Reviews

Paul and I had tickets on seventh 7 row in Oslo and thanks to my long time
friend Jörgen, tickets on fourth row in Karlstad and front row in
Gothenburg. The concert in Aalborg was in a real big hall (8000 people)
mostly general admission. After the fantastic Gothenburg concert we almost
regretted that we had bought tickets (much more expensive than the other
ones as well). But thanks to good ol` Bob, Paul`s last concert of the tour
turned out as another real good one. (I will also attend the 5 London
shows at the end of the tour).

Three more new songs: The times they are a-changin`, Boots of Spanish
leather and Hollis Brown. Paul`s highlight was ?Boots? and mine was
?Times?. I have not heard Bob in such a good voice in a long time. Not
only on ?Times? but the whole concert. Almost no up-singing at all. Check
out when you get the tapes! The kind of slow arrangements of ?Stuck inside
of Mobile? and ?Positively 4th street? were kept from earlier in the tour
and the performances were maybe even better. Before the encores he ended
with ?Highway 61? and though I like ?Summerdays?, it`s good to hear
another song in this spot. The only L&T song in this concert was
?Highwater?. Don`s banjoplaying on this song is just great.

We also managed to get a good spot in the hall ? on the left sight of the
stage looking straight into Bob`s face. It`s nice to see him from another
angle. Even the sound in the hall was good ? at least where we stood. As
and end-comment for the 4 concerts I have attended, I have to add that for
the first time since Bob left the guitar behind, he have not spoiled any
songs with his harmonica-playing. His center-stage harmonica playing has
been great.

After the show, all of us stayed in a bar `til late night. And then we all
went in separate directions. (The lucky ones heading for Hamburg). Thanks
for a lot of fun and great socialising to all my Scandinavian
?Dylan-friends? and especially to Geir and Paul. And of course to Bob and
his band ? DON`T YOU DARE MISS THEM!

Steinar Daler       

The Aalborg show was the first time I was going to see
the current band live. Being blessed with all the high
quality audio and video recordings supplied by the
tireless efforts of all the tapers I was well familiar
with the sound of the band. The tapes from earlier
this year had left me with high expectations before
the show. 
The weather was typical for a Danish October day; lots
of rain most of the day. Having left my umbrella in
the car I ended up being completely soaked 2 hours
before they even opened the doors. Despite the
complete lack of professionalism at the entrance and
the chaos that emerged when they opened the door, I
got a nice spot dead center in the 2nd row of people
in the large general admission area.
The show opened with Maggie’s Farm. I remember Bob
starting the shows with this song two years ago in
Hamburg and this time it worked very well too. It’s a
nicely energetic song and I was very optimistic that
it was going to be a good show. However, with the next
two songs I began to fear that the promising start was
misleading. Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You and
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight simply sounds too familiar
for me to appreciate them being played one after the
other. Bob delivered some nice harp on those and even
came out from behind his piano to the middle of the
stage during one of them. It didn’t really help that
Lay, Lady, Lay was up next. It’s probably a very good
crowd pleaser for the part of the audience that is
less familiar with Bob and according to several
reports there were lots on those in attendance.
Cold Irons Bound put the concert back on track. This
one is always hard rocking and it reminded me again
what a good drummer Receli is.
High Water came as a shock. It was almost neglected on
the European tour in 2003 and played only five time in
Europe last year so I didn’t expect him to play it.
Suddenly it was there; the apocalypse right in front
of my eyes and ears. It was difficult to believe.
Donnie Herron sure knows how to play the banjo on this
one. I’m not a banjo player myself, but to me it
seemed that he would add some solos that should fit
only with a guitar but yet worked very well.
After a mediocre Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The
Memphis Blues Again, where Bob actually managed to
miss the first two lines entirely, I was in heaven
again. I have loved the current version of Hollis
Brown from the tapes, and so being there watching
Donnie again on the banjo and Denny with the slide on
the acoustic was fantastic. Nice versions of Most
Likely You Go Your Way and Boots Of Spanish Leather
with Donnie adding a nice violin on the latter I
couldn’t have asked for more. Down Along The Cove
which seemed to rock extra hard tonight and Highway 61
just seemed like extra bonuses. I heard other fans
saying that it was the best Highway 61 he has done and
it probably was. With Watchtower as the perfect
closing song once again – I never get tired of that
song – I was completely exhausted.
Bob seemed very focused on his vocal delivery
throughout the concert and even made it to the middle
of the stage a couple of times. The band was very
tight and any thoughts about missing Sexton, Campbell
or any other previous band member is totalling missing
the point. The band smiled a lot and you could tell
that they had a good time. Bob even gave an occasional
smile or two.
Bob got a few hundred of my Danish kroners and I got
the best I could expect from a man in his 16th
consecutive year of touring and with him he brought a
band that obviously loves to play and plays it all
extremely well. I’d call it 10-1 in my favour.

I was at the concert in Denmark and it wasn't a good one. Maybe it's me at 50
something and having been to more concerts than I can remember that maybe
I was missing something but standing at the bar, during the show!! there
were many others who shared my opinion. So here it is - there was no
spark or magic and sometimes it was just noise. Many words were
forgotten, repeated or just plain left out. The band was not together and
seemed to half heartedly plod through some numbers. Dylans voice was so
thin at times and he seemed to lack the breath to get it all out. As such
a long standing fan I was prepared to forgive an awful lot considering his
age and health but I really couldn't find anything to redeem it - except
maybe that his hat looked good. I have  also got tickets for Manchester
and I will be reading the reviews between now and then to see if it
improves, otherwise I'm thinking ebay!!! it just left me feeling sad, hope
it's better for you. 

Lynda

After driving 200 miles from Gøteborg to Copenhagen and then another, I don't know, 300 perhaps,
to Aalborg, I was tired. Also because someone had died and we had to drive another 50 miles to 
pick up our tickets. My brother was very tired, so I drove while he slept. But he paid for the 
car and my hotel room.

The venue was terrible compared to Gøteborg. Far away from everything and not very venue-like. 
More like an improvised solution for the evening.

We were 10 meters or so from the stage, standing between the speakers. Sound was good, but too 
loud when the songs ended. I was more concerned about my brother having a good time than anything 
else. I tried to make him understand that he shouldn't expect to hear more than one or two 
favorites. I asked him to pick a few favorites. He got Like A Rolling Stone right, but like 
everything he heard.

I'll just comment on the standout moments. First of all, this band rocks really hard and good. 
The heavy bluesy element is so tight and genuine that it seems almost out of place in 
Scandinavia. But there you have it.

It's a good idea to start out with Maggie's Farm because it is such a good vehicle for showcasing
 the guitars and Bob's voice.

I was happy to hear The Times They Are A-Changing and noticed the difference in it. Could it be 
that they had New Orleans in mind tonight? That the words were not so metaphorical this time when 
he said, "Admit that the waters around you have grown"? Because the song is about change and 
change that can come rapidly and destroy everything you used to know. Tony and George are from 
New Orleans.

However, it wasn't until High Water that I woke up and had the feeling of epiphany that I had 
during Desolation Row the night before. This was what I had traveled all those miles for. To 
hear Herron's banjo (it is so loud in that room) and the heavy pounding of the drums and the bass.
This was an extremely sad tale about a flood. High Water rising, rising night and day, all the 
gold and silver being stolen away." But it's more than that. It's a story about a lonely man 
looking for love. It's about many things. It's also a funny song and a difficult one. Those are
the kinds of things you find yourself thinking while he sings, but the thing that really matters
is that he sang it perfectly this night and the banjo is the song. The banjo solo was the best 
moment of the night. It's really a blues solo, isn't it? By the time they started recording, 
the guitar had taken over and there weren't that many banjo players in blues. But I guess Jack 
Frost knew what he did when he chose to use the banjo in what he probably considers a Charley 
Patton song. I'd kill (I'd love) to hear him pull those strings again like he did. Absolutely 
the best post-war use of the banjo I ever heard.

Anyways, that wasn't the end of the eventing. Bob didn't play Summer Days in Ålborg. He played 
Highway 61 at the end of the set instead. This makes Highway 61 a different song than the night 
before. It turns into a jam where all of them play solos. Herron's steel solos are good, but I 
think Kimball's straight rock solo's are probably the best. Freeman's solos tend to be melodic, 
and that is good. But the highlight of this song was Bob's piano solo. Whoa!

I'm glad Bob played Like a Rolling Stone after the break. Not only because my brother wanted to 
hear it. Also because Bob did things with it that I haven't heard him do before. Could it be 
that he knows that we are listening to it now in a way we didn't before because we know things 
about it we didn't know before (we being the listening public)? Let's not guess, please. But he 
seemed to care about the way he sang it, sometimes changing the melody and stretching the lines.

I asked my brother if he likes All Along the Watchtower. It's not a favorite of his. But I 
wasn't worried because I know he enjoys good rock music and a healthy jam session. That's what 
we got before it was over. I'm glad I got a room in a good hotel with breakfast included. And 
I'm glad my brother paid for it.