Reviews

Well, as there are still no other reviews of the concerts from Karlstad,
Gothenburg and Aalborg, it`s up to me to tell ol` Bill and all of you out
there what was happening from the view of a real fan.

The Oslo concert had been a great one but still with a potential to make
it even better, so expectations for Karlstad was big. The hall was only
half full ? maybe due to the not very favourable reviews of the concert in
the Stockholm newspapers ? but, never trust a journalist.

First off, a short comment on the setlist. 10 out of 16 songs were new
compared to the Oslo show, - that`s how we like it Bob! But, in my opinion
the Oslo setlist was a bit stronger. And to me, maybe that`s the only
reason that I prefer the Oslo-concert. Anyway, this was another  solid
show all the way, and the band is such a great unit. Maybe Danny and Stu
are missing some of the stage-presence that Charlie and Larry had, but as
musicians, maybe they are even better ? at least if you add the fabulous
Don Herron. I could not pick anything that was not as I wished it to be.

To me, the highlights of the concert were Watching the river flow, Highway
61 (even better than in Oslo), Cold irons bound (as good as, or maybe even
better than the great versions of this song from the last two years) and a
great version of Stuck inside. (To my ears the arrangement for ?Stuck? was
more similar to the original version than any other live-versions I have
heard.) It was also nice to hear If dogs run free, as I have not heard
that song for awhile and for certain Down in the flood. I have not heard
that song since 1995. But I don`t think Bob or the band added anything new
to those songs. Mr. Tambourine man was tried out in the very slow
arrangement that was really fantastic in the spring this year (Especially
in Seattle), but it took Bob half the song to really get it going. To me
Girl of the north country and Tryin` to get to heaven were a bit spoiled
by up-singing, but otherwise it seems that he is now in such a good voice
that he does not use the up-singing too much. LARS and Watchtower were as
usual. 

Maybe some of you out there will think what I`m now going to say is
bull-shit, but I have to say that I missed the moments in the show where
he do his really ?silly walking stuff?, search for the right harmonica and
so on. As his voice has gradually been weaker from the 80`s I think his
strange and funny behaviour on stage has in some way made up for it. In
Karlstad he was almost too normal.

Steinar Daler                 

Dylan in Karlstad renewed his setlist from Oslo - 10 new songs - as
Steinar Daler already correctly stated. Great! You could add that only
two of them were on the Stockholm setlist. Also that the band performed
12 pieces in Oslo which didn´t appear in Stockholm. Bob is a starring
phenomenon in the sense of all the time performing a really broad
spectrum from his own tresure of songs. Throughout the first three
concerts on his current Europeen tour only three pieces were
consistantly in show: Highway 61, Summer Days and All Along The
Watchtower - selected swinging highlights. In fact 36 different songs
of Bob´s repertoire were already executed at this time. As a veteran
Dylan fan I´m very content with visiting the concerts in Stockholm and
Karlstad this time. In addition to Steinar Daler I would like to focus
on the excellent drummer George Recile. What a man behind that desk! I
guess Carsten Molt (Pittsburgh, USA) would have expressed it that
Recile propelled the whole show. I must finally note that none of the
songs I heard in Stockholm April 29 1966 was in these shows :-). I´m
not a victim of nostalgia, just stating the fact. Ballad Of A Thin Man
was performed in Oslo, though. But who can be everywhere and join every
party all of the time? As a moose hunter I´m glad Bob, a second time,
dropped into our forest just close to the most intense days of the
yearly moose hunting. Third time he´s welcome to join our party. Less
than on hour by car from the Karlstad venue.

Anders Tidström