Bob Dylan

I have hesitated to write this review because I have only recently become a fan of Dylan, but I’d like to set down my own thoughts about it while it’s still fresh in my mind, however unworthy they might be in the minds of uber-nerds (such as the BF, who followed the set in real time from London via the internet, where some of the faithful were texting and emailing in the setlist as it happened – I was not surprised by the technology, but I was appalled).  I would like to say, though, that because of the cramped situation I was unable to take notes and so I’m working from memory with these comments.  On we go!

Photo by biscuitcrumb

I was well aware as I hared my way from Wood Quay to the Point (no small distance when you’re against the clock) that Dylan is extremely contrary and could equally have given a performance that would have been bitterly disappointing for the €50 price tag, or a magnificent experience, depending on the night.  I was also fully prepared that the setlist could have consisted entirely of songs I’d never heard before, considering the size of the back catalogue.  As it happened, I would put this gig, the last of the current tour, well toward the “magnificent” end of the spectrum, and the setlist consisted of plenty of favourites for me to feel I’d been very lucky, getting to see him on a night when he’d decided to turn on the charm (relatively speaking).

I was impressed with the visual presentation of the band, though, entirely unprepared for the suits and hats, and I was taken with the effective simplicity of lining the band up (as can be seen in the photo above) so that they can all be in Dylan’s view at all times.  But none of the first three songs struck me particularly, prompting me to think that the night might be something of a damp squib, if not objectively then at least for me, though they were undoubtedly performed well and reasonably coherently, with a crowd who were determined to be on-side.

However, this all changed with Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again, the first song I could confidently identify (I’d failed, annoyingly, to pinpoint Girl from the North Country, despite knowing it was familiar) and the first that I felt Dylan started having fun himself.  I love Dylan’s old-man voice, which necessarily makes a current live performance completely different to the original recording on Blonde on Blonde, but, as far as I’m concerned, there’s massive fun in the difference of the interpretations of the songs.  The way in which the “ooh, mama” refrain is transformed by his grizzled old voice has to be heard to be believed, and he was clearly having great fun changing around the phrasing and rolling the words around.  The band were fiercely impressive technically for the whole set, but they seemed to pick up energy with this song, whether it be from the zest of Dylan’s performance, the audience’s clear enjoyment, or a mixture of the two.

I was amused when I very quickly realised that each song – each and every song – ended in exactly the same way, with a song slowing in the last line, then pausing dramatically on the penultimate chord for the maximum milking of applause, allowing the drummer to do at least two circuits of all his collection of cymbals, finishing as loudly as possible on the last chord.  This is just about the only criticism I have to make of the night, but by God it got tedious by the last song.  Change it up, lads.

Next up was Blind Willie McTell, which stayed with me more for the immensely cool lighting as for the performance – the orange lights shining right into the faces of the band from the side, keeping the background in complete dark, combined with the suits, had a very film noir effect.  If Stuck Inside of Mobile had made me sit up and take notice, Desolation Row ensured I was prepared to lap up anything else they chose to throw at me for the rest of the night.  This was pure magic – music from the band, Dylan’s performance, audience appreciation, every variable gelled.

After a mesmerising version of Po’ Boy, we were treated to possibly my highlight of the evening (I can’t decide whether Desolation Row deserves that title), a fantastically tight Highway 61 Revisited.  Dylan absolutely ripped into the lyrics on this one and the audience were really going for it.  I don’t really know how else to describe the sound of the band on this one except that it was tight as a drum-skin, not a thing out of place, the effect heightened by the cool-as-a-cucumber guitarist who just stood there, no dramatics at all.  Oh, and the rhythm section absolutely RULED this song.

This was followed by a really enjoyable Ballad of a Thin Man (another one that was especially of interest because of the change wrought by the difference between Dylan’s young and old voices), during which I was thinking that my luck wasn’t going to run out with identifying the songs for the whole night.  As the main set drew to a close, I was fully prepared for the band to leave the stage after a barnstorming Summer Days, which would have been a perfect note on which to end – pacy, fun, full of energy and wit.  As it happened, it was followed by a superfluous and not particularly inspired airing of Like a Rolling Stone, but which delighted the masses.

We got a four-song encore (every other night on this leg of the tour got three songs; said the BF, “You don’t know you’re born”), which, like the opening trio, were more likeable than flabbergasting – though “likeable” probably isn’t the right word for the retooled Blowin’ in the Wind, a song I didn’t identify until well into the lyrics so different was the musical arrangement (Dylan’s initial “How many roads …?” being somewhat incoherent).  It was enjoyable, but only in so far as I was comparing the changes against the version I knew; this is something I enjoy greatly, but I know it annoys others, such as my brother (who, not coincidentally, has no time for Dylan), to distraction.

In all, I was delighted with the gig, and delighted to have seen Dylan live.  While it might not compare to his Roundhouse gig (which the BF, the jammy get, was at) for intimacy or line of vision (I only intermittently got to see the whole stage), it certainly exceeded my expectations, which I had intentionally tried to keep low, for performance as well as setlist.  Excellent end to the tour, in my opinion.

See comments section for setlist.