May 2, 2009
Review by Paul Ryan
Strange to tell, I've been on a Bob-free break since the autumn. Not quite
as thought out as the Bob-fasts that some others used to employ as
preparation for extended tour pilgrimages, but effective nonetheless. Not
a single download and, to be brutally honest about it, I've felt quite
liberated about that.
Since the tour started I've weakened a bit and read some of the reviews.
And I listened to the new album this afternoon. (It's far from being bad,
but I am glad it's only 45 minutes or so in length. As soon as I got Love
and Theft, I played it through half-a-dozen times in a row and then many
times thereafter. Modern Times I played twice - ever. Let's see about this
one . . . ) Still hadn't heard any recent live stuff, though.
Tonight's show in Glasgow started with Maggie's Farm, which was tight with
decent vocal. Following that was Don't Think Twice, which was equally well
delivered.
I fell to musing about how I might describe the concert. What came to mind
was something along the lines of: "the band has found an efficient groove,
which it carries over from song to song, with some small variations in
arrangement and tempo serving as faint acknowledgements of the original
tunes concerned". It wouldn't have been a rave review, but I would have
elaborated a bit to make it sound less grudging.
While I was musing, the groove was transformed into a 12-bar over which
Bob sang the lyrics of one of songs. (In fact, it was 'Till I Fell In Love
With You, but it wouldn't really have mattered what it was; the words were
subordinate to the rhythm.) And then on it went to become the next song.
Various tabloid-style summations went through my mind: Beyond Here Lies
The Next Song and so on.
But something was bothering me about this line of thought. None of my
descriptions was quite hitting the mark. Then it dawned on me . . . the
simple truth was that I was enjoying myself. Perhaps it was the effect of
the Bob-fast. Perhaps it was the fact that my son is now 16, so I no
longer have to spend half my time worrying about whether he can see
properly. No matter the explanation, this was so much better than the last
few times I'd seen Bob and his band.
The band is the same. It's not that they were playing much better. The
answer was straightforward: as always, it's all about Bob. He can't sing
and he can't dance (not that he ever could), but what he isn't anymore is
that bent-double old geezer with the wolfman voice. (God! The awfulness of
the Sam Cooke tribute . . .) Now, he's as upright as any soon-to-be 68
year-old can reasonably expect to be. Whilst his vocal range remains
limited, he's actually carrying the tune for a change.
Hattie Carroll was pretty good. It was Christopher Ricks who first drew
my attention to this song, pointing out among other features the use of
the dramatic pause in "William Zanzinger with a . . six month sentence".
Clearly, Bob's aware of the Ricks observation, because - old ham that he
is - he both extended the pausing almost to parody and doubled it up for
good measure, to become something akin to ""William Zanzinger . . . . . .
with a . . . . . . . six month sentence".
Whilst I'd still prefer to hear High Water, what we got was a
more-than-decent rendition of Levee's Gonna Break. The groove was being
sustained. Then came Workingman's Blues.
Now, as I've said, Modern Times is far from my favourite album. In the
same way as the L&T songs really blossomed live, however - even the
not-so-good ones - the same has been true for the MT ones (even the real
clunkers). I'm one of those who were appalled by Dylan's appeal during
Live Aid on behalf of US farmers. I still think it was inappropriate, but
I've learned to look upon that more charitably. The Civil Rights struggle
is so long ago now that the songs that drew on it for inspiration are now
either period-piece curios or reduced to being concert sing-alongs,
stripped of any context and meaning. WMB, on the other hand, speaks to
today, to those of us in the West who are experiencing an inexorable
economic decline, reinforced by the karmic payback for colonial
exploitation that is outsourcing to the developing nations. We're all
Mid-West farmers now, and Bob nails it in this song. I don't know - or
care - if tonight's performance of WMB was among his best or not, but for
me it was the highlight of the show.
And on it went. Hollis Brown was perhaps the weakest of the night, but
that's not to say it was bad. Even Honest With Me was half-good, which it
has no right to be. At previous concerts I've experienced a pronounced
mid-show dip, but that didn't happen tonight.
The main set ended with a really-quite-good LARS and the encore set
started with a decent AATW. Then came the dip: not even tonight's groove
could make a silk purse out of the sow's ear that is Spirit On The Water.
The finale of BITW made a valiant attempt at rescuing matters.
If this is what fasting results in, then I recommend it to you all. Now
that I've broken my fast, I wonder how I'll find Edinburgh tomorrow. It
may not matter because, as sure as fate, Bob will put on a different show
altogether.
Review by Jan P. Jessen
I have have witnessed more than thirty Dylan shows since 1984. While I
was at his concert in Glasgow, I felt that it was the best Dylan concert
that I had ever been to.
One reason for this was that Dylan's singing voice has improved
considereably - I can't remember having heard his voice so strong since
the mid-90's. I can't understand why this fact hasn't been reported by
others in the audiences or by professional reviewers on this tour. Already
when I heard Dylan's voice in Copenhagen on this tour, it was obvious to
me that things had changed for the better. Dylan's physical ability to
sing his own songs is the foundation on which his career lies - so any
improvement of his singing voice is of essential importance.
His selection of songs was well-balanced between newer and older stuff
and well-known and lesser known songs.
Dylans delivery of songs was excellent: Every word was pronounced and
sung thoroughly throughout the entire show. His punctuation was funny
and stunning at times.
The audience was wild and enthusiatic - which gave the whole experience
an extra thrill.
If people of Bob's staff might read this: If you see him say hello - and
heartfelt THANKS.
Jan P. Jessen
Denmark"
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