Reviews

We flew in from Oslo to Vienna, picked up a rental car and started our four
concert tour. It felt like coming to the Canary Islands - really hot! Bratislava
seems like a nice city, but what we really wanted to see was Bob. Last time 3 of
4 of us saw him was in Berkeley and LA last autumn. The concert arena was good,
carpets on the floor good sound and absolutely no hassel at the entrance or
inside the venue. But, the first ten rows were occupied by sponsors or whatever
- anyway dull people. The mood was not at all what it could have been. But Bob
and the band were good and the whole concert was kind of soft, very melodic and
kind of country style all way through. Because of the dull people in the ten
first rows only a few people joined Bob singing on a nice Just like a woman,
sad! We were at 12th row and tried to do our best, but sometimes it's
impossibele. But we all liked the concert - quite different from California -
less rock 'n roll. Bob did his best and the band too. Highlights were High Water
- very good vocal, Forgetful heart; fantastic. Bob was center stage. Ballad of a
thin man was great too. A very rarely played  absolutely Sweet Marie was one of
the highlights too. We left the concert with a good feeling in the warm summer
night, stayed in a bar til 2 o'clock and the next day we headed on to Prague.

Steinar Daler (on tour with Geir, Thor, Lasse - and a lot of other good friends)

Being only a 50-minutes drive from Vienna, Bratislava was the perfect kick-off
for our 2010-tour. Located near the Danube, the Incheba Expo Arena from the
outside looks like any other multi-functional concrete-hall. Inside it’s quite
nice, though, with carpet-coverd floor and rather small with only 2,500 seats.
The first 8 rows had been reserved for some (sponsoring?) cooperation and you
could easily tell that the people who filled them – couples dressed for the
occasion and excecutives with their much younger girlfriends – had no idea
what to expect and definitely won’t like what they’ll get. The show started
shortly after 8pm with Leopard-Skin … (and Tony sitting(!), obviously
suffering from the same (back?)problems as in 2008. Now, let’s hope he gets
well soon!!) The first two songs served, at least that was my impression, as
warm-ups for Bob and the band, especially It Ain’t Me, Babe seemed a little
chaotic and unconcentrated. But from I’ll Be Your Bay onwards the show really
started cooking, despite the boring first rows, though you could tell that
everyone on stage was a little disappointed when the nowadays usual sing-along
on the chorus of Just Like A Woman was just a whisper from the back-seats. But
before that we got a very strong Stuck Inside Of Mobile with some adventurous
phrasing from Bob and an incredible intense and really, I mean really!, loud
harp. Then came one of the stronges lines of performances/songs I have witnessed
for some time: The surprise of the evening, Absolutely Sweet Marie for the first
time since 2007, I guess, a dark and intense High Water, the new and rather
effective version of Shelter and - I know, I know, a lot of people don’t like
that song very much, but I just love it – Tweedle Dee with some great
interplay between Charlie, Bob and Stu on guitar. In my opinion a Dylan show is
a good show if you feel and see and hear that he and the band are having fun
playing together, when you see and hear interaction on stage. When the band or
single members get Bob to try something out, to take chances – and with
Charlie being back that’s exactly what’s happening again, him moving on
stage, listening to what Bob plays and also tempting him. That’s what – at
least for me - had been missing during the last years. I didn’t really like
the upbeat version of Man In The Long Black Coat on the various recordings and
hearing it live for the first time did not change my opinion very much … but a
little bit. The rest was just a high-level recent Dylan show, as good as it gets
these days, especially after the REAL audience rushed to the stage with the
first bars of Thunder On The Mountain. Great singing (ah, well, the singing …
of course the voice is croaky, we all know that, and of course he doesn’t hit
all those notes. But he still can hold his breath for quite a long time), great
harp playing, and great gesturing. And even if I’ve heard better versions of
LARS – who cares? This song long ago achieved the status of give the people
what they want and they (we!) still want it. Standing ovations.

Rainer

My third Bob´s concert (Ostrava 2008, Erfurt 2009 and Bratislava now) and maybe
the  best for me.  But, I still think that  latest concert is better than
previous ones and I always want more and more when every concert is over.
Shortly about concert: Incheba Arena – nice venue. The crowd – I agree with
others, boring people at first eight rows, really Bob´s fans in back. We sat at
10th row. Set list – great, absolutely surprise Absolutely Sweet Marie! Bob
– in good mood, really top singing, great solos on keyboard, a lot of harp
playing and standing in the middle of the stage too (thanks Bob!!!) Highlights
–  High Water, Ballad of a thin man and Man in long black coat or Tweedle Dee
& Tweedle D?m. Absolutely highlight of evening for me - Forgetful Heart. What
can I say – I was speechless and I just listened, no words at that time. It
was Bob´s masterpiece, this is a reason, why we love him. He speaks from his
heart and soul and we share those feelings with him When Bob started to play
Thunder on the mountain, some people rushed to the stage and we didn´t hesitate
 for a moment  and was runing too. We stood maybe 8 meters opposite Bob and I
had a feeling that I can touch him. What a great moment! I can´t still believe
in it, wow! We were dancing, clapping  and yelling and Bob looked contentedly, a
lot of positive energy.. Thanks Bob for all,  what you give  to us, thanks Bob
for another  amazing meeting with you, we were blessed.

Mirka
The Czech republic
miroslava.pirklova@seznam.cz