Reviews

Gambling on the Truth: Bob Dylan at Mohegan Sun

I made a resolution at my last Dylan concert to look for meaning in my reviews 
rather than just giving a critique of the performance and arrangement of the 
songs. I was not disappointed in my quest.

Having been highly influenced by Dylan's Christian songs, I have been pleased 
to see him re-incorporate them into his set lists. And I like the way the 
audience reacts with respectful applause.

Tonight, Mr. Dylan changed one of the lyrics. When he played "Every Grain of 
Sand," from the Shot of Love album, one of his Christian tri-fecta (sorry for 
the gambling term but hearing the concert at a casino must have rubbed off on 
me), instead of singing, "I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man," 
Dylan sang, "I am hanging in the balance of a perfect finished plan." What an 
innovation! It summarizes Christianity in three words.

Dylan was making religious references in his songs all night. 

· He played "Ring Them Bells" from the Oh Mercy album, "Ring them bells so the 
world will know that God is one (won?).

· He played, "Ballad of a Thin Man," from Highway 61 Revisited, "Something is 
happening, but you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Jones?

· He played, "Cat's in a Well," from Under the Red Sky. The last verse of the 
song is "May the Lord have mercy on us all."

And, of course, the religious references in "Highway 61" and "All Along the 
Watchtower" are standard Dylan fare.

I was also impressed to hear the song, "Ballad of Hollis Brown," from The Times 
They Are A-Changin'." It's the first time I've heard it in concert, and I've 
gone to a few. This song relates a tragedy in which a man kills his family, then 
himself, with a shotgun. But despite all the pathos, the song ends with a 
glimmer of hope. After stating, "There's seven people dead on a South Dakota 
farm," it goes on to end with,  "Somewhere in the distance there's seven new 
people born." In concert tonight, Dylan repeated the last phrase emphatically.

So going back to my original point. What meaning can we take from Dylan's 
concert tonight? I believe a central message was, "All is not lost. Move 
forward. Something is happening. God may have mercy on us."

There were other themes in the concert tonight. Lost love or broken love is 
always central in Dylan's relation of the truth and the way this world works. 
"It Ain't Me Babe" and "Girl from the North Country," were particularly well 
done. The soft, low-keyed way Dylan sang the latter made the song even more 
powerful and beautiful.

Dylan also continued his emphasis on many songs from Love and Theft, his last 
original album, published in 2001. We heard a total of four songs from it:

Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum,
Lonesome Day Blues,
Honest with Me, and his show finale,
Summer Days.

Four songs from one album is a lot, and though I don't know his current 
activities, I believe Bob retains his creative genius and could write even 
more new songs for us. His rephrasing of "Every Grain of Sand," as I raved 
at the beginning of this essay, provides incontrovertible proof. 

Okay - in from Los Angeles to visit family and finally see a Bob show (my
25th) - Bob hasn't graced the "other" coast lately and I was jonesin' big
time! A tad too much security and older subdued crowd did not impede my
fix of Bob and the boys as they injected the energy into the masses and
rocked the house to its feet once again.  Stu looks like a good fit and he
also looks like he really gets off on playing with the band.  He is no
Charlie but he'll do. Bob, if you read this - how about a cali show?

Maggie's Farm - Bob's lyrics clear and tight - good version
Tell Me That It Isn't True - loved it 
Lonesome Day Blues - ditto much better than the orange county fair show
last summer. Ring Them Bells - this was my 25th concert and I never heard
this - nice arrangement and Bob was feeling it. Things Have Changed - a
little muddled at first  - then the band got it together. Girl Of The
North Country - yessssssss instant classic Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum - a
little tired of this one but the crowd seemed to like it. It Ain't Me,
Babe (acoustic) - my second highlight of the night - groovy sound and new
arrangement worked. Ballad Of A Thin Man - such a pleasure to hear this
again. Highway 61 Revisited - good guitar work as usual, had the gamblers
rockin'. Ballad Of Hollis Brown - by far the most pleasant surprise -
loved it and so did the audience - bravo!  Honest With Me - please replace
- tired of this! Every Grain Of Sand - yesssssss - no dog barking in the
background but you can't have everything. Summer Days (encore) - a guitar
player's dream 

Cat's In The Well - started off real loose - once again they got it back
together. Like A Rolling Stone - loved this version All Along The
Watchtower  ditto

The show at the Mohegan Sun Arena started late by Bob standards, 20 past. 
The show was over at 10:30.  A good effort and a good show.  The new
guitarist, Stu Kimball, found his place and offered up some fine solos on
a majority of the songs;  playing Fenders: a strat and then a tele.  Bob
only played keyboard, but it seems he is playing less, some songs singing
and playing harmonica but not playing much keys.  He gets buried in the
mix on the rocked out songs, but you could hear him on the rocked out
Watchtower encore.  I wish that Bob would have some background vocals, he
is the only singer now, and his voice is shot.  This is only the second
show, but his voice is a mere shadow of what it once was.  He must have
the WORST singing voice in professional music!  Great songs and a great
band make up for Bob's voice.  That's why we keep coming back  I'm looking
forward to the August Willie and Bob minor league baseball park tour
already.  That's it for now.  Enjoy the shows. 

Bob

The second show of the tour and a new guitarist meant that it would
be (with any luck) difficult to predict the sound or style of this
show. After a few songs, two major things were evident:

Stu Kimball is a superb guitar player. I felt he played a perfect part
in the band. More like Charlie Sexton than Fuzzy Koeller. The Mohegan
Sun Arena needs to seriously consider whether its walls were meant to
handle the sound of a rock concert. More on this later. 

Bob Dylan played at the world’s second largest casino and about ten
minutes from where I was born. It’s actually a cool place. The arena
is surrounded by what seems like a shopping mall of bars. Our choice
was the Dubliner, which played some pre show Dylan for the Guinness
types.

The arena itself is pretty. Our seats were in section 108, the second
level on the right side of the stage, from the crowd’s point of view.
Dylan opened with Maggie’s Farm. The performance was strong although
my experienced ears picked up on a bit of what seemed to be muffled
sound. Figured it would get better though.

The second and third songs showed no improvement. The sound on the
stage of the stage was equivalent to the sound through a bathroom
wall! I know every word by heart to Lonesome Day Blues and I had
trouble understanding Bob. My friends were beginning to make comments
also. 

When he started Ring Them Bells, I decided to try something risky. I
walked to an usher and said simply that I’ve seen about 30 or 40
shows, I know what they are supposed to sound like, and that I was
terribly upset with the sound quality at our seats.

Ater being directed to a second usher and then to a manager, I was
handed three tickets for some seats right behind the soundboard
people. This wonderfully helpful manager said that was the best
sound. Amazing. No questions asked. It was like they were used to
this problem and prepared to deal with it.

For the rest of the show, I’ll offer some highlights:

Girl From The North Country: Beautifully sung including a really strong
harp solo.

It Ain’t Me Babe: The crowd favorite and played great with Bob extending
the vocal notes leading in to the verses.

Ballad Of A Thin Man: Bob was pounding the keys while singing raw and
vocally uncensored. Very Mean. Great intro harp too and great solo guitar
from Kimball.

Ballad Of Hollis Brown: Great acoustical sound from the band. Again maybe
due to Kimball. Dylan with his most concentrated vocals of the night.
Really good.

Every Grain Of Sand: Sung with real emotion. Also picked up the harp after
letting the guitar players embark on a closing jam and beautifully
extended this song.

Cats In The Well: Better than the spring tour. Opened with some harp. Sung
it rougher than ever. Extended the guitar jams.

All Along The Watchtower: Larry was on pedal steel. In the spring he
played lead guitar on this. Kimball took impressive leads though and Bob
pounded the keys in great fashion.

These days it is really fun to see a Dylan concert. The sets have
become very unpredictable and the piano arrangements are pure rock
and roll. From the comments I heard after the show, people approved.

Can’t wait for the Willie Nelson Tour!


Jason Polanski

This was a solid show in the less-than-intimate confines of the Mohegan
Sun Arena. The audience–seemed to be older than the usual Dylan
crowd–pretty much stayed in their seats throughout, even the people on the
floor level, but the lack of graphic feedback didn't deter Bob and the
band from a very professional performance.

This is just the 2nd time I've seen Dylan recently, so the new
arrangements of Maggie's Farm and It Ain't Me Babe in particular were
interesting to take in. Bob really was pretty unintelligible during Maggie
and at a couple of other points along the way, but things still sounded
good.

For me the highlights were four slower and sweeter songs: Tell Me That It
Isn't True, Ring Them Bells, Girl of the North Country, and Every Grain of
Sand–each tastefully arranged with Dylan giving a very solid and earnest
vocal–as well as Hollis Brown, whose message rang loud and clear. (Bob
sang the final verse twice for emphasis.) There were a couple of a lyrical
innovations during Tell Me That Isn't True (during the bridge Bob sang "it
doesn't seem....it doesn't seem right", or something like that) and Ring
Them Bells (Bob replaced the last line with "you can't run and you can't
hide"). I also liked that the band perfectly duplicated the Nashville
Skyline ending to "Tell Me."

Other than that it was par for the course, Highway 61 and Summer Days as
usual being particularly enjoyable and Lonesome Day Blues packing a solid
punch. I was sitting in the very back row, upper deck, so couldn't really
gauge much else about Dylan's mood than the music itself–but the music was
very, very good.

–Thad Williamson

In the Connecticut Woods


Another leg of the so-called NET is beginning, and it was very interesting
to catch Bob’s show at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, CT on
Saturday.  The arena proved to be a fairly appropriate venue for Bob as it
was a sell-out, and although this Arena typically attracts less
enthusiastic patrons, the crowd was very appreciative throughout, and with
good reason.

Of course, the most significant change was that of the lead guitarist. 
Freddy Koella apparently is on a break for personal reasons and will
(hopefully) return for the upcoming European leg of this tour, so
extended-Bob family member Stu Kimball sat in for him.

Stu had played with Bob on Empire Burlesque, and plays now with Peter
Wolf, who Bob is close with.  You kind of felt at times like you were at
an opera or play where you got an understudy.  While Kimball didn’t hit
all the notes and solos quite right, his play did often made for an
interesting ensemble dynamic.

To the show itself, and Bob launches straight into Maggie’s Farm after the
normally cheesy intro from Al Santos.  It’s one of those versions of
Maggies where Bob’s both warming up, while the song also transcends a bit
by the end in a positive, driving way, which is always a good sign for the
rest of the performance.  Kimball plays a nice solo mid-song which is
encouraging too.

Tell Me It Isn’t True starts with a long, nice harp solo from Bob, and
it’s a solid version.  Bob’s vocals seem better than the Spring, like he’s
really in control of the variety of inflections now in his arsenal – the
‘frogman’ was almost completely at bay tonight - and the more ensemble
nature of the band with Kimball forced him more to the front, which was
often very, very good, including on this number.

Lonesome Day Blues ensues, and Bob’s 2004 vocals are really quite sharp
here, the song drives strongly and is very successful and well received as
a result.

Then into Ring Them Bells, a song I’ve long wanted to hear.  It’s not the
best vocal rendition of the evening, nor on the level of the
transcendental version at Ames 2002 (after which the song was most
understandably shelved as that version was so well good), but very nice
indeed.

Things Have Changed was decent, but no great shakes, and it's hard to
recall it at all, to be honest.

And then Bob launches into Girl From The North Country – a fabulous
version, with Bob singing beautifully, and absolutely nailing a thrilling
mid-song harp/Larry duet.  One of the highlights of the evening to be
sure.

Tweedle Brothers next – with Kimball a bit behind, but a nice version
nonetheless.  While listening, started to think that the frequency Bob
plays this and with such gusto may be pointed at the current
Administration in Washington – after all, one’s a low-down sorry old man,
the other will stab you where you stand – I’ve had too much of your
company – George Bush and Dick Che-ney --  sort of fits, doesn’t it?

It Ain’t Me Babe next, and this new version keeps getting better and
better.  Another highlight of the evening, and very, very powerful. 
Kimball fit right in on this one.

Ballad of a Thin Man – excellent version, with Bob bending the Jooonnnnes
very nicely, and finding new, interesting ways to sing many of the lyrics
– another highlight.

Highway 61 was driving, and built to a crowd-pleasing crescendo.  The band
was potent on the rock-out numbers this evening.

Hollis Brown next – and I didn’t think it was quite up to the DC or Boone
versions from the spring, but nice to see.

Honest With Me I have no memory of – I guess I’ve heard it too many times,
but it wasn’t distinctive as it sometimes can be.

Every Grain of Sand next, and this was the goods – bang on version, very
poignant.

Summer Days, and Kimball’s best moment.  Mid-song jam was very nice indeed
– yes, something is still going on right here - this is the one song
Freddy has taken time getting into – no such problem for Kimball, who
reminds one of a more removed GE Smith type – stays mostly in the
background – takes some solos that don’t usually excite too much – plays
nicely in an ensemble sense on many of the songs.  I prefer daring, but
this approach has its merits too, including this song.

They pose, and the crowd goes nuts, and they come back for the usual 3
song finale.

Cats in The Well with Larry on guitar as opposed to pedal steel, as he
apparently played at Gilford, had a longer mid-song jam, which worked
well, but I missed Freddy on this song, where he often would shine.

Rolling Stone had Bob in fine vocal inflection mode – very nice.  Kimball
takes the solo which Freddy always nailed so sweetly and so differently -
Stu's starts off nice and then peters out disappointingly, but Bob's on,
so it's not that big a deal, but Freddy is really missed here.

And after cursory intros, and a new pedal steel intro from Larry, a fine
Watchtower ensues, reminding us that few of us may not know what any of IT
is worth, but you wonder if catching a quality Dylan show in 2004 isn't at
least part of the answer.

Will probably be interesting to catch this version of Bob and his band
over the next few shows, as Stu gets more comfortable, and if Freddy does
indeed return shortly, this will have been an interesting mini-tour of
sorts.

Europe’s looking VERY promising, if you ask me.

Though less than a full, detailed review, some comments, and musings
offered here. One, Mr. Dylan performing live, within certain quality
performance parameters, is a great night out for The Church of The Living
Bob, of which I've been a card carrying member for oh so long now. I am
pleased to report that Mr. Dylan easily met the parameters of
acceptability last eve, within earshot of the constant honey-hum of a
million slot machines, and in certain offerings, delivered  more.

But what I learned last night is that I'm a mere neophyte in this
worship, as I was seated, and conversed with two more advanced members. I
asked one sultry young lady, on my left, if she has seen much of dylan
lately. She kind of chuckled that this was her 199th show since 1994; and
that tomorrow will be her 200th show. I retreated to my hovel,
humbled,"muttering small talk, at the wall."
 
The gentleman to my right, the Mr. Fishman of Guilford post fame, in
time revealed his credentials in this quest, or journey we are all engaged
in. It was agreed that he might be able to skill me on the merits of the
Baxter/Jackson guitarship era ; the superior guitar era, both of my
colleagues agreed. My vote goes to Robbi Robertson, who always offered
Dylan a tasty , stylish blend, albeit at the very beginning of his
oddyssey.
 
Since band transition, and the inevitable comparisions resulting from it 
were the topics of discussion last night prior to the show, admittedly,
this current lineup offerred a stripped-down, no-frills delivery from Mr.
Dylan's troubador pallette: themes of love's sweetness and pain, mankind's
dire loneliness and self destruction , leading to a humble, desparate
search for God.
 
The show opens with an energetic Maggie's Farm , leading to an strong 
version of Tell Me That It Isn't True, with Mr. Cambell leading it with
steel-pedal. Dylan's prophetic Lonesome Day Blues follows, rife with
imagery of war casualties and terrorism. A dangerous, apocalyptic time
when the things you have a hard time parting with , are the things you
need the least, and the United states' formidable current role of teaching
peace to the conquered, and having to tame the crowd. A time when we all
are hearing the wind whispering something-trying to make out what it was
and telling ourselves something's comin', but it never does. In a time
when we are even the more dependant on each other, Dylan ends the tune
with the line, you're going to need help sweetheart, you can't make love
all by yourself.

Next follows a more than creditable Ring Them Bells , mentioning the
heathen, a world on its side, and time running backward, and Dylan's
accentuation on the lines, ring them bells for the blind and the deaf,
ring them bells for all of us who are left, ring them bells for the chosen
few, who will judge the many when the game is through. Dylan follows with
a perfunctory, Things Have Changed, relating a world where, people are
crazy , times are strange, and lamenting that the human mind can only
stand so much, and mentioning , if the Bible's right, the world will
explode. 

Dylan the classic troubador  follows this from possibly a more innocent 
time with a sensitive, nearly somber Girl From The North Country,
wistfully imploring a travelor to see for me if her hair hangs long, if it
rolls and flows all down her breast , please see for me if her hair hangs
long, that's the way I remember her best. Dylan's lyrics were perfect for
this rendition.
 
A losable Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum follows.I for one can do without
this one for a long time, and would prefer something new and exciting in
this spot. How about Everything Is Broken, or Gates Of Eden, or One Too
Many Mornings? A heartfelt  It Ain't Me Babe folllows, with Dylan showing
his stagecraft , expertly increasing the dramatic tension of the lyrics,
culminating in a loud round of applause from the crowd. The classic Ballad
Of A Thin Man follows, always welcome in the set. The requisite Highway 61
leads into a highlight of the night, The Ballad of Hollis Brown . Dylan's
current growly timber of voice is well suited for this chilling story of
poverty and the murder suicide of the Hollis family.
 
Alas, for these ears, the high point of the evening's performance occurred 
when Mr. Dylan addressed this mysterious ride we're all engaged in when he
intoned in Every Grain of Sand : and onward in my journey, I've come to
realize, that every hair is numbered, like every grain of sand. Every
Grain of Sand being the one tune which has escaped me whenever I've heard
Dylan live over the years. To his credit, Dylan's lyrics were perfect
here, and equally stellar throughout the set. The inclusion of this
beautiful composition from Shot of Love was well worth the price of
admission .
 
The show ends with the mandatory four, Dylan and band stands before the 
crowd, and slowly walks off. I walk out into the casino, the machines
whirring like a million bees from an infernal hive, glide past the fake
waterfalls, and dive into  the warm Connecticut night , the night's crys
and whispers behind me now....New York City's billion movements,  ahead. 

Frank Minaudo  

There is an added bonus in attending a Dylan show when there is a new
bandmember, and as we all know, this has been a regular occurance in
recent years, when compared with the bands  of the 90's. You know
something is going to be new, different, but chances are pretty good it
will not be the set list. Saturday night in Uncasville was no exception,
but it was avery welcome "new,different" for this fan.

From the start, Bob was in good voice, and great spirits - perhaps he took
the # 4 horse in the Belmont?! Maggies Farm was a great start. I
immediately focused my attention to Stu, who, as most new bandmembers,
looked like a kid in a candy store. Tell me that it isn't True was his
first chance to step into the limelight - a subtle head nod from his
fearless leader, and Stu laid out a beautiful lick that just fell
wonderfully into place. Stu picked up the slack left behind by Freddy on
some smoldering leads during It Ain't Me, Babe, Ballad of a Thin Man,
EGOS, and the trades between he & Larry during Highway, TD&TD, HWM &
Summer Days reached heights that have not been seen by this fan since the
days of Charlie.

The communication between Stu, Bob, Larry & Tony was dead on. Bob usually
gave Stu "the nod" when he wanted him to run with a solo, and this was
just about every song. Surprising, considering how long it took Bob to let
Charlie run with it when he joined the band after Bucky left. Oh, &
speaking of Bucky, Stu very much resembles the ex-multiinstrumentalist
with his hat, wire-rimed glassed & goattee. Several times, it would appear
as if a solo was wrapping up and Bob would just give Stu a grin and
another nod - he was liking what he was hearing from the newcomer, and
wanted him to continue. Larry & Tony ate this up, and I am sure on the bus
to AC advised Stu of the rarity of such an occurance.

Bob kept the strong voice throughout, from the "Yeaaaahhhhh"'s that
started almost every verse in Lonesome Day Blues (his tribute to Little
John ;-)), to the intent and focused delivery of Hollis Brown, the final
line of which saw most people stand and deliver a much deserved ovation.

Then there's the guy that stands all by his lonesome, to the audience's
right, occassionally sititng down to play the steel strings, or strapping
on a cittern or some other ornately sounding instrument - Larry Campbell.
He still keeps it all together, and his leads are in a league of their
own. He is playing a lot more pedal staeel on this tour, including LARS,
which is a great thing in my mind. I am not sure Bob has ever had a
stronger, more solid bandmember. In CT, he drove It Ain't me, Babe, Hollis
Brown, and GOTNC just to name a few. It is so effortless for him now, and
with the addition of Stu, he need not worry about picking up any mess
Freddie may have left behind.

Uncasville was a great, solid show. Sat next to someone who was at
Guilford the night before, and he seemed to feel Stu was finding his grove
much better in the Uncasville show. If this is the case, and he only
improves, this is going to be a lot of fun! If what I hear about Freddie
coming back for the European tour is true, and Stu leaves, well, the
Europeans are certainly going to miss out. I have not seen a show this
good since Charlie left.

Alex Leik

There are already some great reviews of the show posted on this website, appreciate the specific 
musical information about the new guitar player, lyrics, instruments, ambience, etc.  One reviewer 
said something like "Bob Dylan must have the worst voice in the music industry", a pretty common 
line you hear from someone who doesn't "get" Bob Dylan.  Bob uses his voice, the way he sings each 
line and each word, to communicate his meaning of the song at the time he sings it.  The way he 
does this is unique to him, more likely the most powerful use of voice in the industry not the 
"worst." 
 
Tonight, he sang Girl of the North Country and Every Grain of Sand softly, sweetly, seemed to hit 
the notes well.  These songs were highlights for me since I hadn't heard either one live yet.  His 
arrangement of It Ain't Me, Babe was a thrill to hear, new one to most of us I think, can't wait to 
hear it again.  Since I hadn't heard Cat's In The Well yet, I enjoyed the rocking tune, though I 
know he's been playing it regularly for awhile. 
 
Great to hear Ballad of a Thin Man live for the second time, seemed to be the same arrangement as 
Dayton a couple years ago but his voice sounded better at Uncasville to me.  Also my second time 
hearing Things Have Changed live, what a great song.  Still remember hearing it for the first time 
at the movie "Wonder Boys," love the pleasant surprise of a Dylan tune in a movie.
 
Heard Ring Them Bells, Lonesome Day Blues, & Battle of Hollis Brown for the first time tonight.  
Lonesome Day Blues sounded like the L&T version, not a favorite, but always great to hear one live 
that you haven't heard live before, right?  Love the way Bob mixes up his set list and arrangements 
so everyone gets something new and memorable each show.

My best friend and I hung out at the Dubliner pre-show, (like Jason), great bar for us "Guiness 
types" though we drank Killian's.  They played Rainy Day Women & Hurricane, probably the only Dylan 
on the bar's jukebox, but got us fired up.    We sat in seats one row from the top in the right far 
corner of the arena and had no problem with sound or view.  Bob looked handsome in his black 
suit-sequined legs, & black hat.    Enjoy hearing him introducing the band and watching him dance a 
little here and there, not as much as most shows we've seen, always love when he talks.  

Mohegan Sun is HUGE.  The mesmerizing buzz of the slot machines as you walk to & from the show seemed 
in stark contrast to the peacefulness and earthiness of the reservation and beauty of the architecture.  
Had to step into the middle of the "prayer squares," as we called them, Native American-looking 
structures placed at intervals throughout the casino, just to meditate and debrief from the 
over-stimulation and noise.

We've read that Bob is more comfortable in smaller venues; he looks like he has more fun and crowd 
interaction in the smaller venues we've been to.  But we love a Dylan road trip as you might gather 
since we came all the way from Cincinnati to see this one!  Listened to Live '64 that I finally bought 
at Mystic Disc for the 13-hour trip home.  Had all kinds of Dylan music for the road trip but never 
enough of course.  Bob-great to see you on "the Res," come back to the "Nati" soon.  

Barb Henry
bjzh@aol.com

Where do I begin?
It is not that this concert was lousy. It was not an exceptional concert,
Bob's voice was worse then 3 times before this year (2 Bostons and
Washington D.C.) unlike some other reviewers suggested, but Bob was not
among my problems  with this show. Firstly, security personal really went
far with insulting and intimidating audience that had paid a honest fare
to see Bob. I mean not only before, but also during the event, with the
flashlights all around, sometimes it looked more like a Gestapo prison
than a concert arena. If it was Bob's idea of stopping bootleggers, I can
only say it's sad that it comes from the man who once sang "Chimes of
freedom". And also, not successful, I saw a guy recording. Second, the
band. Don't get me wrong, Larry is a great musician, and he is, together
with Tony, the main anchor for this band, but he is simply not a great
lead guitarist. His solos are well done, melodic and precise, but
completely lack original ideas. With the new guy still trying to fit, most
of the solos were just unfit for the great standards set on Bob's concerts
earlier this year. Freddie is a guitar genius who just has the right
feeling for what Bob's music is all about. And Bob obviously appreciated
that, too. It was pure joy watching how he enjoyed Freddie's solos. Hope
to see more of that one fine day. Thirdly, of course, for those of us who
see more than one show a year - the setlist was kinda boring. Otherwise,
it was a great joy to see Bob again, no matter how unrehearsed it may
sound his band is still among the greatest live rock'n'roll forces in the
world and they put something fresh and original to whatever they do. So,
thumbs up, and we have to wait, this new guy is yet to give his best. So
Europe, embrace one more time for the roar of the lion!

cheers AliasWhat