Reviews

Düsseldorf revisited, back at the rail, for me the first show for this 
tour. However I had listened already to numerous downloads, so I 
did know what to expect, sort of. It was my 57th Bob date since 
1981, and I am glad I came over from Cork, for it was a mighty fine
show. The first five songs I saw as the opening act, with Bob Dylan 
on electric guitar, followed immediately by the main show, with Bob 
Dylan behind his keyboard for twelve songs.

The vast majority of the audience (probably at every show on this
tour) must think that Dylan will pick up his guitar again at a later 
stage in the show, and has abslolutely no idea that he will stay 
behind his piano until the formation at the very end. For me it was 
great to see him back on guitar for those first five songs, as I had 
last seen him playing that instrument in Karlstad in 2003.

“Cat's In The Well” is a fine opener for this opening act, and the 
fifth song of this “guitar-set”, the first “Just Like A Woman” of the 
year, was a nice addition (it was quite different than the last time 
I saw it less than ten months ago in Cork). I also liked the 
rearranged “It's Alright, Ma”, which was very intense.

After Dylan had put down his guitar, the main set started, sort of, 
with another opener, in my ears the perfect opener, a strong 
version of “The Levee's Gonna Break”, one of my favorite songs 
from “Modern Times” (which for me is the finest studio album in 
the last quarter of a century). And “The Levee's Gonna Break”, 
for me the finest “fast” Dylan song in as many years, was a real
treat.

It was followed by my favorite “Modern Times” song, the sublime 
and awesome “When The Deal Goes Down”, a composition which 
means a lot to me. Wonderful to see these two live in concert for 
the first time (after those two gems Bob could have played ten 
times “H61” for all I cared).

I enjoyed Denny’s guitar work on “When The Deal Goes Down”, 
as well as on pretty much any other song where he delivered the 
goods in Düsseldorf, especially on “Spirit On The Water” and 
“Desolation Row”, but also on “Like A Rolling Stone”. After a nice 
rocking “High Water” (song number eight already) I wondered if 
Bob is going to play any harp at all, but I wondered not for long, 
as the next three songs “I Don't Believe You”,“Spirit On The 
Water”, and “Desolation Row” all had both a harp intro and a 
harp ending.

“Spirit On The Water” I was hoping to see as well, as the live 
versions this year are really very beautiful. My ninth “Desolation 
Row” featured many verses, and was perfomed very well by Bob 
and his band, which was quite animated throughout (Denny was 
almost dancing during “Thunder On The Mountain”). The rocking 
regulars of the setlist rocked the audience good, which remained 
quiet during the slow numbers. I did not even hear any annoying 
clapalongs during “Nettie Moore”, which I enjoyed live much more 
than I did the recordings I had heard before (and even though I 
was hoping for “Ain’t Talkin’”).

During this song the band layed out a wonderful sound carpet as
a background for a sublime vocal delivery of their band leader, 
who remains in my ears the greatest living artist, and whose voice 
still is the finest instrument in music history. Last night in 
Düsseldorf I did not find fault with either Bob Dylan or his band. 
So I am looking forward very much to see them again, 
tomorrow in Frankfurt.

Markus Prieur
http://www.notdarkyet.org/

30 years of watching Dylan, over 40 shows seen, this was one of the 
best if not the best.

Wonderful atmosphere, nice to have all the floor area standing as 
opposed to Wembley the other night, which was a great show, but 
sterile venue.

Solid version of Don´t Think Twice, absolutely stunning renditions of 
Just Like a Woman and I Don´t Believe You, with fully-enunciated 
phrasing and heartfelt emotion; all the songs off Modern Times were 
superb, especially Nettie Moore, which was even better than Wembley 
on Sunday, and a surprisingly good Like a Rolling Stone, with Bob 
smiling/laughing after messing up a line. This injected some 
lightheartedness into the song, which carried it through solidly 
to the end.

Desolation Row started brilliantly, but unfortunately halfway through it 
descended into an "upsinging" version, All Along the Watchtower was 
hopelessly mangled by the band (I think it´s the drummer who´s 
messing things up), but by then nobody cared as the work had been 
done.

10 minute ovation at the end brought Bob and the band out to front 
stage to milk the applause, where they stood silently smiling and 
looking out at the audience for what must have been two minutes. 
(Is this now going to come back into the show again, or was it a 
one-off?)  They knew they had pulled off a superlative show.

I´ve never seen so many people smiling upon leaving a concert 
in Germany.

David Elek

Tonight's was the best Dylan show I've seen in the last 15 years of
catching him every chance I get.  Nettie Moore was painfully beautiful and
the audience was in a hush.  Desolation Row had a magic I haven't ever
heard in it before, and the arrangement of Just Like a Woman was the best
I've heard.  It was a thrill to see him with the axe in his hands again. 

Terry

Following Dylan shows for many years and living in Belgium I went to Bob
in Brussels. I  got the highlight of seeing Bob on guitar again. After 107
shows still it gaves a thrill !  When The Deal Goes Down (a favourite for
personal reasons,) was very touching because of the unique way he uses his
voice for this.  Bob not a singer ? He is a thousand times more. He
touches with his 'singin' straight a soul as nobody does. Then I went to
Glasgow because of my birthday, knowing no better way to celebrate. My
husband decided to go with but later on. So his seat was far behind
mine.There we got an amazing beautiful 'John Brown '. After the show my
husband who is not following Bob told me, he was very impressed by Dylan's
performance. 

Dusseldorf was one long highlight that remained the whole show. Bob's
singing was pure and heartbreaking. During the slow songs, Bob's voice
took our attention so intense that the audience was completely silent.
Nobody yelling. One of my top-shows ever ! Impossible to review each song.
After each one came another which was the same ravishing pure and intense.
Even Like A Rolling Stone seemed if I  heard this for the first time
instead of a 100 times but indeed, never heard it this way. Bob made every
song sparkling and refreshing new.. ' Something was happening ' thanks to
Bob, who made us feel ' what it was...' Still on the road, looking forward
to Paris the 23th...

Catherine De Smet

This was my first concert of the 2007 tour. I got to my place at 6:15 pm,
stage distance approx. 10 meters. As usual, waiting time at a non-seated
venue so close to the stage was not a real pleasure. So I was grateful
that the show started on time.

"Cat's in the well" turned out to be a real good opener - very dry, very
much rhythm. "Don't think twice, it's alright" and "Just like a woman" -
these were disappointing compared to the great performances in Wetzlar
2005.

All the other classics to me were somewhat disappointing as well - more or
less uninspired performances. However, all songs from "Modern Times" were
fine and were very much appreciated by the crowd. By far the best song in
Düsseldorf was "Nettie Moore", this was the finest performance of this
song I have heard on this tour.

Finally, this was an average BD concert. But an average BD concert is
always a little disappointment.

Joachim Richter