Reviews

The show in Turin was good, not one of the best I attended, but a good
one. 

CAT'S IN THE WELL is a minor tune that works well in live performances.

THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN' The band had some kind of problem on this
one, especially the first few bars. 

WATCHING THE RIVER FLOW was the one we're accustomed to (when will Bob
give up with this song?).

IT'S ALRIGHT, MA (I'M ONLY BLEEDING) was a highlight to me. The new
arrangement is terrific and Bob playing the guitar adds a lot to it. His
singing was meaningful, too. 

Yes. the guitar, electric guitar. Only on four songs, and sure everybody
didn't have enough, but 'don't think twice, it's all right'!

SPIRIT  ON THE WATER The first of the new Modern Times tunes, better live
than on record, of course, but still something is missing. I think songs
like this would sound better if they were played by a different band.
Unfortunately, Mr Freeman hasn't got the slightest idea of what 'swing'
is. Anyway.

ROLLIN' AND TUMBLIN' really rocked.

BOOTS OF SPANISH LEATHER I'm really happy Dylan picked this one out for
this evening. I was at the concert with Maria Elena, my 17-year-old
daughter, who recently wrote a short thesis for the school about 'Boots'.
She really loves this song, and she was very excited when she heard Bob
deliver 'I'm sailing away, my own true love.'. The rendition was excellent
as it should: soft and dreamy. 

THINGS HAVE CHANGED A good song, but a rather drab rendition. The riff and
up-tempo were totally missing and the song rolled away rather unnoticed.

MY BACK PAGES At last I had the chance to listen to this song live.
Extraordinary! Not the best of bands for this kind of tunes, though.

HIGH WATER (FOR CHARLIE PATTON) Dylan blessed us all with a strong
rendition of this beautiful song.

WHEN THE DEAL GOES DOWN A mellow one from the new album. I like the song,
and it sounds live like it does on record, with no surprises. Once again,
the two guitarists missed the point and delivered licks that were really
poor. You know, like practising on one's  own before the guitar lesson. I
don't want to be unpolite, not at all, but I was extremely disappointed
with the guitar playing throughout the show, and many guys I talked to
after the show agreed with me. 

STUCK INSIDE OF MOBILE WITH THE MEMPHIS BLUES AGAIN I listened to this
song a lot of times in concert and. wow! It looked like the old times!
Tremendous song that Dylan delivered with an intensity that had been lost
on recent tours. Very good.

NETTIE MOORE Another new song. A beautiful song. I can't say how much I
appreciated Dylan's vocal rendition on this one. It was simply marvellous,
that's all.

HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED A terrific show stopper. This band is more at ease
with the fast songs and 'Highway' crashed upon us like an avalanche.

BLOWIN' IN THE WIND A big surprise! Not the best of renditions, but this
'rocky' version works out nice and easy. A one-off in this tour, methink.

THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN I expected this one to be played, and it was. OK.

LIKE A ROLLING STONE The anthem of the 'Rock'n'Roll Nation'. We can't help
without it!

Well, the two hours of music flashed away in the blink of an eye. Dylan
was apparently in good temper and his voice was loud and clear. He sang
very well, but didn't play much on his harp, what a pity. The Palaolimpico
Isozaki was full, but not sold-out, and the audience was a rather quiet
one. You know, we guys from the mountains are renowned all over Italy for
being not so demonstrative!  

Hello Maria Elena, Sergio, Manuela, Gianna, Bobo, Franco, Dario and the
guys from Rome. We had a bit of an argument, but that was only fair! 

Federico Boggio Merlo

Never Ending Tour rides again across the Europe! My theory is Never Ending
Tour means Always Changing Tour in fact. That's how I understand it. While
I was attending Bob's shows during Larry Campbell - Charlie Sexton era, I
was thinking that was something the best, something ultimate, the highest
peak,  the paramount. Well, it seems Bob did not share my opinion! At that
time when everybody was thinking there is a new The Band on the way,
Sexton abruptly left that "new Band"! I can clearly remember I was asking
myself then: "Now what? What can I expect from now on?" Billy Burnette
then came on the stage for a while, then Freddy Koella, that funny guy,
but there was still Larry present all the time, things maybe were not
perfect as they used to be, yet still in order. There were some nice
renditions during that time as well, a little bit rough maybe, but still
fine. It was again work in progress, always changing, never ending
process. In the meantime Stu Kimball has replaced fuzzy Koella, but then
things have changed for real: Larry went away! That was a real shock for
many of us! At first three (!) guys went on stage just to replace Larry (
OK, two guys and Elana, to be more specific). Even Bill Pagel has started
to log not only set lists but band member lists as well! Everybody was
confused during that time: Now everything is much clearer  - It was only
another step of that never ending process! 

And now, the present band is here. The band has no any connections with
previous ones, that is a new band, and they have a completely new sound! 
So that is an explanation how Bob works all the time: The times they are
a-changing constantly, and from time to time  Bob decides it's time to
built a new house, no matter how nice the old one might be! Therefore in
order to understand Bob, you should accept him on that way. Forget about
critics who, among many others, visit Bob's concerts from time to time
only. To understand Bob it is not good enough to see  Bob in one
particular moment only - you should follow Bob in time. So don't make a
mistake thinking of the present phase as a final one! You should now by
now this is just another step, this is never ending tour on the scene.

We were keen about going to the Bob's concert after nine hours driving
from Zagreb, Croatia, to Torino, Italy. The driving distance was about 800
km (that is about 490 miles - for those who are not familiar with
kilometers), and it was pure (A4 - A21) highway blues! There were five of
us, and Torino was just the first stop - the second one was Milano
scheduled for tomorrow. A few days ago I was in Frankfurt, Germany, I got
the picture about the performance, yet it is always much nicer to attend
the concert with my close friends. Now, when I am back home, when it's all
over now, having a lot of Bob's concerts tickets in my pocket - not only
from this tour but also from the past - I can simply say: comparing
Frankfurt, Torino and Milano - Torino was the best!

My review won't be too long. No need to go from one song to another,
everybody knows all the set lists already. Each set list is just a moment
of time anyway. What I would like to say is that the bend showed clearly
they are finally "in". It took a while to put things in order. In fact it
took about two years to get another "new Band" matured. But now here they
are.

Bob's voice is great. It reminds me of Satchmo's voice J, Bob's voice is
coarse and cracked but strong. The band sounds strong as well. When they
play standard numbers like High Water (For Charley Patton), Highway 61
Revisited, Like A Rolling Stone, or It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
especially, it seems like venue is going to explode. Then again, when they
play some new tunes like Spirit On The Water, When The Deal Goes Down, or
Nettie Moore in particular, then you realize those guys know their job for
real. And what was always fascinating for me is the way how Bob conducts
the whole show: just a slight movement of his head or the whole body, and
the band react like an entity in a second.

Highlights and surprises are always present. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only
Bleeding) new arrangement is already widely accepted as a big surprise of
the tour and it was the highlight of almost every evening. The same stands
for Torino ( and for Frankfurt, and for Milano!). So called "old songs",
like Stuck Inside Of Mobile, Watching The River Flow, LARS, H61, High
Water etc. are so strong you can feel the pain. A big surprise of the
night was Blowing in the Wind - it took more then four years to hear the
song live again. Also a big surprise was to hear LARS as the final song
and not All Along The Watchtower. And finally, the real highlight of the
night for me was My Back Pages. It seems like Bob is playing tricks with
me again - this is my favorite song and this was the very first time he
did it for me live! Naughty Bob!

Bo Terek
Zagreb, Croatia

HI, WHAT A GREAT CONCERT HAS BEEN THIS IN TURIN... BOB HAS 
OFFERED A EMOTIONALLY VERSION OF The Times They Are A-Changin'
AFTER A SOLID CAT'S IN THE WELL, THAT IS A GOOD BEGINNING OF 
THE CONCERT. BUT ALL THE SHOW HAS GIVEN MANY SURPRISES: THE 
NEW SONGS, WHERE BOB HAS TOUCHED THE HEART OF ALL THE 
AUDIENCE WITH VERSIONS FULL OF PATHOS, ARE ALREADY BECOME 
CLASSICAL SONGS, AND IT IS NECESSARY A MENTION FOR NETTIE 
MOORE, AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE. ANOTHER GEMS HAS BEEN 
BOOTS OF SPANISH LEATHER, THAT IN CONCERT REACHES A GREAT 
INTENSITY IN DYLAN'S INTERPRETATION, BUT ALSO MY BACK PAGES 
IN A SLOWLY AND SUFFERING VERSION HAS BEEN A TOP OF THE 
SHOW. WITHOUT FORGET THE COMEBACK OF BLOWIN IN THE WIND, 
THE SENSATION HAS BEEN THAT DYLAN AND THE BAND HAVE A 
GREAT PLEASURE IN THE PERFORMING, AND THE RESULT HAS BEEN 
AN UNFORGETTABLE NIGHT WITH OUR BOBBINESS.

There's something that shouldn't be left unsaid about this
concert though, namely two extraordinary statements made 
by Dylan during the band introductions: 

After introducing Danny Freeman, Bob said "He's got his own 
CDs too, you can pick them up in the lobby" - hinting at the 
enthusiastic applause he kept getting after his numerous and 
flawless guitar solos. Freeman's really amazing on this tour 
indeed.

After the band introductions -- which always include the locations
the musicians are from -- Dylan actually said "I'll tell you one 
thing though, we all wish we were from here" - a wonderful
compliment to my country!

Filippo Bajo