Review

São Paulo, Brazil

Via Funchal

March 5, 2008


[Eduardo Oliveira]

Review by Eduardo Oliveira


As usual, Bob started the night looking a little uncomfortable, sort of
stiffed on the middle of the stage with the gitar. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box
Hat had a nice slow rhythm. It Ain’t Me was romantic and light, and Bob
was loosing up. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight was good, but still seemed
that something was missing. As soon as Bob took the keyboards, he
appeared to relax a bit. Masters of War was slow and hypnotic, one of
the highest points in the evening. Nice arrangements to The Levee’s
Gonna Break, but the song is not really exciting. Spirit on the Water
sounded just like on the album record, which is good, and led to a very
careful version of Things have changed, with Bob pronouncing every word
and the band sounding neat and clear. A violin gave it a very nice
touch. 

From that on, things really started to pick up. Bob got into a good
mood, and had a great streak. In When the deal goes down, the audience
was listening with a sort of reverence, and the arrangement was also
very similar to the album version. High water was the big surprise to
me. It was rocky and exciting. The band showed a hidden strength on the
song, Bob and the audience went along. Memphis Blues Again is one of my
favorites songs, and it sounded very good. Workingman Blues #2 is
probably the best song of Modern Times, the live version was played with
a lot of feeling, specially from Bob.

Well, Highway 61 was a explosion. I guess Dylan really likes to play it.
The band was on fire and everybody stood. It was a sort of a misplaced
climax, since we had a few songs ahead. Nettie Moore calmed things down
a little, another version similar to the studio, and beautifully
performed, by the way. I’m not crazy about Summer Days, but Bob gave it
a great accelerated rhythm, it turned into a funny song. 

But the audience went really crazy with Like a Rolling Stone. Everybody
gather close to the Bob and the band. Some girl broke into the stage
(the second time on the evening) and for a moment Bob seemed concerned
and even frightened . But the incident made him look at the audience,
and I guess he felt the energy right a way. He got electrical, the song
escalated, everybody on the house was exhilarating. What a moment. After
a few moments of ovation, he got back to a good Thunder on the Mountain,
with the public still vibrating from Like a Rolling Stone and closed the
night with a strong and convincing All Along The Watchtower, which, I had
never heard him play. It was a great night, one of those moments we will
carry in our memories for the rest of our lives.

Eduardo Oliveira

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