Courtesy photo - Jakob Dylan showed not just musical ability in his show at the Nugget on Friday night, but also an ability to interact with his audience.
The intimate setting of the Celebrity Showroom at John Ascuaga's suited Dylan's performance. He kept up a dialog with his audience, responding to every “We love you Jakob!” with a heartfelt, “We love you, too.” Dylan and his band's casual open-mic-night style was offset by the band's attire. Had it not been for the guitarist's red Converse sneakers, the group could have been mistaken for the attendees of a formal dinner, with all three members of The Gold Mountain Rebels sharply dressed in black suits and ties.
Dylan continued his conversation when someone yelled, “That one's my favorite!”after the band played “Valley of the Low Sun.” Dylan laughed and began his next song “Evil is Alive and Well,” by saying, “This is your other favorite song,” which seemed to be true for many audience members. The sound of this song was very full, with the bassist and drummer on back-up vocals. The slide guitar lent to the country sound of Dylan's music, and many audience members tapped out the catchy drum beat out on their laps.
Dylan once again exhibited his ability to entertain his crowd when he asked, “Where's everybody going?” after his band left so that Dylan could perform two solo songs, one of which was “Josephine,” a song Dylan originally wrote for the group The Wallflowers. This song was clearly a favorite for the women in the crowd. Dylan couldn't help but laugh mid-song when a potential groupie took the lyric “I could stay the night” as an invitation to attempt to join Dylan on stage. Dylan was a good sport about it, allowing the adoring fan on stage so that she could get a picture taken with him. Other lines in the song, like “You must taste like sugar,” were met with shrill screams and applause. Dylan showcased his brassy singing style in this song, and despite the fact that his band was not playing along with him, the music sounded full, his singing ability overshadowing the lack of other musical accompaniment.
The Gold Mountain Rebels rejoined Dylan for the next song, “All Day and All Night,” which had a poppy feel and a funky bass line. The song featured syncopation and some other interesting techniques by the percussionist, who switched his sticks out for mallets. Each song following “All Day and All Night” was met with a standing ovation and an increasingly enthusiastic response from the audience.
The performance was wrapped up by Dylan explaining that he had played the first song he ever recorded and then the last song. He described, “I think we've covered the entire span of my career.”
Dylan returned to his simplistic musical style, featuring his voice and guitar for the two encore songs. After the first song of the encore, Dylan had another conversation with the audience about gambling, explaining that even good people have to play the tables every once in a while.
The final song was “Everything I need,” which was also originally written for the Wallflowers. Many members of the audience stood for the second half of this song and applauded Dylan at the climax when he was belting out lyrics, singing with everything he had.
By the end of the performance, after several conversations with audience members, Dylan seemed as though he were a Sparks native. His performance showed that he is not only a musician, but is an all-around entertainer, able to keep his audience engaged and excited.
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