Lyon 2. June 30th.
A disturbed night in my 18 bunks room. A guy speaks in his 
sleep and I don't understand what he says because it's probably 
in Polish or something like this. 😁
So get up early and take  a walk in Lyon. To give me a purpose 
I choose to go to Lyon 'China town'. Took me two hours to find 
the street with three asian restaurants, two asian shops 😂😂😂 
and that's it for 'China town'.
I'll wait next year to be in Beijing to eat good Chinese food.
Walk back to the hostel, take a shower, change my clothes and 
walk for the third time the tunnel under ground Lyon to reach 
again the venue.
Nothing is happening Mr Jones.
I meet a nice Lady waiting for Bob 😜. She finally decides to 
have a cup of tea with...me.
By 7 pm. I start my search for a ticket.
Not as easy as last night. When I start to be desperate, Victor 
offers me his extra ticket. Thanks a lot. I feel a lot better 😀😊. 
Really kind 🙏🏼of you Viktor.
I find myself sitted between two Bobcats (Nancy and Angus) in 
the first upper ring. The view is perfect though a little far 
to see Bob's face.
As soon as they take their position on stage the public is up 
and shouting. Good! I feel it's better than yesterday already.
"Watching the river flow" and "Most likely you go your way" are 
great. Bob doing a long piano solo before starting "River flow".
"False prophet" is strong. 
"When I paint my masterpiece" creates reaction from the 
audience. And though there is no harp, the piano is fluent and 
Donnie on the violin adds a sweet sound and swing.
"Black rider" puts the audience in total silence. The echo 
reasons as a shadow.
I don't remember exactly when but Bob says clearly "Merci, les 
amis" ..and a roar from the public!
He's obviously happy of the Frenchies tonight😀
"My own version of you" is usually my favorite but tonight all 
songs are exceptional.
"I'll be your baby tonight" always moves the public. I'm happy 
for the warm reception.
"You've got to serve somebody" is strong. It will start after 
the Band introduction and a long and loud applause for Tony 
Garnier, who seams to be moved.🥰
If I have a highlight for tonight could be "Crossing the 
Rubicon" and "I've made up my mind to give myself to you". Bob 
really insists and even points at the public (Irene told me)
on the "you" which seams to be personal.
We wait few seconds for the 14th song. Again Tony, Donnie and 
Bob Britt close up on Bob to know which song he's in the mood 
for.
Again "West L.A. fadeaway". With the audience getting wild Bob 
will probably keep this one on the list 😄
He starts "Mother of muses" with a broken voice . "West L.A." 
took all his strength ???
But it's an emotional version.
A swinging "Goodbye Jimmy Reed" and a great "Every grain of 
sand" with applause from the audience.
For the very end there is a stage rush. Bob seams to like it. 
Fans in the front saw him smiling and looking straight in the 
eyes of Fans.
I didn't mention "Key west" 😄😄😄
Well! I found myself doing a Karaoke on "Key west". 😂
So....
Great show. Great public.
I finish the night with some good friends/fans : Darren,  
Mamesell Lilli, Ben, Dave, a woman from...Tibet , a man 
from...India.
Dave and Ben will give me a ride to my hostel.
Thank to all the help : Viktor, Ben, Dave, Mamesell Lilli, 
Darren, Nancy, Angus, Petra, Misha, Irene....and all the rest.
Thank you Bobby and the Band.
See you next in....Milano.

This was my 14th Dylan concert since 2000, the 2nd in Lyon 
after Les Nuits de Fourviere in 2012.

The Cite Internationale is a very pleasant place, on the banks 
of the Rhône, and the Amphitheatre a modern 3,000-seat venue, 
the ideal size for a Dylan concert these days.

At the entrance, a guitarist with harmonica plays Mr Tambourine 
Man to rekindle the flame and get us in the mood, even if the 
Dylan of the 2020s has nothing in common with the troubadour of 
the early 60s...

As usual, the audience is a mix of old fans, many of them 
English speakers who have been following the whole tour, 
French connoisseurs and curious first-timers!

As usual, the concert started right on time, but for once 
almost everyone was already in their seats. It was an excellent 
idea on the part of the Amphitheatre to close the bar 5 minutes 
before the start of the concert, and with the phones sealed in 
a bag, the audience was very attentive and focused on the music.

The decor and lighting were minimalist. A big red curtain and 
subdued lights, with no spotlights on the musicians. There were 
no surprises with the setlist we've known since the start of 
the tour, apart from the 14th track, which can change from one 
day to the next.

For the first two songs, Dylan sits hidden behind his piano, 
barely showing the top of his hair. He starts playing and 
singing standing from behind the piano on the first two tracks 
of Rough and Rawdy Ways, I Contain Multitudes and False Prophet. 
But it was with the 5th track, When I paint My Masterpiece, 
that I found the concert really came into its own, with Dylan 
completely involved, leading the whole band with his 
distinctive, sometimes slightly dissonant piano playing and 
confident vocals. The new arrangement of When I Paint My 
Masterpiece is splendid, and he followed it up with Black 
Rider, which is one of my favorites from the new album, and 
the concert version is absolutely brilliant.

I was struck by the arrangement of the musicians around Dylan. 
The two guitarists, Doug Lancio and Bob Britt, the faithful 
bassist Tony Garnier and Donnie Herron, on steel guitar and 
violin, surround him very closely. They watch him all the time, 
concentrating on what Dylan is doing to keep up with him - 
Dylan's always a bit unpredictable in concert - and serve his 
music to best effect! A little way back on the left is drummer 
Jerry Pentecost, whom I found absolutely brilliant, imprinting 
blues and jazz rhythms according to the song with great 
virtuosity. And he seems to really enjoy being with Dylan and 
his musicians. A revelation for me!

The band performed the rest of the songs with great mastery, 
and for me, the icing on the cake came on the 14th track, when 
Dylan treated us to a sublime West LA Fadeway!...before moving 
on to the last three songs, ending with the traditional Every 
grain of Sand.

A quick salute to the audience and then off he went as usual...
It was the only time we saw the whole of him...I was struck by 
his increasingly fragile appearance! How much longer can he go 
on? But what 82-year-old artist is capable of putting on a 1 
hour 50 minutes concert with 9 new songs and a splendid cover 
of a song by one of the greatest bands in American music?

All in all, an excellent concert and an excellent evening...
long live Bob!