Bob Dylan - Bob Links - Review - 04/17/99

Review

Málaga, Spain

April 17, 1999

La Malagueta Bull Ring



Review provided by Antonio Terni


After a 2400 km drive from Italy, Sandro and I arrived to Malaga the very day of the
concert:  Found a hotel, got the tickets, had a look at the ancient part of Malaga and 
finally went to the show. We entered the Malagueta Plaza de Toros and discovered 
that our first row seats were at the extreme left and there were fences dividing us 
from the central seats.  Andres Calamaro, despite his willing to look like young Bob,
is a nice guy and good singer.  He is aware that the audience is here for Bob and 
does a couple of jokes about the situation.  A good and short show ending with
Seven Days.

As soon as the lights go off for Bob we jump over the fences and rush to the center 
of the stage, but security guys try to send us back, as the center seats are occupied 
by local VIPs who prefere to assist at the event comfortably seated in their chairs. 
I go back through the central corridor and find a shelter between the second and third 
row of seats where I hope I can stay on my knees. Two ladies seating behind me 
understand my dangerous position and do their best to hide me from the guards and 
in fact I stay there for most of the concert.  As I thank them one says to me: 
"Entre viejos roqueros tenemos que ayudarnos, no?" which means that old rockers 
have to help each other. I agree. At HW  61 everybody is allowed to go to the front  
and so I leave my shelter. At the end of the concert I try to find these ladies to thank 
them for their help but they are gone, and somebody tells me that one of them was 
Celia Villalobos the Alcaldesa de Malaga (the Major) and  I'm delighted that the 
hippy part of here soul was, in this occasion, more powerful than the official one. 
Thank you Celia, and..... "may you stay forever young...!" 

The concert was in my opinion very good: I think that the band is playing much better
than last summer, the set list is not so rigid and they all seem to be very relaxed and 
enjoying being there.  Friend of the Devil is very well sung and a very good intro; 
To Ramona is one of my favourits and I always enjoy it; Masters of War on its 
traditional arrangement is very appropriate to what's going on in Serbia; Desolation 
Row even better than last summer, with a totally new arrangement. I loved I want You 
and Mempis and of course HW61 as rocky as ever.  On the encores  Leopard Skin 
forced me and Sandro to throw our hats and the concert closed with Not Fade Away 
which I heard for the first time in Fort Myers and which I think is a wonderfull song and 
very appropriate for the band.

A wonderfull night, I can tell you, and  being in Spain where every cerveseria and 
restaurant is open until morning, we were able to discharge our excitement  in front 
of a fantastic plate of seafood and a bottle of lovely spanish chardonnay. So long, 
Malaga.

(Please forgive my mistakes, but I dont want to go through dictionaries and stuff like 
that to find the appropiate expressions....)


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