Greeting Fans During a Blackout

2003-08-20, Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY

On August 14, 2003, Bob Dylan played New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom.

Well, almost. He was supposed to play New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom. His third show in a row in the small club. But, sometime around soundcheck, the power went out.

Not just at the club. The whole city. In fact, a big chunk of the Eastern seaboard and Canada lost power. The Department of Energy calls it “the worst power blackout in history.”

There are plenty of news clips you can watch if you don’t remember this, but my favorite artifact of this moment this Conan O’Brien episode taped using a generator and the few staff members who stuck around, wearing headlamps.

The power went out at 4:15 pm. Since the Hammerstein gig was a general-admission club show, a number of Dylan fans were already in line. And who should come out to check on them but the man himself? The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported: 

Outside the Hammerstein Ballroom, a concert hall on 34th Street, a group of diehard fans of Bob Dylan were waiting for a second day. They had arrived at 5 a.m. Thursday for a Dylan concert that was canceled that night. They were hoping it would be held Friday night.

They were rewarded for their persistence when Dylan himself stopped by Thursday night to chat.

“He just came walking up and said, ‘So what do you want to ask me?’” marveled Mike Amrein of Simsbury, Conn. “Somebody asked, ‘Who dresses you?’ And Dylan said, ‘My wife,’” Amrein said.

“I come to his concerts quite often, and this was absolutely not my first night on the sidewalk,” Amrein said.

Sadly, this was just before ubiquitous camera phones or I’m sure there would be more visual evidence of this extremely un-Boblike behavior. But I found one photo of Dylan visiting with the line out on the street:

Photo by Andrea Orlandi

Some posts in old fan forums add detail. One poster notes that Dylan bailed pretty quickly when one crazy lady started asking him questions like “Can I give you a makeover?” and “Were you breastfed?” And you wonder with Dylan doesn’t spend more time hanging out with his fans…