August 27, 2007
Review by Les Memory
Leaving last nights Civic concert was a most extraordinary experience, I have
never heard so many people of such varied ages saying that this was the best
concert they had ever been to. People milled around out front and outside,
it seemed no one wanted to leave and several people said they cried when
Bob sang, Visions of Johanna. There were so many under 30s and large
numbers of teenagers who all seemed to know that this concert was special.
Having really enjoyed the Christchurch concert despite the limitations of the
venue's acoustics, going to the Civic Theatre Auckland, I looked forward to.
Living at the uttermost part of the earth it was something I never thought
would happen in New Zealand, Bob Dylan in a 2000 seat old-style theatre
with good acoustics. My seat was eight rows from the stage and directly in
line with Dylan. On a random computer placement it was more than I could
ever have hoped for.
The show began with quite a good Watching the River Flow although the
vocal was a bit rough with Bob's voice showing the wear and tear of this
current tour. His voice hit the groove with the third song I'll Be Your Baby
Tonight and then the show really took off. Tangled Up in Blue like
Christchurch was phenomenal and I thought the reinventing of phrases
was a real hoot e.g. instead of "said to me, 'don't I know your name'?"
"said to me, 'I know your name' " followed by a retort "I said 'no you
don't'", all sung at the right tempo and fitting perfectly.
Spirit on the Water had a repeated verse which didn't detract and fantastic
audience interaction with over the hill and past my prime etc.
Dylan, Tony and Donnie just grinned at each other.
With The Levees Gonna Break, the band seemed to find something else and
it pulsated in a way that it doesn't on the album and when it seemed things
couldn't get any better Visions of Johanna just brought tears to the eyes.
While Highway 61 showed what a great playing band this is. Also Dylan's
rgan was higher in the mix and at times was adding great colour to the music.
What a privilege to hear Beyond the Horizon, perhaps it was something to do
with the good acoustics but it seemed that the song was bouncing around in
the air, to the left, to the right and up and down, travelling out into the
audience, bars of music becoming kinetic and the words somehow becoming
the thread which held it altogether, it was absolutely astounding.
Nettie Moore although slightly rushed in places was a showstopper and worth
the price of admission alone. In all six songs from Modern Times and all were
exceptional.
Much of the ground floor was on its feet for Summer Days and again for
Thunder on the Mountain and the floor was literally moving (there had been
a small issue where it needed to be strengthened after the $48,000,000
refurbishment and last night we certainly tested out the quality of the
workmanship).
The big band arrangement of Blowin' in the Wind was a great finale and then
there was Dylan with the band in the formation and the whole theatre on its
feet and Bob seemed genuinely moved by the experience because they
stayed transfixed for what seemed like a couple of minutes and then left the
stage. The crowd didn't let up and when the lights didn't come on we dared
hope for a second encore but after what seemed like an eternity they did
and "I (we) knew the night had gone".
Les Memory
Review by Noel Beasley
The Civic Theatre is a New Zealand icon and Bob Dylan added to the history
of this great venue last night with his presence. We last saw Bob in the
nineties with Tom Petty and co and before that in 1978 on the Budakan tour
that stopped off at Western Springs for an unforgettable night of music
extravaganza.
We sat in the stalls at the back right side and had a great view of the
band. Bob was directly in front of us facing to the band. Great! Bob's
vocals seemed to develop as the concert proceeded adding to his charisma
and projection which the audience loved. The sound was bang on where we
were with and awesome drum mix and Tony Garnier's bass. George Recile and
Tony Garnier were excellent and always on the ball. The guitarist's worked
well and their interaction and playing was at times adventurous as they
worked with capturing Bob's new interpretation of his timeless songs.The
whole show was very balanced and Bob captured the audience and took us all
on a musical ride back into the past and the now with his new album songs
from "Modern Times".
The whole concert was for me excellent and I enjoyed every song. Good
to see Bob playing his stratocaster. The cry was there also threaded
throughout against man's interference and stupidity in the affairs of
this world and "Blowin In The Wind" was awesome. A special final encore
which went down a treat.
The Highlight for me though was "Highway 61 Revisited". One of the great
rock songs of all time that is true to the vein of the genre. It was very
powerful, and a true example of American rock music at it's very best.
The crowd loved Bob and his band and the encore's were great, hoped he
would come out and play one more but no.
Keep going up that Thunder Mountain Bob, and keep coming back down to
share with us what you hear.
Noel Beasley
Review by Stan Lockie
What an exceptional night we just observed, Bob was at his best and the
band were in great condition.
I saw the show at the Vector arena which was fantastic but this one was
something else, I guess it was the intimate venue that made it, about 2000
seats, the assorted audience was mainly people of my vintage, people that
have followed him for more years than we care to admit, however there was
also a number of younger people who seemed to enjoy the show.
The set was nothing unusual, starting with a reasonable rendition of
Watching the river flow followed by It Ain't me babe both of which the
voice was very rough, as usual on the first few songs, I'll be your baby
was next this was done well and the voice was starting to hit the mark,
that concluded the Guitar section for Bob, he shuffled to the keyboard,
and we were into Tangled which was very good better than the version at
Vector in my opinion.
The next was Spirit which was sung with much feeling and was much
appreciated by my wife who has had to listen to Bob for many years, and
still struggles to understand my passion.
The next one was The Levee's which was really smoking the band were
fantastic and Bob was singing real well, not one of my favourites but this
was so well done that I was totally rapt, that's the thing about Bob even
the ones you don't like too much he can bring alive and reinvent.
Next was Visions which slowed things down a little this was well done and
the words were easy to follow, next came Cry A While which nearly caught
me out wasn't expecting that, again very well done by Bob
Back to Modern times with Workingman's Bob was very animated tonight
doing his little side saddle thing on the Keyboard those little legs
jerking away it was good to see he looked like he was enjoying himself.
Into Highway 61 which was done pretty well as it should be as it's
almost a standard these days.
Beyond the Horizon was next again well done with the voice sounding
pretty good, nice to hear the Harp always appreciated by the followers
Next we raced into Mobile which was ok nothing special in my opinion,
followed by Nettie Moore again well put together, next was Summer Days
again not a favourite but so well done, that I was caught up in it.
I knew we were getting to the end now and sure enough Bob finished the set
with Masters which was absolutely brilliant very similar to the version at
Vector last week, the words were crystal clear and just as vehement as
they were originally all those years ago.
The band returned and were introduced as usual then we were into the
Encore which was Thunder and Blowin both of which were excellent, and so
soon it was all over. Bob was most animated at the end with both thumbs up
for an extended period looking almost embarrassed as he does at the close
of the show, and so NZ returned to normal I drove home with the sounds of
the evening still ringing in my ears, satisfied that I had been part of a
brilliant performance by a man who never fails to impress and surprise me
after all these years.
Stan Lockie
Auckland NZ
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