May 5, 2015
Review by English Pete
Now, where to begin.
I'm 52 years old and this was both my wife's and mine first Dylan concert.
I'm the music lover in the family. I'm pretty sure that my wife attends the
many concerts we go to purely to accommodate/accompany me.
I'll be the first to admit it took me many years to "get" Dylan. Obviously I had
come across his music over the years but never did really take the time to listen.
I grew up through the late seventies and eighties and to be truthful Punk, New
Wave and Post Punk (if we are going to apply labels) were mine and my
generation's music. In fact I was listening to Neil Young way before Bob. Then
as I got older (some would say I matured) I started listening to more
singer-songwriter based music……….first Gram Parsons, then TVZ and onto
Prine.
Then I heard an early release of "Tempest". That hooked me. Being familiar
with the work of Bob's songwriting partner on "Duquesne Whistle" sure helped.
So, back to Houston, May 5th 2015 and my first Dylan show.
Much as I love Bob's early work (thanks to the CD box set purchased a couple
of years ago) I also thoroughly enjoy his newer material, so a concert of more
recent songs and newer arrangements of classics didn't daunt me. Not one bit.
And how much did I love it………………man alive what a great show. I had seen
the set list and researched the couple of songs ("Things Have Changed" and
"Waiting for You") I wasn't familiar with and compiled an MP3 Playlist of the
studio recordings of all the songs to be performed. (Back in the day we used
to make real mix tapes on cassette). We dug that play list for a couple of days,
on the understanding that the arrangements would likely be quite different.
We weren't surprised. And we weren't disappointed. What an awesome
performance from Bob and the band. Loose at times, even though it is obviously
now well-rehearsed. But that is the beauty of a live performance. Sometimes
you have a collision of sounds, other times you can just listen to the spaces
between the instruments and individual notes. Charlie's guitar licks were
awesome when he was given the room to express. And Donny's virtuosity on
different pieces is just a joy to the ears - his banjo picking on "High Water" an
example. The mournful violin on (was it?) "Forgetful Heart" was almost
heartbreaking. It's probably unfair to pick these two guys out, the whole band
being excellent. Stu and his Maracas being mentioned aplenty in previous
reviews.
And then there was Bob. His phrasing was generally bang on. Just what I
expected. (He did however have my wife laughing when he cleared his throat
half way through a line on "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'").
To me it was a blues show…..some of it swung and some was just plain laid back.
I read a few reviews of earlier shows on this tour where people were complaining
about his choice of songs, not enough of the classics, etc., and I looked around
and saw many impassive faces in the auditorium. I feel for these people, they're
just not getting what they wanted out of it. But it brought to mind the 1966
Royal Albert Hall (actually recorded in my birth city of Manchester)
recording………half the audience there weren't getting what they wanted. Time
doesn't stand still, and neither does an artist like Bob. He never has, and surely
that is the beauty of it all.
Hopefully I won't have to wait another fifty years for my next Dylan show.
English Pete
Review by Alex Leik
May 5 was an overcast day in Houston, with storms passingthrough from time
to time. It was my first trip to this city, and I quicklyrealized that the
traffic was not something I would want to experience on aregular basis as
it came to a standstill on the 45N well before rush hour. Ifound the venue
rather easily, a part of downtown known as the theatredistrict, and the
Bayou Center looks to be part of a recent renovation projectwith
restaurants, Hard Rock Café, etc.
I was worried about the front row seat because of how deepBob and the boys
set up – far from the front of the stage. Would I be lookingup and only
be able to see his head? No worries however. I had a great view ofeveryone
except Charlie (Bob was blocking him) and while my instinct was to askBob
to take a few steps left/right, I kept my mouth shut.
We all know the surprises – there are none. This remains thesame set
list (with recent addition of a phenomenal “Autumn Leaves”) that
ourhero has been delivering for several tours now. But it is just that
deliverythat makes it special each time. Dare I say his voice has improved
since DC inNovember? Instead of taking a few songs to warm up, it was
right there from theword “go” at 8PM sharp. “Things Have Changed”
& “She Belongs to Me” weresolid openers. But the first “treat” for
me came with “Duquesne Whistle”. This wasthe first time I have heard
Donnie play the beginning part as it appears on thealbum. In past shows,
they just jump right into it and skip the steel intro.Well, now he is
playing it, and it was very welcomed. This was also the songwhere I
focused on George, and was again reminded what a talent he is. PartCharlie
Watts, part Lars Ulrich (haha, OK maybe not)…but he remains cool as
acucumber and drives the band so smoothly, and then can take it up a notch
witha flip of the stick to pound the skins harder/louder. This song allows
everyband member to shine, much like “HighWater” opening the 2nd set
“Waiting for You” continues to be the low point for me, thesong just
doesn’t do it for me. But he’s not playing it for me J. Charlie has
some niceguitar work in it, but I’m always glad to get through that
because I know it isall uphill from there. “Love Sick” is still the
highlight of the set list forme, would be a fine encore as it was back in
the day. It is just an amazing bluessong. Bob toys this new line/phrase
about how she “went through my things…whileI was sleepin’” or
something like that. This happens on other songs as well,maybe he is
getting tired of the same lyrics every night. Tangled Up in Bluehas a
mention of “brute” force…not just force! And Bob flubbed a few lines
of “Blowingin the Wind”, but recovered nicely for the last verse.
For all of the musicianship going on, the best instrument onstage for me
is now Bob’s voice. You could hear a pin drop during
“ForgetfulHeart”, “Autumn Leaves” & “Stay with Me”…and
rightfully so. It was ethereal,sublime, just sounded soooo good. And the
crowd loved it. And our hero bouncesaround the stage, waiving his arms to
direct George as songs end, punching hisfists in the air, almost like a
prize fighter going 12 rounds night after night…whichis probably how he
feels after 2 hours every night approaching 74 years young.But, unlike the
pay-per-view disaster here in the USA this past weekend, no oneis saying
they were ripped off as we exit the Bayou Music Center and into theHouston
night and…ugh, more traffic!!
Alex Leik
Review by Chris Bennett
Bob Dylan's lounge act eased into Houston last nite, and after hearing
The Who, Jeff Beck, and ZZ Top over the past few weeks, it was an
adjustment I couldn't fully embrace. In reducing what volume, edge, and
dynamics the recorded songs have to a kind of static, subdued murmur,
the show reminded me of the willful one-dimensionality of the ’78 tour.
The rearrangements on this tour are, as a whole, less offensive, but in their
homogeneity, they rarely reach anything above inoffensive either. Each song
sounds about the same, only the tempos change, barely. If there was a riff,
a bite, to a song, Dylan’s had it removed. And he has by now almost
completely reduced the distinctiveness of individual instrumentation to
create a unified sound in which the pedal steel, piano and two guitars are
nearly indistinguishable from one another. All very tastefully executed, in fine
harmony, but a spontaneous moment of musical camaraderie and invention?
Dylan ain’t having any. The band members themselves play in near darkness,
and the setlists from night to night are of course indistinguishable also
- not a single derivation.
The sound, the look, the songs seem to have all been
carefully choreographed by Dylan, which is an involvement I can
appreciate. He seems to be upending the conventions of a live arena
performance/tour and eliminating any pretense of this being a rock show.
At 73, and with his tastes elsewhere, this seems appropriate.
But I didn’t much like what he replaced it with. With the melodies
and rhythms so circumscribed, and with the limitations of his voice, the
moods rather uniform, his most recent original songs didn’t have enough
narrative drive to keep me otherwise engaged, just memorable individual
lines sometimes growl crooned satisfactorily, sometimes not. The songs
didn’t gain momentum and register emotionally or intellectually. Maybe it
was just a bad nite for me, and I’ve been listening to too much classic
Dylan lately to adjust to this abrupt reality. Or maybe stomach cramps
from some seafood on the coast that afternoon kept me from appreciating
subtleties. But this was certainly not a highlight among the 25+ shows
I've seen since 1988.
There were highlights tho: "Duquesne Whistle" chugged along with more
style than on the LP, a soft but sublime, wistful rendition of “Forgetful
Heart,” and a gorgeous song I’d never heard, “Autumn Leaves,” which will
lead me to the new album. I think I would have preferred an evening of
Shadows and other standards, of songs I would mostly not know and have no
preconceptions of.
Chris B.
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