick

(more reviews coming soon... --RE*AC*TOR)