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09/01/2006

Recent Dylan shows: another view

Thanks to Andrew Smith for his rejoinder to my piece on the effect of the Love And Theft tunes in recent Dylan shows:

“Firstly, congratulations on your always informative website. I would have missed out on the Carnegie Hall CD if it hadn’t been for you. Secondly, apologies for the delay in responding to your 30th December post, but once I’d read it I just had to take issue with your views on the recent tour.

“You obviously attended the 20th November Brixton gig (the first night). I was there too, and have to admit it wasn’t a great night. Not bad; but not great. And yes, you’re right; the problem wasn’t so much the choice of songs, but their sequencing.

“But I also attended the following night, and the change was remarkable. I think I can honestly say it was the best Dylan show I’ve ever seen. Of course, it helps that the set list was a little more adventurous (The Times, Million Dollar Bash, Waiting For You, London Calling (!) etc), but it wasn’t just that. It also helped that the crowd was more responsive.

“Sunday night seemed to have more sightseers, who were mostly interested in the bar, whereas there seemed to be a more appreciative audience on the Monday. Perhaps because it was a weekday the audience had a higher concentration of fans in it; I don’t know. In any case the atmosphere was palpably improved, and Dylan seemed to visibly feed off it. The tension and air of excitement just grew and grew in a way that had not happened the previous night. By the time we got to the encore medley of London Calling/Like a Rolling Stone, the place just exploded.

“There were many highlights on the following three nights (a gorgeous Love Minus Zero on Tuesday for example), but I think the Monday night was the highlight and turning point.

“I’m sorry to say it, but I think you went to the wrong gig. Still it’s happened to me a fair few times before. If you compare tapes of the gig you went to, with the final Dublin show on the 26th, both concerts start off with more or less the same songs, in more or less the same sequence, but the Dublin show is audibly the superior of the two. I guess everyone is entitled to the occasional off night, but it’s surely unfortunate that Dylan should blow the opening night (ie the one that gets reviewed)…

“Finally, I don’t think the Love and Theft songs are the problem per se: what is interesting about these songs, though, is that Dylan doesn’t feel the need to reinterpret them in the same way he does the rest of his back catalogue. On the whole he utilises the same arrangements he did on the album, whereas with the older material we tend to get inventive new arrangements. Why this should be I don’t know. Maybe he’s just less bored with them. Or maybe he thinks we are.”

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