Reviews

Modena, Italy

May 27, 2000

Piazza Grande


[Cesare Bassani], [Matteo Berghenti], [Dario Rosmino]
[Steven Pearce], [Peter Lowrey], [Rebecca Haag], [Andrea Costa]


Review by Cesare Bassani



just couple of very short notes about last night show. I was not expecting
anything great after reading some of the reviews of this Eropean Tour. I
was indeed real happy to see a great concert. He looked in an excellent
mood. After Duncan and Brady managed to say a loud "Thank you" and mumbled
somenthing impossible to understand. Lots of smiling and dancing
throughout the whole evening. Right before Leopard, Bob introduced the
Band and said "Mille Grazie" to the audience. Two average pieces of
solo-harmonica during Ramona and at the end of Drifter. Beautiful setting
in the Duomo's Square (Piazza Grande) in Modena. Big thunderstorm about
one hour before the show. Then very pleasant evening cooled-off by the
rain. The first 12 songs were excellent, even Tangled, after having heard
it so many times, seemed better than other nights. Encores were on the
average,but on the good side. Bob bended on his knees to thank the
audience. Now on to Milano tonight.

Cesare Bassani

[TOP]

Review by Matteo Berghenti



I arrived in Piazza Grande during the soundcheck. The band (without Dylan
obviously) played Oh, Babe It Ain’t No Lie and Hallelujah, I’m Ready To Go
with Charile singing. The sound seemed quite good. I started queueing at
17.30 when a short storm cooled us a little bit. The door opened at 19.30,
everything was good until 20.00 when a terrible downpour hit the square
soaking all the people including me. But let’s get to the beginning of the
concert. Dylan got up on stage at 21.15 and started with:

> Duncan And Brady

Great beginning, I have to say that the chorus sung by Charlie and Larry
on the refrain was excellent. At the end of the song Dylan cheered and
mumbled something in macaronic italian, I think it was “abbastanza umido”
that’s to say “quite damp”. In fact, the next instant, he took off his
guitar and tried to dry his hair. Maybe the rain, abundantly fallen during
the downpour and built up on the tent above the stage, started to pour
down. Next was:

> Mr. Tambourine Man

Very well sung by Dylan who started bumping and grinding as usual.

> Masters Of War

Very good as it always is, even if I would have preferred something less
conventional.

> Boots Of Spanish Leather

A dreadful beginning of this song: Dylan played absurd notes on his guitar
which was at full volume and smothered Larry and Charlie who instead
played great stuff. Only after 40 seconds he realized what he had to play
and as he started singing things seemd to get a little better. Next we
got:

> Tangled Up In Blue

Luckily the problems with BOSL are forgotten and TUIP is great as usual.
People got crazy and they make their voice heard.

> To Ramona

Big surprise to me, i’ve been waiting since 1989 to hear it live, I knew
it was one of the possible choiches for this tour, but i didn’t hope to be
so lucky. With a country arrangement, Larry on mandolin, very soft and
slow, I have to say that it was one of the highlights. At the end of the
song Bob took off his guitar, picked up his harp and played a moving solo.
Then started the elctric set with:

> Country Pie

Finally we could hear Charlie’s guitar. He played great stuff.

> Positively 4th Street

Unrecognizable. Only the lyrics to this song are the same. However, it was
good, but not among the highlights.

>  Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again

Apart from the absurd Bob’s guitar playing, it was great. I’m wondering
why his guitar is so loud. He’s got two fantastic guitar players that we
can hardly hear. What a pity !!

> Can’t Wait

Oh my God!! This was astonishing. The best song of the evening. Completely
rearranged, slower and darker, I hadn’t heard this version yet, but i
think it’s better than the original

> Drifter's Escape

What to say. Fantastic. New arrangement as well, virtually a new song. I
have to report that Dylan started laughing during the last verse, maybe
because he couldn’t remeber the proper lyrics.

> Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat

Dreadful to me. Apart from the upteenth Bob’s guitar solo (according to me
he’s making fun us) it was completely without energy. One person from the
first row threw a leopard hat against Bob who didn’t seem to have noticed.

> Love Sick

Before Lovesick the public started singning spontaneuosly “Happy Birthday”
and Bob did appreciate cheering. Lovesick was excellent.

> Like A Rolling Stone

Terrible. This was definitely the worst version of LARS I’ve ever heard. I
guess Bob himself realized how bad it was and before the end of the song
he took off the electric guitar and picked up the acoustic. Next was:

> Don’t Think Twice

It’s never been one of my favourite, but tonite i have to say that it
striked me and it was one of the best performace of the whole concert. At
the end of the song, Bob and Charlie picked up the electric again, while
Larry was going towards the slide. Bob suddendly changed his mind and told
Larry to play electric guitar…it was:

> Gotta Serve Somebody

Excellent, very similar to the one they used to play in 1998. Acoustic
again:

> Forever Young

People got crazy at this one and they tried to sing along during the
refrain. The final end as axpected was

> Rainy Day Women #12 & #35
> Blowin' In The Wind

The usual end with another great chorus by Larry and Charlie on BITW. At
the end all the people asked for more, but after more than two hours of
music, Bob decided not to come back.

Matteo

[TOP]

Review by Dario Rosmino



I've just watched the news on T.V. saying that yesterday in Modena Bob
had a great deal, playing at his best Knockin' and Things have changed.
Yesterday I was there, in Piazza Grande, and unfortunately for the 
speaker he did not play Knockin' or Things, (so next time he
goes to play cards with friends instead of going to see Bob he better
send a friend to the concert, at least)
but has gifted my journey from Milan (so tonight we'll meet again...)
with the thrill of the country&sofisticated Boots of Spanish leather,
of a new To Ramona (with Larry makin' a trick very very "italian") 
and of a Can't Wait that's worth the shower has hit Piazza Grande 
about an hour before the show. The fun of Drifter's and Leopard-skin 
pill-box hat has closed the first part, so a few minutes and Lovesick 
begins with Charlie not too careful all along the... track, but great
rocker in the solo of Rolling Stone, which follows. Now it's an 
acoustic song and one electric, with Bob and the guitarists changing
guitar at every song, so before the final couple of Rainy Day and 
Blowin' we listen to a softer than usual Don't Think Twice, a strong
Gotta Serve Somebody and a Forever Young howled by almost everybody. 
I must confess: I missed Bucky very much.

Well, I must leave now, I take what I need & go, I don't want Bob to
be sorrow bound in seeing mine and Swewa's seat not occupied tonight.

Dario

[TOP]

Review by Dario Rosmino



I've just watched the news on T.V. saying that yesterday in Modena Bob
had a great deal, playing at his best Knockin' and Things have changed.
Yesterday I was there, in Piazza Grande, and unfortunately for the 
speaker he did not play Knockin' or Things, (so next time he
goes to play cards with friends instead of going to see Bob he better
send a friend to the concert, at least)
but has gifted my journey from Milan (so tonight we'll meet again...)
with the thrill of the country&sofisticated Boots of Spanish leather,
of a new To Ramona (with Larry makin' a trick very very "italian") 
and of a Can't Wait that's worth the shower has hit Piazza Grande 
about an hour before the show. The fun of Drifter's and Leopard-skin 
pill-box hat has closed the first part, so a few minutes and Lovesick 
begins with Charlie not too careful all along the... track, but great
rocker in the solo of Rolling Stone, which follows. Now it's an 
acoustic song and one electric, with Bob and the guitarists changing
guitar at every song, so before the final couple of Rainy Day and 
Blowin' we listen to a softer than usual Don't Think Twice, a strong
Gotta Serve Somebody and a Forever Young howled by almost everybody. 
I must confess: I missed Bucky very much.

Well, I must leave now, I take what I need & go, I don't want Bob to
be sorrow bound in seeing mine and Swewa's seat not occupied tonight.

Dario

[TOP]

Review by Dario Rosmino



I've just watched the news on T.V. saying that yesterday in Modena Bob
had a great deal, playing at his best Knockin' and Things have changed.
Yesterday I was there, in Piazza Grande, and unfortunately for the 
speaker he did not play Knockin' or Things, (so next time he
goes to play cards with friends instead of going to see Bob he better
send a friend to the concert, at least)
but has gifted my journey from Milan (so tonight we'll meet again...)
with the thrill of the country&sofisticated Boots of Spanish leather,
of a new To Ramona (with Larry makin' a trick very very "italian") 
and of a Can't Wait that's worth the shower has hit Piazza Grande 
about an hour before the show. The fun of Drifter's and Leopard-skin 
pill-box hat has closed the first part, so a few minutes and Lovesick 
begins with Charlie not too careful all along the... track, but great
rocker in the solo of Rolling Stone, which follows. Now it's an 
acoustic song and one electric, with Bob and the guitarists changing
guitar at every song, so before the final couple of Rainy Day and 
Blowin' we listen to a softer than usual Don't Think Twice, a strong
Gotta Serve Somebody and a Forever Young howled by almost everybody. 
I must confess: I missed Bucky very much.

Well, I must leave now, I take what I need & go, I don't want Bob to
be sorrow bound in seeing mine and Swewa's seat not occupied tonight.

Dario

[TOP]

Review by Steven Pearce



Just returned to the UK following Modena, my only show of the current
tour.  Chosen 'cos I guessed that the superb location - atmospheric
cobbled square, tumbledown Romanesque cathedral as backdrop, the hometown
of Pavarotti (!) - might bring out the best in Bob.  So much for my
guesswork!  I read your other corespondents' views with interest, but
sorry guys, IMHO this show sucked!  The setlist could hardly have been
less imaginative, being an unleavened 60s trawl.  The band roles seemed
plain daft; why have a gifted multi-instrumentalist (Campbell) merely
adding a third extraneous guitar part all evening? And there was a an
overall feeling of carelessness, with Bob changing guitars before songs
had finished, the set being struck during RDW, and the tour bus getting on
its way seemingly before the final chord had faded.  In sum, the
impression was of a man who, ahem, has been on the job too long.  [He said
it!] Ironically, I have rarely heard Bob's voice in better shape, and your
previous correspondent was spot-on about Can't Wait, it was superb.  The
way Bob transformed an also-ran off TOOM into something genuinely chilling
only served to cast into greater relief the plentiful dross surrounding
it.

Steven Pearce
sjpearce@globalnet.co.uk

[TOP]

Review by Peter Lowrey



For his first date of a five-concert Italian swing, Bob played this small
medieval town, taking over the central square for the night. After 10
years of missing many chances to see my main man live, I'd come six hours
by train from Switzerland to be a Bobhead for a weekend in Modena and
Milan. What would a 59-year-old Dylan sound like? Or look like? He looked
quite good actually, although his eyes were red rimmed and when he screwed
up his face I thought he looked a bit – God help me for saying so – old
womanish. Bob was rather subdued tonight (he had a face like a mask)
although he did a sweet double take mid way through the show when he
finally noticed a woman in the second row who had been slowly waving a
black bra back and forth over her head to the music.  I thought the
contrast extraordinary between Dylan and Charlie Sexton, the tall,
handsome and awfully young guitarist. Charlie was jumpy all night, keeping
his eyes glued on Dylan as if afraid to miss a cue. Tony looked drawn but
alert, Larry like a working man and David invisible behind cowboy hat,
shades and drums. Six thousand mostly young fans thronged the square but
there were all ages. Tickets were only 40 000 lire, about $20. After
getting soaked in a downpour an hour before, the crowd was ready the roll
at 9:10 when the band came out ... Duncan and Brady Who are Duncan and
Brady? Whoever they are, they've "been on the job too long", said the
lyrics. Three acoustic guitars and a double bass sound pretty damn good
when they first start up. Tambourine Man I have Charlie down as taking a
short solo, but Bob seemed to take all the solos tonight so I might be
mistaken. (Some Irish Bobheads next to me said Dylan only takes all the
solos if he's in a good mood, so what do I know about the man behind the
mask.) Larry just looked straight ahead, strumming. Masters of War Charlie
on a steel guitar and a song they do indeed always seem to do well.
Dylan's voice quite good but he's not putting any flourishes into his
singing so far. Holds the guitar like a machine gun at the end. Boots of
Spanish Leather Nice to hear this classic, sung, I thought, with a touch
of wistfulness. Tangled up in blue Things start to pick up finally mid way
through when Bob starts to hit the strings hard in a trademark break. He's
playing well. On the line "written by an Italian poet …" he raised his
eyebrows to acknowledge where he was, to a big cheer (in fact the square
we were standing in would have been around when Dante was writing his 
rhymes). Larry on mandolin. To Ramona The beginning was mumbled and I had
to ask someone what song it was. A short non-descript harp solo. Country
Pie First time I'd heard this live or on bootleg and it was a good, short
punchy intro to the electric set. Positively 4th St Without that explosive
"You've got a lot of nerve …" I'm afraid I didn't recognize the song for a
while. Another mumbly song. Stuck inside of Mobile Now the fun starts with
a spirited jam. Can't wait One of the highlights of the evening. Bob put a
lot of feeling into this one, his phrasing perfect. As I said afterwards,
I don't care what the set list is, as long as the man puts his heart into
it. Virtually all his lyrics are worth listening to. Drifter's Escape A
rather amazing boogie version. Pill Box Hat An Italian next to me had to
ask what the hell a pill box hat was. Song's dated as well. Misses piano.
Afterwards the crowd finally got a full verse of happy birthday in – to
dear Bobby - even though it was three days late. Tony laughed as if to say
– get a calendar. Love Sick Another highlight, with a changed lyric "I
feel like I'm plowed under" (thanks, Brendan). Rolling Stone … … is the
one they all sing along to. Don't think twice A personal favourite and Bob
sang it very sweetly and with purpose. Back to acoustic guitars, Tony on a
huge acoustic bass, a third again as big as the other guitars and played
overhand. An Italian girl behind knew all the words and sang along in a
clear silvery little voice right in my ear. It was a charming duet,
especially now that everyone was warmed up and feeling like a big family.
Serve Somebody I really like the 1998 touring version and his big band
version at the Grammy Awards in the early '80s, but the boys steamed into
a pounding, hard rock version tonight that was as tight as any one could
ever want. Not an ounce of fat on this one. Forever Young Back to
acoustic, the guitar handlers really earning their money this evening. RDW
Another rocker. Blowin' in the wind In many ways this was the most
interesting song of the evening. Bob looked and sounded genuinely sad when
he sang it. I was touched. It was as if to say "I wrote this when I was
young, singing that no one knows when war and sorrow will ever end, but
now I really know it's true." The show was more enjoyable than I make out,
but I said to my friends afterwards that I thought the band was taking it
easy since it was just a plaza show in a provincial town. It was plain
that half the crowd or more came out of curiosity. Now on to Milan, the
real test.

Peter Lowrey

[TOP]

Review by Rebecca Haag



In Modena a hard rain fell in Piazza Grande before the show, allowing some 
of us with umbrellas or rain gear to get closer to the stage than we deserved 
to. Since it was my first concert in a while and I was so near, I have to say 
the excitement of the "event" and the effort spent craning my neck to see, 
prevailed over a serious critical appreciation of Bob's performance most of 
the time. So, first the fashion report---Bob was at his most elegant of the 
three shows I saw, in a knee-length black coat and a white shirt with black 
trim.
Then on to the music: the first song that struck me, at the close of the 
acoustic set, was a new version of "To Ramona" with Larry's cascading 
mandolin sounding in reply to Bob's vocal, and the first of two harp solos 
from Bob. A revved up version of "Country Pie" was a surprise opening to 
the electric set, whose highlights for me were a great rendition of a great 
song, "Can't Wait," and an exciting, totally reworked "Drifter's Escape," 
including harp solo. The encore started out with "Love Sick," where I heard 
a new lyric to me: instead of the line "I want to take to the streets and 
plunder" it was "I feel like I'm being plowed under." (Am improvement IMHO). 
The rest of the set alternated electric and acoustic "greatest hits," 
thoroughly enjoyable but somewhat anticlimactic compared to the end of 
the main set. 
In all, the band played for two hours, as it would at the other two shows, 
and the crowd was highly enthusiastic

[TOP]

Review by Andrea Costa



I believe that the neverending tour is a metaphor of life, as each date 
you take part to is the unknown day you are beginning to live at the 
wake-up.  It means that all of us when approaching to a BD show always 
hope to catch the show of the shows, but be sure that every date will be 
always identical and always different from the others at the same time. 
That's why BD is unique. Because, he will always offer to his fans a 
journey through his story and his soul full of any kind of emotion: from 
joy to sadness, from anger to happiness. It goes beyond the specific 
version of a song. This long preface to say that the Modena show too 
left a mix of new emotions and new memories inside me. I am not going 
to describe each song of the show (you can see the other great reviews 
above), but only to emphasize the greatness and the power of a man who 
for forty and more years has been singing his fears and his anger with 
some simple and evocative melodies, always being himself and not whom 
the business wanted him to be.

My highlights:
Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather sounds terribly sweet and melancholic 
as if it were an outtake from the Time Out of Mind sessions. One of the
greatest songs of all the times.  Sick love, viceversa, is more rocked 
than TOOM version, as if he re-discovered it from his far past.
Cant'wait is perfect and goes straight to deepest part of your blue 
heart. Blowin' in the wind, is shouted and clapped from the audience 
to free the minds from the sadness of everyday pains.It might have been 
written in 2000.  Rolling stone …because is one of the worst versions 
ever played, but…there I catched an outstanding sincerity in the way the 
words came out of his mouth. So if a bad version strikes your mind and
move your heart to deep emotion, it means that there's something hidden 
in it. Such music is beyond any critical judgement: it's only pure music.
I remember he was there, on the stage. He had invited his audience/friends
 and he was feeling fine in that beautiful Italian place. He  was well 
 inspired by the bit of melancholy that filled his soul and our too.
So, ok, Modena will not be remembered as the best show of all, but going 
away I felt myself shocked and emotionally shaked: I was sure that I had 
lived another unique and precious day of my life. Just like many other 
shows I was at before. Thank you Bob.

Andrea Costa
an_cos@libero.it

[TOP]


Return to Current Tour Guide page
Return to Bob Links
Go to the Set Lists (by city) page
Go to the Set Lists (by date) page 1999 Tour, 1998 Tour, 1997 Tour, 1996 Tour , 1995 Tour, Pre 1995 Tours
Go to the Cue Sheet page