On a hot and humid night in Fenwick Island, Del., Jakob Dylan brought his band "The Wallflowers" in town for an evening concert under the open sky at The Freeman Stage. It’s been a long time since I last saw him, actually at the Merriweather Post Pavilion playing with the Counting Crows. And I won’t even mention my last concert there. Dylan, always sporting a hat, black T-shirt and blue jeans, played a mixture of originals and covers for their 90-minute set. They opened with "Three Marlenas", from their best selling album Bringing Down the Horse, and played a third of the nights songs from that album. Next was "Everything I Need" and "Sleepwalker". Dylan said to the crowd, "They say it’s hot here but I'm from Southern California and I'm chilly," to a laughing crowd. The first cover was the Box Tops’ "The Letter" after which Dylan said, "who brought the bugs with them?" Sometimes at the Freeman Stage on a hot and humid night, it can brins out the bugs and I did detect the smell of OFF spray waffling around more than the mother nature scent that usually waffles (but I did detect a hint of that as well). Next up was "6th Avenue Heartache," "Misfits and Lovers" and "I've Been Delivered". Continuing to be friendly with the crowd, Dylan said, "Nice town you have here, great atmosphere, and a beautiful place to play." Next cover of the night, Richard and Linda Thompson's “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight", with Dylan saying that's a new song they have been playing on tour. As the song met with applause from the crowd he said, "You guys are fantastic!" Now after "Love is a Country", and "God Don't Make Lonely Girl's", he said., "Since it’s so hot here tonight, you have to get up from all that water and/or beer you’ve been drinking and get your circulation moving ‘cause you don't want to sit still." This got the crowd up on their feet and he said, "music sounds better when you’re standing." Damn good point to me!! To end their set they finished up with "One Headlight" and "The Difference."
It always amazes me and makes me wonder why a band chooses to play some cover songs (especially when they have originals of their own) and how they come to their choices; but after a short break, they came back out and opened the encore with Sam Cooke's "Another Saturday Night" before ending the show with Big Joe William's "Baby, Please Don't Go."
It was a great night of music on a beautiful night under the sky and let’s just hope we see a new album from the Wallflowers soon; it’s been a while and Jakob is as talented as his father. Let's just see if he can last as long!!
– Gary Crouthamel, Concert Photojournalist