Reviews

Hamburg, Germany

CCH (Congress Center Hamburg)

October 19, 2013


[Gerhard Reininger], [Karl Seidler ]

Review by Gerhard Reininger



When Bob & his band had finished the set and the crowd left the venue
like a flock of sheep that had been abandoned by the shepard I passed
the Wannabe-Dylan-minstrel-boys outside the building who tried to make
some money in the rain and I came across the
non-official-merchendise-t-shirt-sellers and of course I bought one as a
souvenir. Tour dates had been printed on the back and a collection of
Dylan portraits from several decades where shown on the front side. I
grabbed the shirt and payed the man and stuffed it into my jacket to
protect it from the rain and to carry it home, not knowing which of the
Bob Dylans shown on the shirt I had been with for the last two hours and
- much more - which of them I would have liked to see.
 
The show was straight and clear. Dylan himself was in good shape.
Dressed in black without a hat and standing behind the mic like a cowbow
he performed with great routine and - maybe - with pleasure. He was
great at the harp, clear and sharp, for me the harp sequenzes where the
essence of the show. He simply is a master on that. 
 
I had followed the reviews before and thought I was well prepared. Of
course I was not. The venue was completely seated and the stage rather
small. The Dylan-Eye-curtain had been hung up very loosely because the
stage was not wide enough to stretch it. This might have been a symbol
for the show - the curtain, the musik, the songs, Dylan himself didnīt
have enough space to unfold. And the audience had no change to get
closer. Anybody who had come only for the music must have been
disappointed. But - to be honest - who comes to a Dylan-Show for the
music? Who watches a Marilyn-Monroe-movie for the dialogues? Everybody
who goes to Dylan knows the lyrics by heart and also knows how the songs
"could" sound like.
 
I thought about that all night long and tried to find out if I had to be
disappointed or not. And then I realised how it really was. Having
another look at the merchandising shirt with the portraits I knew that
my eyes had watched the old man barking out the songs into our faces. No
more and no less. But my soul had been together with the human being
that had been wearing all those faces during his life and had been
writing all these songs on which it is fed. To breathe the same air with
this man for a while and to be part of his world is worth it ... again
and again.
 
Thanks Bob!

[TOP]

Review by Karl Seidler



When Bob entered the stage he looked to me like a combination of  Marlene
Dietrich and Charlie Chaplin. "Things have changed" was a great opener.
Which artist or which Band is able to open a gig with a song like that?
Most of the other artists  would save it for later in the setlist. Anyway
- Bob seemed to be very concentrated and was really deep into  it. The
Band reminds me in visual aspects to the Partridge Family or the Osmonds
5 - but playing like nothing else i have had seen before in my life (and
that was a lot over the last 30 years!). The songs (some had new grooves
- some had new arrangements) of the sets were perfectly mixed - the
sound was great. So what more can one ask for. The new songs fits
perfectly to the other stuff and it all sounded like  "one great ride".
All in all it was a amazing great evening and i think it`s impossible to
find someone else who is able to do something like that. Thank you Bob -
thanks to the band (they are all great players ) and the road crew. Be
saved

Karl Seidler 
 

[TOP]

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