October 13, 2012
Review by Geoffrey Hahn
I went to see Bob Dylan at the Key Arena in Seattle, WA last Saturday
night. Now, before I begin, I just want to say that I've read many of the
reviews here on the current tour. I was very excited to hear the overly
loud piano and the simplistic playing that was being described. After
all, this IS Bob Dylan - what kind of fun is HE having on this tour?
So, I get into town and get to my seat. There was a very nice (and
pretty!) young lady sitting in the seat next to me, alone at her first
Dylan show. We struck up a conversation, and I found out she was a recent
transplant from southern Vermont. This comes into play at the end of this
review, so patience...
Anyway, the lights go down and Mark Knopfler takes the stage. A fantastic
musician, whose songs have absolutely no soul in them. Very self-absorbed
stuff from Mr. Knopfler. I was bored after the second song. Nice light
show, though. The crowd only got into his set at the very end when he
played a song from his Dire Straits dasy - So Far Away From Me. There was
a pleasant folk song in there, where supposedly one of the band members
was playing a ukelele, but you could have fooled me. Now, that set needed
a sound man who knew what he was doing. Oh, well.
During the set break, when Dylans set was being set up, I was wondering
"Where the heck are all these mirrors people are bitching about?" There
were maybe 6-7 mirrors, some very small, none very large, spread around
near the front of the stage. Nothing to complain about, but this is the
21st Century, and we have to bitch about something, don't we?
Then, the lights go down, and instead of the familiar "Ladies and
gentlemen...." thing, the band comes out onto the darkened stage, led by
one of the guitarists playing a bluesy lick. The lights come up, and
Dylan is at his electric keyboard, just nailing Watching the River Flow.
I could tell from the first chords this was going to be one of THOSE
shows.
To Ramona was, simply, beautiful. The piano works beautifully, there's no
simplistic noodling, and the mix is almost perfect. The levels could have
been brought up on everyone, but I'm not going to complain. I could pick
out each musician and here what they were playing, which was much better
than the opening act.
Things have Changed was just simply monstrous. The refrain - "I used to
care, but things have changed" came across in a snarl. I was in heaven at
this point.
When they started Tangled Up In Blue, my brother turned to me and asked if
he was playine Like a Rolling Stone, but I knew better. He's back to
playing it a little closer to the album version. The rhythm guitar isn't
capo'd at the fifth fret any more. I love that version of the song, but
this one was even better. I didn't take notes, so I can't remember the
new verses, but the articulation on this song, and throughout the show,
was absolutely perfect.
Cry A While was, again, simply perfect for the moment. And again, every
word was crystal clear to me.
Hattie Carroll - This song really took on a new life with the new
arrangement. The piano, again, was sublime. The new vocal rhythms are a
treat as well.
Hollis Brown - This was the first time I'd seen Dylan sing this song, and
I'm not at all familiar with it. I'm now a big fan of this tune. That
last verse is haunting, and he delivered it with the conviction of a
Baptist preacher.
Mississippi - another first for me. I really like the second verion on
the bootleg album he put out with 2 or 3 versions, depending on how much
money you coughed up. This was completely different version (and why
not? A full band as opposed to two acoustic guitars), and extremely
moving.
Highway 61 rocks, and rocks hard with the piano driving the tune. Again,
lots of fire from the man. He seemed inspired at this point.
Rolling Stone - What can you say? It's only one of the greatest songs in
the rock and roll catalogue, delivered again with fire and great
conviction.
Watchtower - You might think that Bob plays this song whenever he's in
Seattle, what with the Jimi Hendrix connection, but that's not at all
true. The very best version of this song I've ever witnessed was at the
Champs di Brionne winery (now the Gorge), when GE Smith was in the band
and they played it while the sun was setting. This version, though, was
pretty darned good as well.
Blowing In The Wind - This was almost anticlimactic after the main set,
but the rearrangement was still, to me, thrilling to hear.
And that girl I mentioned at the beginning of this review - after the show
was over, and as she was getting ready to take off, I asked her what she
thought of the concert. From a 20-something, I wasn't expecting "That was
FUCKING AWESOME!!!", but that was her review. Enough said.
Geoffrey Hahn
Kirkland, WA
Comments by Really Real
I think the uninspiring set lists are indicative of a bigger problem -
Bob's ego is out of joint for this tour, so far. How else explain the
problem with the mix, that Bob's piano is drowning out the band. And
with Bob's elementary piano playing, and the plodding arrangements of
some of the songs, this spells trouble for the concerts. There seems to
be something of that old repetitive three note solo slipping into some
of the arrangements. Perhaps the acclaim for Tempest has made Bob a bit
too overconfident for this tour.
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