Reviews

Absolutely amazing how things have changed since yesterday.
A perfect sound with a superior mix and a band so tight and professional,
resulting in a hell of a concert. The setlist was quite different from the
two previous concerts. Not a weak spot, not a lesser quality song. It was
a pure treat. Those who only visited yesterday's show were wrong in their
decision. As if a different band performed tonight. The piano was very
present. And what a pianoplayer Bob has become. Only using piano and the
harp quite often, he seems to have reached the ideal mixture in the band.
For me no need for Dylan on guitar. This task rest in the very capable
hands of Freddy and Larry. With very good support of Tony on bass and
George on drums. For me, the band in this set up is the best playing band
you can find nowadays. The setlist was fantastic. Maggies Farm as a very
good and strong opener. Although I prefer Down along the Cove, this one
was also very suitable. Next came a really wonderful Senor, followed by a
solid Tweedle Dee. The next song was a breathtaking version of Boots of
Spanish leather. An unbelievable arrangement. It's allright Ma was next.
Again very strong and tight. The best R&B one can wish, followed by a very
surprising Don't think twice. Cold Iron's bound swung like hell. Not my
favourite, but very , very well played. A beautiful rockling version of
Most likely you go your way was another surprise for me in the playlist.
Again a superb job by this great band. Then the song I have hoped for,
after a stunning performance in Dusseldorf, they played an exact copy of
Trying to get to heaven. Unbelievable. Highway 61 rocked as usual. Very
good solo's again from both guitarplayers. Every grain of sand was even
better than yesterday. Strong singing by Bob and very nice harp. Honest
with me was played very good. Bob found some areas to improve however. At
some point he left his piano and directed the band from a position in
front of the drums. Both guitar players got together in the centre of the
stage and from there the band was playing flawless. Very good. A great
Lonesome death of Hattie Caroll was the last acoustic number of this
evening. The final number prior to the pause was the best Summer Days so
far. After a short break he came up with the biggest surprise of the
evening. Instead of Cat's in the Well, the band started the intro of  Down
along the cove, the opener yesterday and in Dusseldorf. An absolute
topversion of this newly invented  song from JWH. For me this song is the
best they play lately. The audience also appreciated this song very much.
Right after this the band started an average Like a Roling Stone closing
with a great All along the watchtower. A formidable concert by a super
band. For those who haven't seen this show, take the few opportunities you
still have. You won't be sorry.

Yes, the twin suns around which my tiny planet is in orbit briefly alinged
last night, when Bob Dylan produced a brilliant set in Amsterdam. The
alingment provided some blissful illumination for all concerned, and even
Larry was smiling by the end of the show.  First off it was Maggie's Farm,
and we were safe in the knowledge that Bob was going to provide us with a
much-altered set-list, a feeling that was confirmed by the second song,
Senor- I found myself thinking how superior Bob's version was to that one
Jerry Garcia had on Masked and Anonymous. After Tweedle Dee and Tweedle
Dum made another appearance- Why DO they get invited every night?- There
were some good versions of Its alright ma and D'ont think twice, before
proabably the highlight of the evening for me, a superb version of Cold
Irons Bound; it sounded very like the M+A version, namely superb. Most
likely go your way and Tryin' to get to heaven followed, keeping the
entire audience on their toes in a literal and figurative sense.

Throughout the concert, Bob had been engaged in some rather strange 
behaviour.  During the little conference he has between songs, he had
clearly been making the same hand signal every time.  He held his hands in
front of his face with the palms facing each other at a distance of about
one foot apart.  It was the sort of gesture one would make in a noisy
envirinment when asked how long something was.  Anyway, its impossible to
see how it would have related to every single song, so it clearly was an
in-joke of some sort; I and several others at the front repeated the
gesture after the encore- He burst out laughing, and made the curious sign
to the audience before departing, seemingly pleased by proceedings.

One other piece of visual humour came during "Down in the Cove"; during
the line about "I spied my little bundle of joy", Bob looked over his left
shoulder in an exaggerated fashion, clearly at his personal bundle of
joy...He smiled to Freddy, and then repeated this Chaplin-esque gesture
when he sang the line again, just to re-inforce the joke.  One can only
speculate what he was looking at...anyway, it was a brilliant show, much
better than the previous night, although I shall always remember both
shows' fondly when Bob and pot next meet...

"My back's been to the wall for so long…"

Another fantastic show. This was very different from the first Amsterdam show of
last night, in that Bob was fighting a battle up there - a battle with his vocal 
chords. Where the notes came easily to him, with sensational clarity, on Monday, 
tonight they were thin and cracked, the range narrow. With glorious 
bloody-mindedness, Bob appeared to see this as a challenge rather than a handicap, 
and ambushed the problem to deliver a magnificent performance with all of the 
passion and energy of Monday's show.

The evening started well. 'Maggie's Farm' is a rip-roaring opener in this 
arrangement, more arresting than the boogie-woogie foot-tapping of last night's 
'Down Along The Cove'. The audience gave a big cheer of approval. Then came the 
sinister, meandering beginning to 'Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power)' - excuse me 
for shouting "YES BOBBY!" - unveiled to a sweeping harp solo. What a great 
version! Bob sang with fiery intent: the desperate beckoning of 'When she held 
me in her arms and said "Forget me not"' was deeply felt. 

'Tweedle Dee And Tweedle Dum' lacked the spark of Monday's performance - the 
improvised tempo breaks had gone - it was a standard run-through. But it 
proved a necessary breather before an inspirational 'Boots Of Spanish Leather'. 
'Senor' had marked the beginning of a beguiling sub-plot to the evening's 
performance: Bob was in story-telling mode. 'Boots' continued the tradition. 
Bob explored every space of the meandering new arrangement; he seems to have 
a fresh connection with a lot of these newly-arranged '60s love songs. A 
highlight of the show.

'Don't Think Twice, It's Alright' saw Bob's voice, faltering during 'Boots', 
reduced to a desperate croak. Bob exchanged smiles with Tony after he reached the 
end of the vocal - glad simply to have got through it, so it seemed. After the 
song, Bob repeated a gesture we'd seen earlier, holding his hand either side of 
his head, palms open and facing each other, and shaking them back and forth, as 
though imploring something. His voice? The band? His muse? It was a highly 
dramatic gesture, a further theme to the evening's events that would now reappear 
before each song.

'Cold Irons Bound' followed, the perfect choice for Bob's present voice - indeed, 
the vocal pipes seemed to open up for him more on this one. The ensuing 'Most 
Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)' found Bob back in story-telling mode 
once more, leaning into the piano and relishing the words' momentum.

'Highway 61 Revisited' next - it rocked bells as usual, with a stronger vocal 
than Monday's performance. 'Every Grain Of Sand' wasn't a patch on Monday's 
version - the voice faltered and there were a couple of mike problems too. Bob 
only blew a very short hap solo to round it off.

Still, Bob and the boys didn't spare the horses for the next one, a towering 
'Honest With Me' that blew away Monday's rather loose-limbed attempt. The band 
were tighter, and Bob's voice carried an insinuating vibrancy.

Another story followed, that of 'Hattie Carroll', in a spacey new arrangement 
augmented by some brilliant piano playing from Bob; he found a circular figure 
and reiterated it to the song's conclusion. Bob dug deep for this performance - 
another highlight. 

The one surprise in the encores was 'Down Along The Cove', which was treated to 
the stop-start tempo revisions which are punctuating many of Bob's harder-rocking 
songs at the moment. The song worked very well in this slot, and was at least the 
equal of Monday's version.

As 'All Along The Watchtower' rolled around once more, the pressure seemed lifted 
from bob's shoulders, and he openly exchanged smiles with the rest of the band, 
especially Tony. He'd begun his band introductions by addressing the audience 
with "Thank you friends", reflecting the generous mood in which he'd performed 
over the two nights in Amsterdam.

Security was much tighter at this second show - there were far fewer camera 
flashes and frisks on the door were much more thorough. The heavies were chucking 
out suspected tapers and photographers during the performance. Bob stood for the 
formation at this second show, which he'd declined to do on Monday - perhaps 
because he knew there were no cameras out there? And he repeated the gesture, 
hands aloft, waving them back and forth.

I was grateful for the chance to give him one last cheer before London on 
Saturday, anyhow. This second show had been a bloody battle, and Bob had won 
through with some terrific performances that matched, in their way, the power 
and invention of the first show. A triumphant double-header in Amsterdam, 
then - who knows what the next two weeks might hold?

Toby Richards-Carpenter

Second show here in Amsterdam and what a superb one!!

This evening the security was very intense. Fortunately we were early
enough as we decided to get more close to the podium as monday. And we
did...

Again without the canceled support act the band started at 20:10 for a two
hour show.

The opening songs 'Maggies farm' and 'Senor' were the best performances
I've ever heard. Here the show started completely different as monday.

It's sad to hear afterwards that at this time still people had to come in
due to the strong security and waiting at the garderobe.

'Tweedle dee and tweedle dum' was again nice and up tempo.
Then again a surprise: 'Boots of spanish leather' in a completely new
arrangement, new song with the wellknown words! 'It's alright ma' was in a
slower tempo as we know, but alright. The acoustic version of 'Don't think
twice' was another jewel. Then rocking their way through 'cold irons
bound' and a good 'Most likely you go your way' they reached a new
highlight in 'Trying to get to heaven'. It wasn't as jazzy as a few years
ago, but also very well performed. 'Highway 61' sounded to me more solid
then the night before. 

'Every grain of sand' was nice, but sometimes I thought Dylan was talking
too much and singing too less. And yes of course I know, it's Bob...
During the rocking 'Honest with me' every member of the band was in a very
good mood, and laughing at each other. At 'The lonesome death of Hattie
Carroll' he almost told us the story...here, as a storyteller, this song
came out very very well!! 'Summer days' was as good as yesterday.

'Down along the cove' at the start of the encore was quit a suprise to
show up again at a different place in the setlist. 'Like a rolling stone'
and 'All along the watchtower' were again to me a bit disappointing in
this arrangement.

After all I enjoyed it very much seeing every member of the band enjoying
so much. It definitely worked its way out in the quality of playing. Even
Freddy Koella, who stands and plays most of the time as serious as if he's
doing an audience smiled sometimes (but I prefer Larry Campbell as a
sologuitarist) Dylan played better piano and nice mondharmonica. Laughing
and communicating with the band (especialy Tony Garnier again), with many
times it's two hands up a few inches before his face (handpalms to each
other) up as if he were saying 'this is the way I want it, so it's
perfect!'. At the end this same sign was also a nice one to the audience
giving ten fingers up compared to the one thumb down that he gave to the
dutch audience last year.

Hope to see you soon back here in Amsterdam Bob!

Rients alberts