Bob Dylan will be playing a concert in my area soon. Now I really like Bob Dylan and have seen him in concerts several times over the years. Some have been great, but the last two or three times I’ve seen him I was very much less than thrilled. If one could catch a fragment of the lyrics, one could perhaps remember the title, but in no way was the song recognizable by the melody.
So if you’ve seen him recently, what kind of show is he giving? what percentage of the stuff is from the 60’s and 70’s vs 80’s and later? Can you recognize the melodies?
I’d like to know what’s in store before I lay out the $70.
I’ve been lucky enough to have caught Dylan live several times over the past 5 or 6 years, in some pretty cool places (New Orleans, Prague, Reno, Philadelphia, Brussels, Deer Valley Utah) and while I always enjoy myself watching a living legend like Bob Dylan, musically, it’s a crapshoot…
Dylan is one of the few major acts who is still willing to be spontaneous, and improvises and changes his set list each night, for each show (some others include the Allman Brothers, Van Morrison, Widespread Panic and of course The (Grateful) Dead. This can be breathtaking to see, as when he effortlessly pulls out an old nugget that he has not played live for a couple of decades, but it can also result in a half-baked performance, one that is uneven and lacking a sense of cohesion. You just dont know what Bob will deliver on any given evening, so I typically just try and go with his flow.
I know it’s a leap of faith, but in my opinion, when he is “on” it more than makes up for the occasional misfire.
I could go on for pages!!! about the merits of musicians who play the same show night after night, city after city vs. bands who are willing to risk an occasional poor showing for the chance to create a unique, once in a lifetime musical passion play, but no one here wants that…
I hope you get a great show, and say hey to Bob for me—Matthew
I saw him a while ago, first when he was touring with Paul Simon and then with Phil Lesh. He was still playing guitar then; I understand that he can’t any more, and still plays piano. I know my Dylan very well, and had no trouble recognizing any of the songs, but his voice was better back then. I’d look for reviews of the tour to see how he’s doing.
August 17th 2007 Rod Laver Arena Melbourne Australia.
He played:
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Watching The River Flow
Tangled Up In Blue
John Brown
The Levee’s Gonna Break
When The Deal Goes Down
Things Have Changed
Desolation Row
Honest With Me
Spirit On The Water
Highway 61 Revisited
Nettie Moore
Summer Days
Ballad Of A Thin Man
(encore)
Thunder On The Mountain
Like A Rolling Stone
Dylan played guitar for the first 3 and keyboard for the rest. About all he said was, “thanks for coming out,” and “Friends let me introduce the band.”
He was much better than when I saw him 30 years ago.
I saw him in London last month. I’m not the most knowledgeable of Dylan fans, but he played several songs I like and I could tell what they were. His voice was actually better than last time I saw him (about four or five years ago). He did some really cool arrangements of old stuff. He does still play the guitar very occasionally, though he didn’t the night I went. He has a great band and an amazing drummer, and they all seem to get on really well - there was great onstage chemistry. I do think you need to accept that you may be going for the experience rather than the music, though I really enjoyed hearing what he felt he wanted to do with his music now. I don’t really like going to see bands/singers who just play everything exactly as it was on the album; I could have heard that at home!
I saw him in Dublin last month for the first time, and thought it was fantastic. Yes, the voice can be indistinct, and he said nothing to the audience (not even hello or goodbye), but to hear those songs which have become so much of popular culture being sung by their writer was a fantastic experience.
Some of the songs were almost totally re-invented, some of them were bordering on incomprehensible lyrically, and then he sang “John Brown”, which was as clear as a bell, every word intelligible.
Fintan O’Toole in the Irish Times wrote a great article, the main thrust of which was that Bob is not content to go on a greatest hits tour, but is constantly re-inventing and re-interpreting his own songs, in such a way that some of them are no longer recognisable as the originals. I can’t find the article on-line, but I did find this chunk on a blog -
I’d say go for it; it’s a bit of a gamble, but in general, I’d say it’s worth it;
The set list was as follows:
1.Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
2.Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
3.Lonesome Day Blue
4.Just Like A Woman
5.Rollin’ And Tumblin’
6.John Brown
7.Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
8.Under The Red Sky
9.Honest With Me
10.Masters Of War
11.Highway 61 Revisited
12.Ain’t Talkin’
13.Thunder On The Mountain
14.Like A Rolling Stone
15.All Along The Watchtower
16.If You Ever Go To Houston
17.Blowin’ In The Wind
Just on a final note, “All Along The Watchtower” has been round the block so many times, that the way it was played this time was like a Dylan cover of the Hendrix version, very electric guitar heavy - fantastic.
I had a girlfriend see him in the early 90s. She came back with the exact same complaints and said that the show might as well have been called Requiem for Dylan. Given that he still sells tickets, I guess it won’t ever get better.
One of the worst experiences I have had at a concert was Bob Dylan in Ann Arbor. The hall was small and my son and I were in the tenth row cetner so we had great seats… or so what would think. After about three or four songs, several girls began to mount the stage and dance to the music. They were not escorted off. Before you knew it, the entire stage was covered with at least 50 people, men and women dancing to the music and you could barely see the band. It sucked. I did not pay good money to see those jokers.
Dylan did his usual twangy, nasal imitation of his songs. It was not enjoyable in the least.
I like the Dylan of my youth from the Highway 61 Revisited era.
My father in law saw him in a small casino venue several months on free tix, and said it was hands down the worst concert he has seen. According to him, people were leaving in the middle of the show, the band and Bob were flat and uninspired, and it just seemed like he mailed it in to collect a paycheck.
I saw him last fall, and plan to see him again in just a few weeks on his tour with Willie Nelson.
Like **MPB in Salt Lake **said, Dylan concerts are notorious for being crapshoots. But I’m one of those fans who would rather not hear the same version of “Like A Rolling Stone” for the 14,000th time. I appreciate the fact that he re-invents his songs, even if doesn’t always quite work. It can be quite entertaining to try and figure out what the hell he’s singing.
As a live act, Dylan was notorious for stinking up the place in the 80s. In 1988 he started the “Never Ending Tour”, designed to get himself back into fighting trim. It took awhile, and in the early 90s, he was probably still doing a lot of sloppy shows. But I saw him in 1995, and it was my absolute favorite concert of my entire life. (Of course, the fact that I was about 10 feet from center stage had a lot to do with that.) He started out pretty stiff, but you could see him unwind as the show went on, and before he was halfway through he was having a great time. So… I guess it just depends on the night.
Arthritis, though apparently it comes and goes, as he will actually play guitar on a few shows each year.
Most Dylan fanatics dont seem to mind him not playing guitar, he was never known as a great talent on the 6 string, it is generally agreed that his largest musical reserve of talent is in his pen, followed by his harmonica and finally his unique voice, tough there are many who would argue the last one…
I don’t know what happened to make Dylan stop talking. In the 1964 Carnegie Hall concert he was taking requests, joking with the audience, and having a fine old time. The liner notes said he was smashed, maybe it helped. In the 1966 “Royal Albert Hall” concert he was terse and seemingly bitter, even when he was playing acoustic and before “Judas.”
I also saw him in Baton Rouge in 1979 or 1980, during the gospel period. He was far better recently than he was then.
I saw him almost 2 years ago when he was touring with Elvis Costello. Friends of mine are friends with Amos Lee, who was opening, so it was kind of a trifecta. Amos and Elvis were both really good. Dylan himself wasn’t all that impressive, but his musicians were amazing.
I saw him last year here in town and have seen him many times over the years. As others have said, he’s very hit or miss but he is a legend so you should really see him at least once if you’re a fan or you’ll regret it.
The last time I saw him he was pretty good, the time before that was terrible.