October 18, 2016
Review by Tim Staley
My last Bob show was in Albuquerque in 2009. Back then he was playing
unassertive keyboard in a carnival-like manner. Last night in El Paso
things had changed.
When the lights went down and the silhouettes of band members appeared on
stage, Bob was the last man out. Seeing his shape and strut made me
emotional. Perhaps that’s worth the 100$ ticket right there. I knew I
wanted to be in the room with him one more time, and there I was. When I
bought this ticket I knew it would be my last show of his. My first was
1989 and it’s a been a good ride, more or less.
He’s a slight fellow, sort of hunched over, in a black suit with gold
trim down the arms and legs. He stands with his legs spread wide at the
microphone, as though he’s sitting on a fat, invisible horse. He plays
with his hair some. I think his stage moves have gotten less dramatic over
the years. Many times he had his hand on his hip, as if he was tired. The
transitions between songs was fast, with hardly anytime between tracks.
Charlie seemed to have something wrong with his guitar rig the first half
of the show. He was speaking with the crew and fiddling with equipment
often. It distracted my wife, but I just kept my good eye on Bob.
During the first song “Things Have Changed” I was listening hard.
Really hard, and I only understood 68% of what he was saying and I am very
familiar with that song. However, in “Don’t Think Twice, It’s
Alright” he was easier to understand because of the understated
arrangement. One clear improvement from this show and the 2009 show, is
Bob’s piano playing. He’s traded a keyboard for a piano. He playing is
deliberate and turned up in the mix. In the same way his voice and lyrics
have always been a counterpoint to mainstream music, his piano playing is
often in direct opposition to the rest of the band. This is intentional
and often successful. He pushes syncopation to the breaking point and it
was really cool. For example, in “Desolation Row” there was a piano
solo that was striking in the way it pressed the song into the opposite
direction as usual. Everybody knows he rearranges songs, but perhaps
he’s found new ways to breathe tension into them. Bob was the most
animated during “Desolation Row”, he was sort of dancing at the keys.
Touching his right toe to the stage, wiggling around a bit, shoving the
piano bench, inch by inch, further away with his leg.
“High Water” was clearly enunciated and powerful. I heard this summer
in Europe he was doing a Hawaiian arrangement of this song. It seemed like
it was back to being an Americana scorcher, which I enjoyed. “Tangled Up
In Blue” was really good as well. He sang the first verse with a measure
of space between each line. Everybody recognized this song and that was
cool. Sure, in Willie Nelson fashion, he cut several verses from the song,
but it was still good and he captured the song’s intention. There were
shows in the early 90s when you couldn’t even tell he was playing
“Tangled Up In Blue,” so I appreciated the deliberateness of this
version.
“Make You Feel My Love” was another highlight. George was playing the
kit with his hands. The dynamics were great and Bob’s voice was tender
and clear. The set closer “Long And Wasted Year” was really good.
There’s some great poetry in there!
The song that I enjoyed the most, and I’m shocked to be saying this, in
the Sinatra tune “Why Try to Change Me Now”. His handling of that song
was compelling, plain and simple. During the chorus he was Nashville
Skyline pretty with his singing. And the words are simple and expansive
and perhaps personal.
Why is this my last Bob Dylan show? Well, I guess I should never say
never.
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