Reviews

Last nights concert was good, but this nights was a couple of notches up.
All of the songs he played last night were better. Summer days was way
better. No more comments on yesterdays songs except for Workingman's Blues
that was even better than the recorded version tonight. Then on to the 8
new songs for tonight. Cat's in the Well was a good start but nothing
special. I'll be your baby tonight was great, we always like to hear that
song. Blind Willie McTell was awsome, sung with feeling and conviction.
Things have changed was not great but certainly done well, especially his
phrasing, as on all the songs tonight. Then on to Visions of Johanna,
definitely the highlight of the show. Wordperfect. We both studied him in
binoculars and he was smiling and seemd proud of what he was doing. After
Visions and between some of the other songs it seemed like Bob wanted to
say something in the microphone, but maybe it was only his high energy as
he paced around the area. When the deal goes down was close to the
recorded version. We had hoped for Mississippi tonight and got it. Not
extremly good but well done. For Paul, Masters of War was another
highlight, and Steinar enjoyed it too. The encores were the same as
Thursday' show, but we expected different songs tonght - and we will get
that tomorrow. The diffference in the encores from last night was that
tonight he remembered to introduce the band. Great, great show, we can't
wait for tomorrow.

Just a short note we forgot to mention last night. We spoke to Tony before
the show and asked about the European tour and if they were going to play
Scandinavia. His answer was "We always use to start up there but still
it's all rumors". 

Steinar Daler & Paul Wultz       

The first night was fine.  The problem for me is I will travel a bit to
see Dylan and I download too many shows, at least that's what my wife
thinks.  Anyway the result is the first night offered no surprises.
However, I really feel it is unfair to judge a show with that background. 
Having said that, the 22nd's show was unbelievable.  I don't care what
type of fan you are you had to be impressed.  I went with a guy who had
very little Dylan in his musical map and he was blown away.  For me this
was almost the perfect set list for 2008, short of me picking the songs
for him.  His singing was full of emotion.  I'm sick and tired of people
harping on his voice.  The spirit is still evident.  If Dylan was an old
black bluesman the voice would be considered part of the charm.  It's time
for people who consider the voice a detriment to his shows, to move on, or
at least accept it as something that isn't going to change.  The fact that
half the show was different from the first night wasn't a surprise, it was
the choices of songs that made it special.  Mississippi, Visions, Blind
Willie, and a great Masters were just some of the highlights.  Also,
Workingman's Blues, even though it was a repeat, was sung so much better
it is almost as if it wasn't the same song from night one.  Finally, is
there another band that can rock so hard that George's sticks were flying,
literally, off the stage at one point, and then play a song that your
grandparents might have danced to in the 1940's?  When I left Stubb's in
Austin back in September, I thought I'd seen a classic.  This show has
supplanted that show for me.  It's a top three out of the thirty plus I've
seen.  I'm really looking forward to tonight, but I'm also girding myself
for a bit of a let down.  I mean there's no way he tops this, right?! 

Keith Venturoni

Gravel, spit, precision, perseverance, and an ethereal oneness with the beat 
and rhythm of a timeless past, present, and future all rolled into one breath, 
Bob Dylan was in town for three special nights at the Dallas House of Blues.  
I had the pleasure and the pain of watching the Bob Dylan show Saturday 
night.  

The pleasure cannot be measured or even described.  If you were there you 
know; you are my kindred spirit.  We are brothers and sisters in our devotion 
to whatever it is that Bob Dylan does for us.  I certainly don't understand it, 
but for those of us who love Bob Dylan, it is an instinctive, intuitive 
appreciation and many times just a gut feeling that washes over us when we 
hear his voice and his words with his distinctive phrasing and enunciation.  It 
is visceral.  The pleasure in watching his show is not describable; and if you 
are reading this, I know that you know what I am talking about.

The pain in watching the show for me, is the knowledge that Bob is mortal 
and his time on this earth is limited, just as mine is.  I live in fear that he will 
die before I am prepared for it.  There is so much to know, to take in, to 
feel, and to study.     
 
But, back to the show…Plain and simple the show rocked!  It started out in 
a slow and deliberate manner with The Cat's In the Well, and then bit by 
bit, it gained emotionally, as well as musically.  Bob's voice certainly gained 
and morphed throughout the evening. By time he got to Visions of Johanna 
he was in the zone.  His voice was in fine form.  He was singing and singing 
well.  There is no doubt that he was feeling the words. The sincerity and 
emotion that he was conveying was not routine, it was authentic. By the 
time he got to Masters of War the place was about to explode.   There was 
no hiding behind walls or desks in this song.  He put it out there for God and 
Man and I for one think it is the best version I have ever heard.

The Bob Dylan dance was in rare form.  He flexed and gyrated, ducked and 
dodged, and several times I even saw him smile and acknowledge the 
audience.  I loved when George broke a drum stick and it went flying 20 feet 
in the air and he grabbed another one so quickly that he didn't even miss a 
beat.  I cherish the conversations with the people around me who came 
from San Francisco, New Jersey, Florida, down the street in Dallas, and if you 
can believe it, even Hibbing, Minnesota! Every single one of them had a story 
to tell, and I wanted to hear it! 

For those of you who believe Bob Dylan writes mathematical music, here is my
math…Bob played  17 songs spanning 45 years with equal attention to 
highlights from his early work as well as his more recent masterpieces.  He 
played 6 songs from 1963-1967, two from the 1990's, and 7 from 2000 to 
2006.  My only disappointment was that I didn't hear anything from my 
beloved Blood on the Tracks, or even Time out of Mind, but I'm not 
complaining.  If I was complaining I would say that I wish he had played a 
little more harmonica, and that the damn speakers were not blocking my view 
of Donnie and Stu, and that the #@*$ airline had not crumpled my poster of 
the show that I was looking forward to framing.  But I'm not complaining 
because the show was perfect.

Thunder on the Mountain followed by Blowin' in the Wind… the encore for 
me was something old, something new, something borrowed something blue; 
the new with the old, the old with the new; a perfect ending to a perfect 
show.  God Bless you, Bob Dylan.  Happy Trails to you…