May 9, 2017
Review by Joe Neanor
"Sitting in block N13, at the back of Wembley Arena, made for a
challenging concert going experience. Bob was up there somewhere on that
gloomly, stage in the far distance but where? Most of the time it was
struggle to see him, even if you knew where to look. Unsurprisingly quite
a few people in my block gave up and walked out during the show. Others
who stayed complained about not being able to see much. Bob's personal
contribution to help matters, as the star of the show, was to remove his
hat for most of the concert.
A cheer went up during the show when, presumably by mistake, momentarily
the stage lighting flashed up brilliant bright, "just for a second there I
thought I saw something move" . What do I know about the business-end of
show business? Nothing. But if I was working on behalf of a performer as
idiosyncratic as Bob, with his current preferences for a back-lit stage
and no big screens, my priority would be venue suitably for both him and
the audience.
The sound was good though, in terms of, Bob's singing, the band and the
hall acoustics. Bob seemed stronger in the first part of the show. He
repeated a verse in Desolation Row, but sung it better the second time
around! Same set list as at London Palladium.
Joe Neanor
Review by Mick Gold
So here we are. He doesn't touch his guitar. He doesn't reach for his
harp. Yet this was only apparent when I thought about it afterwards.
We're in the presence of a new Bob. He sits solemnly at the piano. He
hauls the mike stand round the stage like a send-up of the way Rod
Stewart used to do it. He looks defiant when he sings his Great American
Songbook. They don't do a lot for me. I kept feeling "OK he can do
competent versions of Old Black Magic and Melancholy Mood but they sound
slightly karaoke." As if he were coasting. Maybe it's just the language
of those songs doesn't connect with me in the same way as the dark poetry
of Dylan's greatest work. There was an interesting guitar lick driving
Tangled Up In Blue, and instead of "Some are mathemetcians / Some are
carpenters' wives", Bob gave us these more ominous lines to ponder:
“Some of them went down in the ground / Some of the names are written
in flames / Some of ’em just skipped town”. The highlight for me was
Love Sick featuring a really ominous vocal and ingenious piano playing.
It was both dark and melodic. I enjoyed Don't Think Twice, that kind of
cool arrogance (You just kinda wasted my precious time) worked well with
an older voice. Desolation Row featured a lively reggae rhythm which
carried the story effectively. Blowin' In The Wind reminded me what a
gorgeous tune it is. Ballad Of A Thin Man was delivered with bone
rattling relish. For a cavernous concrete barn, the sound was superb.
Mick Gold
Review by Martin Gayford
Bob is getting better as the tour progresses, and the tour was already one
of the best in years. Last night’s highlights were a notch up from the
Palladium, especially the Highway 61 songs and the best of the Tempest
songs. Ballad Of A Thin Man was fantastic last night, as was Desolation
Row. I have a feeling he sang the Cinderella verse twice, maybe I’m
wrong, but if he did, it didn’t matter. Using the binoculars from the
lady next to me in Row 18 of A3, I could see how great - and remarkably
'himself’ - he looked, and how at ease and happy he seemed singing those
50 year old songs that don’t sound old at all. Apart from Stormy Weather
and Autumn Leaves, I’m still bored with most of the standards, but it
doesn’t matter. When the energy, and quality of his voice is there in
the originals, it’s really something. Don’t Think Twice, Pay In Blood,
Tangled Up In Blue (very nice last night, all on piano), Love Sick (ditto)
and L&WYears were all brilliant. And the added treat of an iconic,
silhouetted hatless Bob for half the show. Imagine if he made a new album
soon, recorded with the energy and vocal control he has at the moment.
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page by Bill Pagel
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