Reviews

The Australian 2001 tour kicked off in Perth. Support artist Paul Kelly is a local 
legend of his own and gave a nice set assisted by the Bull sisters (of The Black 
Sorrows fame).

Bob hit the stage dressed in white looking fit and healthy going straight into 
Roving Gambler. This was my first Dylan show since 2 Melbourne and 2 Sydney shows 
in 1998. It was the first opportunity to see Charlie Sexton and find that he fits 
nicely into the balance of the sound. Roving Gambler was the same as performed over 
the past few years.

Next off, Mr Tambourine Man. Really liked this version, Dylan snarled out the lines 
with harshness although the lyrics were clear. I liked this effect. I had been 
listening to the two Portsmouth 2000 shows before heading to the show and the vocal 
delivery of this song was harsher than what I had heard from those UK shows and for 
that matter over the last few years (it stuck in my mind).

The familiar notes of Desolation Row rang out now. Dylans is really in fine voice 
at the moment. Some lovely guitar work by Larry. Being 5 rows from front you really 
pick out the beautiful acoustic duelling that Dylan, Larry and Sexton enter into.

The first electric song followed. Stuck Inside Of Mobile. Standard delivery but nice 
to hear it as its appearance seems to be rare these days. There was no standing 
allowed at the front and was feeling that this may reduce the interaction Dylan's 
needs to have with the audience. Dylan however pulled out a lovely Just Like A 
Woman which hit the right note (pardon the pun) with the Perth crowd.

Till I Fell in Love With You followed, a slight change to the TOOM/1998 tour version 
but like these minimal difference which would be best described as an extra note 
thrown in before the "Till I Fell in Love with You" line 9hope memory serves me 
well on that! But still similar to LP version.

That melodic intro to Don't Think Twice followed. Always liked Larry's playing on 
this one. Dylan threw in a harp solo to finish it off. I was surprized when Visions 
of Johanna followed especially in the same set as Desolation Row. Nice version as 
per recent tours.

The tempo upped into Tangled Up In Blue. Larry broke a string and there was a guitar 
change for you. Usual acoustic interplay went down.

First big smile came next, Standing in The Doorway. Just really liked hearing this, 
Dylan delivered his vocals wonderfully on this. Wicked Messenger leapt forth. Really 
liked this as well. Dylan finished with a harp solo but the song seemed to finish 
bit to soon (I was hoping for another solo or two!). After huddling around for team 
discussion, Rainy Day Woman finished the set. Even though it has been staple fare 
in the past it was nice way to close set.

ENCORE

Love Sick kicked off the encore. Normal run through. Like A Rolling Stone followed 
and this is a song that seems to be going really well at the moment and shows Larrys 
and Charlies interplay complementing Dylan nicely.

Dogs Run Free was nice to have. Very nightclub jazz/beat generation feel. Nice change 
to things. Watchtower was a welcome friend to hear next. Charlie played nice riffs 
on this.

Forever Young had Charlie/Larry providing backing vocals and was a nice but staple 
run through.

Highway 61 was the cream of the night, Larry was ace on it!!. Finally the evening 
ended with the ever present finale Blowing In The Wind.

All in All, a great start to the Oz tour especially as there was no front of stage 
standing allowed. Highlights: MR TAMBOURNE MAN, JUST LIKE A WOMAN, STANDING IN THE 
DOORWAY,WICKED MESSENGER, ROLLING STONE and HIGHWAY 61.

Sean Tanner
Perth, Australia

This was the first of seven concerts for us this tour, and our first
visit fom Melbourne to Western Australia. What a lovely part of the
world it is, we spent a few days touring the south-west, marvelling at the
Giant Tingle Trees and wading with the dolphins in warm sunny weather.

Our Perth hotel is across the road from the Entertainment Centre, so we
fill the (rather nervous and tense) pre-concert hour watching the faithful
rolling up for the show - talk about "The Power of One"! The venue is
filled close to its 8,500 capacity, with a strange seating set-up of a low
wooden fence enclosing the floor seat area.This is narrow enough to allow
standing room at the sides, so I drift down from my upper-level seat and
take up a spot 7 rows back on the fence with an unobstructed stage view. I
find myself among twenty-somethings who respond enthusiastically
throughout the show, with much dancing and ecstatic squealing. There is a
wonderfully warm vibe about the place right from the outset, with Paul
Kelly's set very well received. The tension builds as we wait for The
Moment-the familiar "Ladies and gentlemen..." and we're away with the
Roving Gambler in the gleaming white suit, the band are all go right from
the start, Bob looks fitter than last tour and amazingly accurate with the
lyrics. The sound is perfect, every word is clear - that French sound
system is worth every centime! The response from the crowd is wonderful,
they're right into it from the beginning, a whole series of standing
ovations seems to lift the music to greater heights.

Highlights: Bob's harp playing, improved out of sight since last tour's
tentative efforts.  The Wicked Messenger - absolutely searing rendition, I
thought Patti's version was good, but this took it to another level.
Standing in the Doorway, one of my absolute favourites,
starts beautifully and would have been a highlight, but lost it's way
lyrically - oh well! maybe next time.  Watchtower and Hwy61 -  simply smokin'
Desolation Row and Visions in the one show!

The show ends with 8,000 folk heading off into the night on a real high,
everyone  smiling. We feel very lucky to have six more shows to look
forward to.

Sue