Review

I travelled down from Canada to Baltimore and Richmond last month to see
Dylan, meeting friends from Detroit for what has become an annual sojourn
to see Dylan.  He never disappoints, and always surprises.  Dylan reflects
what is best of the human spirit, as his irrepressible creative muse never
permits him to become stale or standard.  Such was again the case for
these two shows.

Two notes about the Richmond show made it stand out: 1) the audience was
absolutely frenzied, more so than perhaps at any of the other 30+ Dylan
shows I have seen. The adoration grows. Moreover, I noticed that the
audience seemed older than at most other shows.  While Dylan's audience
naturally tends toward we older folk, in this instance there were scant
few of the younger generation. I put this down to what I perceive to be
higher than normal ticket prices, placing entry beyond the means of many
younger curiosity seekers; 2) Dylan seemed physically out of sorts on this
night, although this did not prevent him from giving 100% throughout. On
many occasions he stretched and strained as if to 'work out the kinks.' I
remarked to my friends that Dylan appeared to have a sore back, something
about which much has been speculated in recent years.

Having said all that, the modestly reworked versions of many songs this
time around kept them fresh and engaging.  Here's hoping we have the
opportunity to meet up again with the master next year, somewhere down
along the road.

P. MacIntosh