At one month shy of his 70th birthday, Bob Dylan has earned the right to play whatever songs he wants, however he wants to. So-called fans who show up at his gigs only to complain that he didn’t perform their favourite “hits” or that they were mangled beyond recognition simply haven’t been paying attention to what Dylan has been doing for the last decade or so. Just listen to Modern Times or Love & Theft or Together Through Life and it’s obvious that Dylan has completely immersed himself into the music he grew up with…blues, gospel, western swing, country and early rock & roll. So why would anyone be surprised when his concerts are made up of a majority of that material? He would be dishonest to himself and his fans if he showed up and played a nostalgia-driven set full of songs that belong to an era long past.
Not that Dylan completely ignored his past at the Vector Arena, but he did re-invent it, starting with Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking from 1979’s Slow Train Coming. Bob started out behind the keyboard, but moved front and center for This Wheel’s On Fire. Rather than singing, it seemed that Dylan coughed up each line of the song like a hairball. A spirited harmonica solo was included.
Bob strapped on his electric guitar for Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues and Beyond Here Lies Nothin’. His guitar solo on the latter was breath-taking. After Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum came a, shall we say, “deconstructed” version of Tangled Up In Blue. It’s the kind of performance that gets purists furious, while others just grin and enjoy the show.
Dylan spent the remainder of the set behind the organ and he played with passion during a 10-minute Desolation Row. His roller-rink sound put a special “twist” on Highway 61 Revisited. Bob reached for his harmonica again at the end of Spirit In The Water and then wrapped up the regular set with Thunder On The Mountain and Ballad Of A Thin Man.
For those waiting for the hits, he returned with a stirring Like A Rolling Stone, then All Along The Watchtower and finally, Forever Young. What more could you ask for?
As usual, Dylan is touring with an excellent band: Charlie Sexton (lead guitar), Stu Kimball (rhythm guitar), Donnie Harron (pedal steel, banjo, mandolin), Tony Garnier (bass) and George Receli (drums). But it was Dylan himself that created the most memorable musical moments playing electric guitar, organ and harmonica.
While the Dylan of yesteryear may have been all about the lyrics, it’s obvious he is now totally into the music. Anyone coming to the show, straining to discern the words, was missing the point. Dylan is now leading a great dance band. They should throw away the chairs and let the folks shake a leg.
Tim Finn provided a fine opening set. He played acoustic guitar and was accompanied on electric by Brett Adams (of The Bads) and Tony Buchen on bass. The 11-song set included a few favourites (Poor Boy, Six Months In A Leaky Boat), three tunes from his 2008 album The Conversation and a new song entitled People Like Us. Adams whipped up some guitar magic on Straw To Gold and Dirty Creature and they closed the set with a lovely Charlie from Dizrythmia.
Marty Duda
One of the best concerts ive been to…. the guy is a legend – let him play it how he wants to and just sit back and enjoy!
I couldn’t be there, I was overseas, but you nail it Marty: how many of our elderly relatives do we expect to be the same/sound the same/look the same/think the same, as when we knew them 20/30/40 years ago? If they did, we would start to wonder.
Those who want Blood on the Tracks played as it was recorded should stay home and listen to the record. I’ve seen him a dozen times since the first concert I attended in London (Wembley Arena, October ’87 – not his greatest moment), including twice in Christchurch.
Some were sublime (Brixton Academy 1995), one or two were pay cheque time, but I would go and watch him tie up his shoes: not every day you get a chance to be in the presence of a broken genius, who stays alive by changing into what he is and might be.
OK – seems to me there are two camps that have clearly developed here.
1. Those that would pay good money to be in Dylan’s presence even if he were dead just so they could offer up there thanks as faithful followers for his faded reputation. It would appear most of these devotees were in the first 20 or so rows and were not impacted by the appalling sound production.
2. Those that did pay good money in expectation of a professional musical experience and were sorely disappointed by the wall of bass reverberation interrupted by gravely grunts and screeching harmonica.
So – let’s get real, pick which camp you belong and let it be, but please please please stop trying to justify the worst concert in the living history of the Vector Arena by inventing some nefarious adoration of a star now fallen.
CAN WE STOP NOW?
Poor poor Stephen. Must live in a sad sad world. Was Dylan at his best.
Vector needs tidying up though.!!!!!
finally an objective review by Stephen. Leon russell was awesome and prob ably much older than dylan. Dylan was by far the worst concert I have EVER been to and that includes every bar band I have ever heard. Talk about prolonging your career too long.. My wife describes as a comedian doing a parody of a comedian doing a parody of Dylan
I thought bob was great, if you expected to hear the songs like you remember, you must be living in a dream, the guy is 70 years old, he wrote music because he wanted to say something, and people caught on. People who love bob love the genius that he is not just what he does. He is a poet with word and sound unable to give you what you want, only able to give what hes got. Take him as he is or not at all and that has never changed. Bob preformed for us at vector, that he did, and if you couldn’t see it or hear it, that is a shame, his band was brilliant, tight and attentive to bob’s lyrical and musical improvising. Sure he missed with the harmonica a few times but then he nailed it on others. Give the guy some credit, surely he has earned it. How did he sound on the organ, amazing solos. I loved it and hope he comes again. Love supporting what he stands for. The freedom to be what ever you think. And the genius that he is
i thought it was amazing! you have to look up to the groovy guy…i mean hes Bob Dylan and hes almost 70. being only 16 i havnt been to many concerts before but enough to know that it was the best concert iv ever been to. i was 24 rows from the front and had to stand on my tippy toes to see him, but boy was it worth it. i was over the moon when he sang rolling stone. i hope he comes back because i would go to him any day again! and for the people who walked out like bob said “if the people don’t like me, they can leave my alone”
Those who walked out, did you call out “Judas”?
Sure, some of the presentations were a little staccato and the melodies not pursued, but the second guitarist’s Hendrix licks on Watchtower were truly grand.
Dylan is an event.
I just hope he’ll be back.
The first concert I have walked out of before it ended. I love Dylan, always will, have seen him before but never again. I don’t buy into the notion that Dylan is such an icon he can treat his audience however he wants. It is a two way street but for too long has been one way for Dylan – his way. Sorry but that is just too cynical for me. I thought the concert was boring, tuneless, and monotonous with a band reflecting Dylan’s own disinterest in being there. If you enjoyed it good on you, I’m happy for you.
i enjoyed the show was gutted a couple other songs werent played but o well, what time did he start as we got there at 9 and we didnt see him pick up a guitar at all was just organ and harmonica
Dylan is more than just a mere entertainer. He is a a groundbreaking artist and major cultural icon of our time. He has always followed his own muse regardless of the audiences that come to see him or the media commentators who try to pigeon hole him. People who walked out or who have made disparaging remarks about him in these posts just don’t get him. There is nobody else like him, never has been never will be. He is incomparable!!!!!
you people were so fortunate to see and hear such a coooool guy- and i missed leonard cohen too…sad-still can’t have everything we want can we ?!!
yes! dance ’til u die i say and sing up !!!
An old bloke with no charisma, no voice, no stage presence?? Neil, you and I must have been at a different gig! Dylan is a master of disguises and surprises, a true master whose talent is a real privilege to witness every time. Last night was a blast! Thanks, Bob!
Very good review Marty Duda. The master is 70 for god’s sake. Anyone who expected him to sound like he did in in 1963 was always going to be outside their comfort zone. We loved the concert. The band was tight, the music was amazing. Great musicians covering a big range from blues to jazz. Bob was obviously right into the performance and the band did well to keep up. May you stay forever young Mr Dylan. We had a wonderful evening. Thank you.
How does Dylan present Dylan? As a historical (but dead) snapshot of a historical self? What a joy to witness the creative force in its (his) current form, disinterring the back catalogue and breathing magic into it. Dylan doing Dylan without “Dylan” being there. Now that is a feat. Amazing concert, amazing band.
The sound was a wall of bass reverberation which made any melody or instrument unintelligible. Dylan must have left his singing voice at home, all that could be heard were three word gravely monologues strung togther sometime interrupted by screeching harmonica. If you wanted a nostalgia trip then you got it. If you wanted a professional muscial experience then like the many people that walked out early you didn’t get what you paid for. It’s time the Emporer was cited for having no clothes!
Here’s the reason people shouldn’t be in aisles, i was 4 rows from the front, paid good money, couldn’t see when people were in front of me. Coming from the back? Not my problem if they didnt get the best seats. Why should i have to suffer?
Get real chaps. What I witnessed last night was a superbly tight Texas blues band, totally propping up an old bloke with no charisma, no voice, no stage presence. Money for old rope. Also, the Vector Arena, seriously, needs to get its sound sorted out. It’s not good. My third and probably last visit.
Billie Cooke – how can you say its the worst concert you’ve ever been to when you didn’t even have enough respect to sit through the whole thing? As I’m only nineteen that was (unfortunately) the first time I’ve seen Bob and his band live and I was blown away – definitely keen to have them back soon! Desolation Row had me in tears… what a show. As for the Vector Arena – that’s how seating in arenas is usually arranged.
full marks marty duda for a insitefull’ collourfull and acurate reveiw that aside that was the worst concert iv ever been to and the only one iv ever walked out of the vector arena joins it as the worst venue iv ever been too with the only seats facing the stage that could not be obstructed being 55 70 metres away not long after hiway 61 we jioned an already growing stream below us and left can any one tell me to whom i send my ostiopaths bill for realineing the starboard kink in my bloody neck ? billie cooke
It was wonderful to hear the great music of the 60s and 70s contemporaneously converted to minimalist abstraction by an absolute genius, the master, and a superb band. This is American music folks. We agree with Marty Duda. You have to keep returning to his concerts because he is different every time, and the music is what it’s all about. And yes, Dylan invites us to join the Totentanz right up to the end. Rattle and rock those bones!
Great summary of the show, which I thought was awesome. The band was tight, but it was funny watching them keep an eye on Bob like a hawk. You never know where he’s going to go with his music, and they’re just hoping to hang on and keep up. Also agree that Bob has earned the right to play what he wants, how he wants and when he wants. Was really happy to hear some of the classics “deconstructed.” Thought it was great. May you stay forever young, Bob!
Loved that line about the hairball. That’s exactly how he sounds, and all the better for it. Great to hear Blind Willie McTell – no complaints about the setlist at all. How good was that solo on Beyond Here Lies Nothin? And always fun to play ‘name that tune’ when Bob starts the next song. This Wheel’s On Fire had me stumped until I heard the title between hairballs. I think he’s getting more animated as he gets older. I thought that would be the last time I’d see him, but after last night, I want him back in a few years.
Had a blast, really glad that Dylan mixed it up, he’s got a huge catalogue and to get a gig where everyone is happy with the set list would be a feat….
My daughters and I danced for the entire gig and were all well impressed again.. Cheers
Ditto for Clifford. Impossible to dance from the seated position and the security in the pit had obviously been told to keep people seated and aisles clear but were only mildly nazi enforcing this. Why the #$@% can’t they leave some room for a dancefloor? (no I won’t accept any reason)
had a great time anyway. Awesome Bob!
Totally agree! It’s his gig and songs and he can present them in any way he chooses.We know the old chameleon can change at a whim, all part of his mystery. Just as fans at Newport couldn’t deal with him going electric then, there are those now that resent his imagination. Rock on Zimmy for another decade.