Reviews

Watched Lisbon on 22 and Madrid on 27th March. Bob's vocals have collapsed. 
Wheras there have always been moments of magic even last year he now 
can't even keep his vocals in place on the covers when he sings slowly in a 
higher octave. The great lyrics and presence  remain but the effective delivery 
of the songs has gone. The arrangements are plodding and can't hide the 
deficiencies whether you recognise the songs or not. After 40 years of 
enjoying live performances I will remain a massive fan of his artistry and hope 
for a miracle to recover his vocal chords.

Paul Foster 

When Bob Dylan electrified his sound first time accompanied by a
blues-rock band at the 1965 Newport Festival, not only many of his
followers were horrified; the singer-songwriter and organizer of the
event, Pete Seeger, said: "Damn it, if I had an axe, I'd cut the cable right
now.”

Last Tuesday 27 in Madrid the spirit of Seeger appeared in the symphonic
hall of the National Auditorium and yes, it cut the sound of the mic and
the piano of Dylan before finishing, forcing to stop almost twenty minutes
the show and provoking not only some whistles, but above all that the
repertoire will be shortened in two habitual subjects of this new delivery
of the "Never Ending Tour".

Accumulated 76 years of existence, its vital route encloses a mountain of
music and lyrics, almost unattainable, almost inaccessible, making part of
its program almost unrecognizable if one does not understand or identify
the semantic collage that has earned him the Nobel; and on Tuesday,
sometimes it was difficult not only because of his diction and the power
of his microphone, but also because of the poor sound, with obvious
technical problems from the beginning, with echoes and reverberation. A
pity, since for three nights in a row the headquarters of the Spanish
National Orchestra opened for electric rock for the first time in its
history; and maybe for that reason, only when the band played replacing
the electric mandolin by the violin or the electric bass for the cello,
the sound was kinder, as if the hall recognized that these stringed
instruments were on "their" stage. It is true that the third change,
"Highway 61 Revisited" produced a turn for the better. For "Melancholy
Mood" Dylan leaves his piano and goes to the center of the stage, with
those white boots and that cowboy pose, refreshing the Sinatra songbook.
And he turns to his keys to attack with delicious surf rhythm "Honest
With Me". Keep playing over and over again, even with "Tangled Up In
Blue", syncopated and slowed down, or with "Early Roman Kings" with a
base in spiral blues. As every night for a long time recited singing the
120 verses of "Desolation Row", a delight, approaching the final stretch
that ended Tuesday before time, and finished off with two classics like
"Blowin' In The Wind" and "Ballad Of A Thin Man. "

After diving for almost 90 minutes in this new exhibition of the "Dylanita
Universe", the images and changing ideas that for days restate the
privilege of having been there, enjoying once again. It's Bob.

Ricardo Danko