Review

I find myself appreciating the show today, more than I did last night when 
I was actually at the show.  The St. Augustine Amphitheatre is a beautiful
outdoor venue in the nation’s oldest city, seating just shy of about
4,000 I do believe.  My seat was upper mid-level and I attended the
concert with a fellow die-hard and a brand newbie.  Contrary to what I
thought would happen, my fellow die-hard and I were far more critical than
our newbie.  A Dylan fan since I was about 20 years-old, 36 today. 
I’ve heard it all...a thousand times.  And I’ll hear it all again
until the night we call it a day, this life and I.   I was excited at
the set-list (same at every show thus far) because there are so many
“newer” songs and so few “classics.”  I think Mr. Dylan sings the
new songs with more vigor and feeling and frankly, what’s the use of
hearing a 73 year-old sing a song that he penned 52 years ago?  Live and
in concert, I want to hear the songs he recently wrote.  ‘What’s
going on in that 73 year-old mind’ is what I’m a-wonderin.’ 
 “Things Have Changed” opens up the show and Mr. Dylan is in great
form.  Gone is the somewhat corny yet equally exhilarating introduction
that I’d grown accustomed to in the shows of old, by the way.  The only
thing clearer than the singer’s voice was the foreshadowing of the type
of evening that was in store for us older folks (older than previous
shows, but then again, that makes sense don’t it?) on this spring
evening in April – it was to be a Dylan show like I’d not yet seen. 
The lighting is low, the stage is set meticulously.  At times during the
set, I felt like I was at a play, I felt like it was 1950 (and I have no
idea what 1950 felt like), I felt like cell phones hadn’t been invented
yet, I felt like dancing was taboo still,  and that my beloved Bobby D
had gone to a place that I don’t yet know about.  During the show, I
actually asked myself on several occasions whether I’d ever pay in cash
to see him again.  And then I answered myself with a resounding
‘yes.’  I whispered to the newbie that the reason we’re all
tolerating this now is because of what the man has done for us all, in the
past.  I told her that I’d pay 70 bucks to merely see him and watch him
whistle.   “She Belongs to Me,” and “Beyond Here Lies Nothing”
were white noise but “Duquesne Whistle” was the next best song after
the opener, and had some of the most energy you’re going to see from
this gig.  And that’s the thing.  I was expecting energy, I was
expecting raucous and rollicking, I was expecting grit, true grit – but
I should’ve known better and I should’ve checked my expectations at
the door.  This is the beauty of Mr. Zimmerman – he defies expectations
and pisses on norms, goes five steps beyond you and dares you not to
accept the chaos that is this world.  He stands amongst few who have the
hard earned “privilege” of baring a soul to the masses without any
show of regret or remorse, without any apology and without shame. 
 “Pay in Blood” is a song that I feel is vastly underrated.  Mr.
Dylan played it extraordinarily on this night.  Simply put, he cannot
replicate the album version and has no desire to do so.  If you attend a
Dylan show, you must accept this fact.  In the 12 or so times I’ve seen
him, I’ve witnessed him changing whole verses; however, I’ve never
seen him change so many lines, as he seemingly does on this tour.  And
how wonderful is that?  Who changes their lyrics with such ease and such
newfound relevance as Robert?  Who changes anything once they’re
reached the ripe old age?  Well, that’s Bob for you.  Still trying to
find a way home with no set of directions, realizing that ‘home’ is
inside of a mausoleum or six solitary feet beneath the earth.  After all,
that’s where we spend eternity, no? “Tangled Up in Blue” was pretty
good, and maybe better than most post-1980 renditions that I’ve heard
but again, I don’t want 1974.  I want 2015 from the voice of a man who
saw so much hurt in the early 1970’s and made anyone who would listen to
it with a proper ear, feel that they were not alone.  Sometimes, I
picture a world 30 years after I’m dead and I wonder what significance
people will attribute to my final days.  And sometimes, I picture a world
30 years after I’m dead and I wonder if there will be someone who looks
back at Mr. Dylan’s “late-stage” songs as I looked upon “Blood on
the Tracks.”  A man stripped of conformity, telling truths.  And
telling truths and walking naked for no other purpose than for telling
truths and walking nude.   “Love Sick” is the closer to the first
installment and it’s good but not great.  Intermission.  About 20
minutes.   I don’t know what to make of the world, and therefore,
I’m just like you.  When artists try to simplistically and ardently
force me to see their world, it turns me off.  Rob is neither simple nor
ardent.  “High Water” was one of the best songs of the night.  I’m
not opposed to the ever-changing versions of songs, but it’s nice to
hear a performance match the album, and this is close as you’re going to
get – and it’s real close.  Magnificent.   And like a body
refreshed from a waterfall, the second set was sublime.  The whole show
is sublime.  Visually, it mirrors candles lighting the stage, and with
this darkness combined with Bobbie’s brimmed hat, I never saw his
face.  Wow.  In 2015, a performing artist chose to essentially not let
you see him at a show.  The Times....they... Anyway.  I just realized
that I don’t want to go song for song, tit for tat, anecdote for
antelope any longer.  In other words, I’m taking the easy way home. 
“Scarlet Town” is by far the best song you’ll hear at this show and
I’m telling you – it’s f-ing brilliant.  “Stay With Me,” is a
crafty, cute, and classy closer and sounds just like the album.   I find
myself appreciating the show today, more than I did last night when I was
actually at the show.  The St. Augustine Amphitheatre is a beautiful
outdoor venue in the nation’s oldest city, seating just shy of about
4,000 I do believe.  My seat was upper mid-level and I attended the
concert with a fellow die-hard and a brand newbie.  Contrary to what I
thought would happen, my fellow die-hard and I were far more critical than
our newbie.  A Dylan fan since I was about 20 years-old, 36 today. 
I’ve heard it all...a thousand times.  And I’ll hear it all again
until the night we call it a day, this life and I.  That said, SEE THIS
SHOW!  I wish I could go back.  But like Zimmy says, ‘you can always
come back, but you can’t come back all the way.’ And so I try to learn
a thing or two along the way, thanks in part, to my main man, Mr. Dylan.

If anyone has a couch and a ticket in Tulsa, I'd be mighty obliged,
ma'am. 

Chris Nickleback
crichard8230@yahoo.com