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“I knew a man Bojangles and he'd dance for you
In worn out shoes
With silver hair, a ragged shirt, and baggy pants
The old soft shoe
He jumped so high, jumped so high
Then he lightly touched down”

Dylan and the boys touched down in upstate New York the 99th show of the 2008 tour. Oneonta is a quiet little town tucked in among some tablerocks north east of Binghamton, south east of Syracuse, New York and due south of Montreal.
Birth place of Jerry Jeff Walker country music singer most notably famous for penning Mr. Bojangles.
This show took place in the gymnasium of SUNY Oneonta College, billed as a General Admission show and for a short time tickets for early entry were available and for once Karma brought us front row center.
We were jazzed up from Saturday’s wonderful performance in Kingston and hopeful that the show would not let us down. It all started with a romping Wicked Messenger and there was no wiping the smile off the crowd's faces.
No moss grows on a rolling stone and the freshness of It Ain’t Me Babe, The Levee’s Gonna Break, My Back Pages, High Water For Charlie Patton, Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again, had you finger snapping and toe tapping. Dancing and swaying to Dylan and the boys as they serenaded the packed to capacity gymnasium with Ballad of A Thin Man, Honest With Me, Working Man’s Blues (as the Dow Jones sinks), Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum.
The usual songs were there in the line up, Highway 61, Nettie Moore, (can one be any sadder?), and Thunder On The Mountain; nothing really new there.
Bob and the boys wrapped the evening up with a shift in the position of the encore. Like A Rolling Stone,was played as the last song of second set. Then Bob and the boys ended the evening with All Along The Watch Tower, and for the last song, (which seemed to be the highlight for most folks); Bob bagged the Harp to grab his electric guitar, and after fiddling with his tone and volume knobs found the sweet sound of Blowin’ In The Wind. Very nice.
The pied piper dressed in black suit with a yellow satin stripe up the pant leg, pointed toed boots and his usual hat, delivers some renditions of his prototypical repertoire that may cause some to pause and turn an ear and strain to hear the old familiar chord and then a smile breaks loose and you find yourself enjoying the 2008 version just as much as the 1960's version. Perhaps that is why you’re here at the 99th show enjoying the talent of this ever evolving musician and his cowboy band. It appears Dylan and his band have conquered the mundane of playing night after night, year after year by reworking the favorites of the fans. One can only imagine what boredom would ensue if these songs were delivered the same night after night from what was laid down on vinyl somewhere in the distant past. Gone are the days when he stood center stage with his acoustic guitar and belted out Mr. Bojangles but hey that is what your record collection is for.

“Will it ever cloy
This odd diversity of misery and joy
I'm feeling quite insane and young again
And all because I'm mad about the boy(s)”