April 22, 2014
Review by Alex O' Connor
Bob Dylan at Zepp Osaka 22 April 2014
Bob was cooking on gas here tonight. Right from the first song, Things
Have Changed, he was rocking it. The closing line of every verse "Things
have changed" was greeted by a cheer from the front of the crowd and
Bob was clearly enjoying the feedback.
She Belongs to Me is one of my favourite Dylan songs of that era, so I
loved to hear the lines sung so long after they were written, but the
99% Japanese crowd didn't seem to get into that one so much.
Beyond Here Lies Nothing was the first with Bob on the piano which was
a full size grand. The piano seemed a little poorly mic'ed to me - and a
little over obvious in the mix - but I could be wrong. Bob was singing as
close as you're gonna get to him singing the album tune here - none of
the infamous "upsinging" - or at least too little of it to be negative about
it.
What Good Am I was the first of the quieter songs and you have to say
that the arrangements that the band have put together on the quieter
numbers are really sweet. Bob was like a preacher here, asking his
congregation the question, "What Good Am I?"
Duquesne Whistle was upbeat and well received by the crowd. Waiting
For You is not so well known, but Bob seemed to enjoy it.
Pay In Blood was Bob the Sheriff or Bob the prosecution attorney. I don't
know who he's accusing but I know that I wouldn't want to be the
defense attorney on the other side of the courtroom with Bob this on fire.
At the end of the song he stood back from the mic with his arms by his
side like a gunslinger as if to say, "come on, I'm right here, you make the
first move," - it was hilarious.
Tangled Up In Blue was treated really softly, this again was a really great
arrangement, and Bob has changed so many of the lyrics, it was
interesting to hear all the changes.
Love Sick was also really well received by the crowd.
After the intermission High Water was nice and bluesy, and then Simple
wist of Fate had me in tears again. It's one of my favourite songs and'
again the arrangement was so good and Bob sang it so faithfully - truly
amazing.
Early Roman Kings was rocking, and Forgetful Heart was another beautiful
arrangement - with Bob's mournful voice - spellbinding.
Scarlet Town was funny as right from the start the front of the crowd
made this "woo" chant after each line throughout the whole song. The
band seemed quite amused and bemused at the same time.
In the encore, All Along the Watchtower had Bob enjoying himself on the
piano. He'd found a riff and he was using it. This was fun too, they wound
the song way down to almost silence and then kicked it in again.
Blowing In the Wind got the first big reaction of the night from Bob's
fellow pensioners in the seats on the second floor. It was pretty faithful
too.
All in all, it was a fantastic performance. One more night in Osaka, and then
Bob's off to Maui and Honolulu - hope he enjoys the warm breeze.
Thanks Bob. Cheers.
Alex O' Connor
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