Review by Sholom Hoffman
This was my first Dylan concert even though i am a huge fan of his
music. I was excited to go because (a) Bob Dylan is performing and (b) Foo
Fighters are the opening band. The night started off with a terrific
performance by the Foo Fighters. They played an acoustic set which got the
crowd mad with excitement. The Foo Fighters are an extremely talented band
wiht a terrific drummer and guitarist. Then, after Foo Fighters finish
there is a long (longer than usual) delay. Finally Dylan takes the stage
with such swiftness like he was summoned by the loud shouts of the crowd.
Absolutely Sweet Marie was played excellently with better guitar solos.
During Senor, Bob's voice became truly lively as the song progressed. This
song is a sweet song which i find is way under-rated. Stuck Inside Of
Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again was played with such a new and vibrant
energy that got the crowd dancing. To my surprise, he played this song to
its fullest by playing the rhythm well passed the normal duration of the
song. The next couple of songs went by smoothly amdist the the ravenous
crowd( in a good way). Highway 61 was absolutely terrific with Bob's
cutting edge voice that sliced through the crowd. The words echoed through
the crowd like a group of prophets retelling a story. Thunder On The
Mountain was played very lively and got the crowd to actually sing along
with Bob (even though no one is 100% sure what Bob will say next). Like A
Rolling Stone was played with a new and exciting electric change to its
tune. Bob shouted the core words of the song which i found to be awesome.
All Along The Watchtower was stunning. Bob and the band played this song
wiht perfect tone and voice. After the concert, one cannot help but think
how Bob Dylan acquired this new voice which seemed to captivate the crowd
at every moment. His voice has gotten richer and is cutting edge. BOB
DYLAN IS A MUST SEE!!
Sholom Hoffman
Review by Nicholas von Maltzahn
Three days since I last saw Dylan (Ottawa). Much has changed, again. The
mood and music were transformed, by turns inquisitive, stern, and exuberant
as Bob sang his way through a brilliant set. This was a happy dancing Bob,
wonderfully alive in Montreal (why not?!), shimmying this way and that, out
from behind the keyboard, back again, jacket open, lingering on notes, and
often vocal too through some lasting lines of harp, even unto the final chord.
His bemused “ca va?” at the end met with a roar of Oui piled upon Yes.
From song to song the wealth spilled forth, poems of justice, love, fear,
and pleasure. Personal, political, personal, political, personal-political,
political-personal: private and public began to meld and shift.
Absolutely Sweet Marie opened beautiful and clear, lovely from the start and
such a well-made song! Then the ever-astonishing Senor, which for me
completed some circle from my first Dylan concert at Nurnberg, almost thirty
years ago. The ochre lighting now offered the smoke and sun over the
Lincoln Country Road; the music too imagined apocalypse. And what musical
logic made the reinvented Mobile/Memphis follow so naturally? We’d entered
one of those Bob-worlds, here mainly mid-Western, whether on the Gulf, or
twenty miles out of town, or north on the border-line. Then a vehement
Masters of War, cursing the warmongers, and surely animated tonight by the
sight, at last, of Rumsfeld’s back. Here for me Nurnberg again recalled, where
Bob pointedly sang Masters in the Zeppelinfeld, sometime scene of fascist
spectacle. National crimes are not soon expiated. But let that long work
begin. The anthemic Tangled Up in Blue reassured a lively stadium audience
and paired tellingly with When the Deal Goes Down. And there’s more! From
the long view of change (TUiB) to a promise of permanence (WtDGD) now to
a what-the-hell sense of Loss yielding Possibility: I’m maybe not so worried
after all, because Things Have Changed! But that answered in turn by a
sobering and very fine Simple Twist of Fate. And in some worse aftermath,
Cold Irons Bound—the felon’s confusion, but after what crime against love?
Girl of the North Country was another kind of heart-ache, sung through
something like fairground music! Bob faltered in the lyrics here, but it’s easy
to lose someone at a fair. The show had been so compelling to this point that
it hardly mattered now that the spell should be broken. Highway 61 powered
along (a few nights before in Ottawa, God had more relish in warning Abraham
he’d “better ... RUN”). Nettie Moore lovely but not again spell-binding with the
crowd fizzing every which way. Summer Days through Watchtower lively but
perhaps an afterthought given where we had been before. Perhaps Bob also
had had too much fun: he genially tripped his way through Rolling Stone; and
even with Watchtower the wind wasn’t quite going to howl again.
It had been thrilling—listening to the national news this morning I had the
sense that some real news had gone overlooked. A marvel too to experience
the so many different shapes of Dylan song, in words and music alike. (And
what attention to song-endings also.) Does the now simpler play between
singer and lead guitarist, whatever’s lost, give Bob an easier freedom after all?
And to see him so vital in his element! and shrewd enough not to be suspicious
all the time—he’s plainly not above seeing some good in this American election.
Just a memorable night. Heartfelt thanks to David and Morgan for their gifts of
company, driving, and hospitality on the way to and in Montreal; also to Whit
whose first Dylan concert this was and who, about this and so much else,
really gets the point.
Review by Dana Enciu
This was my 4th concert and it was the best of all.
Last time I saw Bob Dylan in Montreal in 2002 at the
same Bell Center and I wasn’t very excited then,
except for the fact that I got to see him…
Last night’s concert was absolutely amazing. The Bell
Center was packed, Dylan appeared on stage late,
around 9:15 PM (almost an hour after the end of the
opening act) in the cheers of the crowd that was
growing more and more restless (in a good way…) with
anticipation. I could see a little in the dark that
only when he got on the stage he put on his black
jacket (while the announcer introduced him). He didn’t
wear a hat until the middle of the concert. If you
plan to see him in the remaining of the tour, try to
get tickets on the left as you’re facing the stage,
because he’s facing the left side as he plays the
keyboards.
Senor was a real treat, I didn’t hear this before,
live. When the Deal Goes Down brought tears to my
eyes, it is such a beautiful, sad song, and soothing
in the same time, almost like a lullaby and Dylan’s
voice was better than ever. Things Have Changed was
another great surprise, since it doesn’t seem he
played it too often during the tour. I adored Simple
Twist of Fate, and Tangled Up in Blue with the
“modern” sound and rhythm.
Cold Irons Bound was another favourite, and Highway 61
has electrified the audience, you could feel and see
the sparkles in the air. I melted down when he
started to play Girl of the North Country (hey, I’m in
Canada after all, up-north), how can you resist when
you hear :
Well, if you go when the snowflakes storm,
When the rivers freeze and summer ends,
Please see if she's wearing a coat so warm,
To keep her from the howlin' winds.
I'm a-wonderin' if she remembers me at all.
Many times I've often prayed
In the darkness of my night,
In the brightness of my day.
Summer Days ended the concert, on a powerful and
joyful note, and why not ironic:
“Yes, I'm leaving in the morning just as soon as the
dark clouds lift
Gonna break the roof in - set fire to the place as a
parting gift”
The crowd cheered when Bob Dylan played the harmonica
and I really enjoyed Dylan on the keyboards, I think
the sound is so much better for huge venues (such as
the Bell Center), wonderful, rich, full and round.
We all cheered and applauded like crazy waiting for
the encore and we were rewarded with Thunder on the
Mountain that really blew me away, and the superb gems
Like a Rolling Stone & All Along the Watchtower.
He didn't say much, but in the end he asked "Montreal,
ça va?" The audience was obviously pleased and
cheered some more. He seemed in a very good mood, he
moved more than usual when playing the keyboards.
At the end of the show, during the standing ovations
he just stood on the stage, straight, sort of not
knowing what to do with himself, like a kid who has
finished his part in the school play, almost
intimidated by the applauses…
I read some of the articles published in local
newspapers from Montreal and Toronto.
Don’t listen to what the critics have to say, don’t
follow the newspaper articles about his tour…Go to see
him. He’s amazing and you won’t be sorry. It will be
the greatest experience of your life, it is something
that you will never forget.
A final note about the seats: they were not great
after all, they were not on the floor as I thought,
although I bought the most expensive ones in the
presale offered by I – Tunes back in August. I won’t
deal with I-Tunes again, I will wait for the pre-sale
offer on Bob Dylan’s website.
Dana Enciu (AKA « aikizum »)
Montreal, Canada
Review by Keith Cooper
Highway 401 revisited.
All night driving landed us in Montreal at 6 am. We looked for Bob's tour
bus but they must have had their cloak of invisibility on. My friend
greeted us at the door - just awakened - and as we made a breakfast of
Irish Whiskey she joined us with a carafe of red wine - ah, Montreal.
After crashing, we made our way to the Bell Centre.
To hell with "plus ca change plus ce la meme chose", this may have only
been a night later in yet another arena, but it was most definitely no
where near the same as the night before. Fewer people, more noise. Less
attitude, more passion.
When Bob began with Absolutely Sweet Marie I turned to my friend and
ventured that usually when Dylan starts with this song we're in for a few
treats. When he pounded out a breath taking version of Senor I knew -
hell, everyone in the building (except for the critic for the Montreal
Gazette) knew - that this was going to be a special night.
Stuck Inside of Memphis saw Bob seesawing at his keyboards as he showed
far more life than the previous night. But it was the ominous, almost
military, drums of Masters of War that again set the crowd alight. The
day's politics? Rumsfeld, Bush, et al? Yes. But that merely reinforced its
timeliness as a song of truth, of conviction, of disgust. It was
unquestionably more urgent and more powerful than the previous night's
rendition.
As was the next tune, Tangled up in Blue. Bob bounced along and the whole
band - not to mention the sound - seemed far tighter and sharper than 24
hours prior. Likewise for When the Deal Goes Down as the whole ensemble
captured this song at its melancholy finest.
Things Have Changed - a personal favourite - sent the crowd into
overdrive. Having again yanked the crowd one way, Bob doubles back and
delivers a soulful version of Simple Twist of Fate that sets the multitude
swaying.
With the audience fully engaged Bob mines the Montreal heavy metal
sub-culture with an blistering version of Cold Irons Bound, which my
Montreal buddy labels the real deal. Denny wails while Tony, George and
Stu throw up a wall of sound. 20 miles out of town indeed!
Girl of the North Country was a nice surprise and, again, exceptionally
well done.
Highway 61 Revisited - another repeat from english Canada - was over the
top. Channelling Little Richard, Bob led a truly smokin' version of the
classic that put the previous night's effort to shame. As my friend
opined: "This is truly a magical Montreal night."
A haunting Nettie Moore set the stage for the inevitable finish, but
unlike Toronto - or New York for that matter - Bob burned. Summer Days was
amped up more than usual as was Thunder on the Mountain. By the time he
strolled into Like a Rolling Stone I think Bob, like the rest of us, was
winding down on what had indeed been a special evening. Certainly one that
will not soon be forgotten.
Oh, and you can dance, sing, smoke and have as much fun as good taste and
common sense allow in Montreal. Anytime you have a chance to see a gig
there - grab it. As for Toronto - we've decided to organize a boycott of
the ACC with our friends and Bob - if you're listening - there are better
venues for you in Toronto.
Keith Cooper
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