Wolverhampton could probably change their town motto to "Wolverhampton:
It's Not As Bad as They Say." But as far as attractions to occupy you
on Sunday, no one really had a suggestion, so I took the train an hour and
a half to Stratford Upon Avon. I've always gotten a lot out of seeing
birthplaces; I thought going to Hibbing and Duluth would be cool, for
instance, but ended up being overwhelming. Seeing the streets and places
that shaped Dylan's imagination completely transformed how I thought of
some songs. Seeing the boyhood home of Axl Rose was equally instructive.

Both of those spots, though, had the benefit of not being touristy at all.
Shakespeare's birthplace was a whole other thing - you can't expect a
place to be authentic after 460 years, of course, but you know young Will
didn't stroll out the door and pass a fudge shop.  The rest of the town
had more buildings from Will's era than I would have expected, but still
gave me a bit of the vibe of Hannibal, Missouri, where every personal
injury law firm is named after Mark Twain and it's all a bit much. But a
few extra blocks brought me to the old church where Shakespeare and his
family are interred, with William famous lying beneath a slab that says
"cursed be he that moves my bones," below a funerary monument showing
him writing a letter, bearing down on a pillow. The church was uncrowded;
just myself, a couple of other interested tourists, and a docent who told
us she'd personally broken all ten commandments. She was awesome. I'd
read of this spot for years, knew all controversies regarding archaeology
and the 18th century restoration of the monument, and all that, and seeing
it in person was everything I'd hoped. 

It was really something, honestly, to be seeing Shakespeare and Bob Dylan
in the same day.

Back at the Lynch Gate I drank a couple shots (always shots before, pints
after) with Ian and Graham from yesterday, and Peter, who I last saw over
brandy old fashioneds in Milwaukee a year ago. I can't get over how much
fun these gatherings are! I had been determined to find a cup of coffee
(something increasingly impossible here; even the person at McDonald's
looked at me like I was mad. Americanos have taken over. This world
can't stand long), but ended up just sticking with the Lynch Gate. 

As for the show: If one believes that strange things are signs of big
things, this was the first time I ever recall seeing the harmonicas tested
in sound check. I heard the sound of harps being blown and wondered who in
the world would have the nerve to blow into Bob's harmonica - could that
be sanitary? I looked up to see a roadie testing them with some sort of
bellows. I've never noticed that before. 

I don't know if they simply improved the sound tremendously, or if the
band found a way to rehearse for a month overnight, or if they all just
wanted to impress Robert Plant (who was reportedly hanging around the
sound booth) but there was a night and day difference. Last night was one
of those shows that would be great if it was the only one you saw, nothing
wrong with it, but tonight was something else. The band was FAR tighter.
Dylan was smiling more and more locked-in vocally, with lots of moments of
getting really inventive without stumbling into anything that didn't
work. 

The band came out first once again, playing just a bit before Bob joined
them for Watchtower. Keltner, again, was out of his sunglasses (before
putting them on before "Masterpiece"). Dylan played a very long guitar
intro to "It Aint Me Babe,"  and the two guitarists seemed far tighter
by "False Prophet." 

"Masterpiece" was again a highlight, with Bob shuffling around and
playing the first great harp solo of the night. "Black Rider" was
spooky and gently teasing, with a somewhat more driving rhythm than I've
noticed lately, and particularly tasty acoustic lines from Doug. The line
"be a prayer" seemed to last an epoch. 

Last night they finally got this version of "My Own Version of You"
together, but tonight made the previous night seem like a rough draft.
They locked it in tight, with a hypnotic rhythm and riff that Dylan
existed inside of and bounced along above. It was spooky in a "Halloween
cartoon" sort of way, like a 1960s novelty record about a mad
scientists. It was exciting and fun to watch. At the beginning Britt
stayed close to Keltner, who was grinning throughout, clearly having fun
with this one. 

Dylan leaned into the melody on "To Be Alone WIth You," and it came
out positively danceable - jolly fun. Listening to the recording now has
me bouncing around a drag hotel room at 6:00am.  

Special notice must go to "Desolation Row," which had the crowd
moving. Marielle pointed out later that Dylan was even doing a Bette Davis
pose when he sang the line about her. But most notable was the harmonica
solo, which may have been one of the best I ever heard, ever. The crowd
was shouting "Yeah!" pushing him on, like it was a great jazz solo,
and it seemed to go on and on, eventually bringing a standing ovation,
which isn't something you see just from mid-show harp solos much, and
led into another outing of the "Einstein" verse. (checking the tape,
the harp solo went about a minute and forty-five seconds). 

Keltner took all of "Key West" off, and this time Tony did too,
standing there holding his bass, and Doug and Bob Britt playing only
barely-there guitar bits (one person outside wasn't sure he could even
hear the guitars), while Bob sang it nearly a capella. It's been a
stunner all week, but tonight took it to another height.   

The rest of the show remained tight, though I was a bit distracted by a
wannabe white savior who decided to shout out demands for Bob to weigh in
on her political cause of the week between songs. 

"Every Grain" featured more playing with the melody and more inventive
phrasing than usual, and one of the more interesting versions. Sometimes
"interesting" can mean "neat to watch, but kind of a mess." This
wasn't one of those times. It closed with another standing
ovation-worthy harp solo. 

If there was one issue for me, it was the crowd. Now, mind, minus that one
heckler it was a good crowd - the kind who leap to their feat after a harp
solo, and shout during the quite breaks in "Rubicon." The people
around me were all fine. But it's always more fun when a person next to
you is enough of a nut to get excited about the nuances - I suppose it's
like wine tasting experts drinking together vs drinking with someone like
me, who likes wine just fine but is never going to notice all the subtle
hints of burnt cherry wood and July peas. If I'd had a good friend next
to me, it's possible I would have felt like this was the best show I'd
seen all year. As it  was, it was just a show that I knew was at least on
the level of Nottingham the other night. Bob was visibly in a better mood
than he's been in.

One note on an ongoing saga: The infamous Tempest Tour 2012 shirt was
remade for this tour, with Europe 2012 dates on the back (all real, this
time, I believe, and also from a tour that would never be described as a
Tempest Tour from the setlist). Tonight it changed up a bit more, with
most of the red being turned into a rad shade of late 1980s pink. The
mystery continues. 

Sergi and the Catalan Contingent were all ecstatic (even by Sergi's
standards) outside. Stuart thought it was like a light switch from last
night to this. Back at the cosy old pub, where the beer was local and the
carpet and wallpaper were just as hideous as you'd hope, we crowded into
a corner booth with Stuart, Ryan, Marielle, and Jilly - Marielle noted
that in the pictures last night, we looked like an old time family folk
singing group. We would rule if we were an old time family folk singing
group. We were rehashing our favorite moments from tonight and telling our
"Dylan origin stories" until the bars closed (which happens pretty
early on Sundays in Wolverhampton). 

Off to Liverpool for me this morning for another day of boyhood homes
before setting up camp in London. I never want this tour to end.

It's really weird going to see Bob Dylan in an English provincial town. 
I parked up yards from the stage door and wandered the windswept, largely
empty, streets an hour before the show.  No marching band. No bunting. No
civic ceremonials.  Good people of Wolverhampton - don't you know
something is happening here?

In fairness, one bar I walked past did have some Dylan blaring from its
open door. It was Rainy Day Women - which merited a half point at most. 
When I walked past again a little later the tune, bizarrely, was
Mozambique.  Honour restored.

When this tour was announced, this was the only place I wanted tickets
for.  Seeing Bob in a small venue, with a seat four rows back and in the
master's eyeline, was this year's big indulgence.  (The cost will
remain a very long-term secret between my credit card provider and me.)

I'd not listened to any of the shows, but I had read some reviews. I'd
seen words like "tetchy" and "tired".  Maybe I got lucky.  Bob was
on absolutely sparkling form tonight, and seemed to be having the time of
his life, grinning and gesticulating to Keltner after almost every song. 
Seeing him up close, I realised just how much he is in complete control of
the effect he wants to create in these shows.  His phrasing is meticulous.
His harp work, especially on Desolation Row and EGOS, sublime.

That Desolation Row was for the ages, but other standouts for me were
Masterpiece and Key West.  AATW seemed to be over before it had begun, a
far cry from those days when it was a fixture every night and the guitar
duelling seemed to go on forever!  Some of the RARW tunes are a little
one-paced, but that's a minor quibble. 

It's difficult to explain to the uninitiated, but watching this 83 year
old in concert is actually the opposite of a nostalgia show.  This
performance was so visceral, so now, that it was no surprise that even
Keltner was on his feet at the end, applauding like the rest of us.

On this evidence, Mr D will probably be swinging through the provinces
again some time soon.  He clearly loves what he does. The force is with
him, and he's raging magnificently against the dying of the light.

Steve Pearce

Following an afternoon of resting up in my hotel room I decided I would
take the 20 minute walk into the city centre for the last of the two 
Bob Dylan shows in Wolverhampton.
Outside the civic hall I chatted to a few Dylan followers and once 
inside the venue I bumped into several familiar faces from previous 
tours.

I was sat in the stalls about 15 rows back surrounded by die hard Dylan 
fans and younger people who were seeing him for the first time.

At 7.33pm members of the band walked onto the stage.
They picked up their instruments and settled down.
Tony Garnier set the beat and they started the movement into 'All Along 
The Watchtower'.
Then Dylan walks onstage at the rear curtain, silhouetted like a shadow 
boxer and the venue erupts into applause and cheers.
The song hits a nasty blues type groove, Dylan clattering away on the 
piano feeling his way into the song and show.

When Dylan sat  down almost out of sight on the piano stool playing raw 
and angular notes on his guitar the sound was as if the heavens were 
splitting open.
I felt my eyes brimming with tears as the history of 'It Ain't Me, 
Babe' as a song unfolded in front of me.
I could sense there and then this was going to be a special show.

By 'False Prophet' the band started to sound immense. I had a clear 
site line of the full stage and was able to see the great interplay 
between the musicians.
Dylan stood by the side of the piano leaning forward, knee bent, 
pushing out a fine bluesy rasping vocal.

The audience were in fine form, very attentive and respectful with 
hardly any movement throughout.
When Jim Keltner started 'Desolation Row" with a thunderous Buddy 
Holly style rolling groove the room felt like it was on fire.
Dylan moved into a blistering harmonica solo after several verses 
which became an extended foray into unleashed spontaneity.
As the song finished he was met with a full standing ovation from 
the stunned crowd.

The silence in the hall during 'Key West (Philosopher Pirate) was 
something in itself. Never have I witnessed an audience so focused 
than this at a Dylan concert.
Dylan picking out plaintive notes on the piano with a sparse backing 
from only Bob Britt and Doug Lancio.
It was something to behold, Dylan searching for new love and 
inspiration right there in front of our eyes.

When the beautiful chords of 'Every Grain Of Sand' started a young 
man walked past me down the aisle.
He stood on the fringe of the stage to the left but was moved away 
politely by a steward.
When Dylan hit the line "Don't have the inclination to look back 
on any mistake"  someone called out near me "Yeah Bob!"
it felt like an affirmation of truth from all of our lives.

The young man took a vacated seat just in front of me to the left 
and stared transfixed at the stage.
He reminded me of seeing Dylan for the first time back in 1978.
He nods his head as Dylan moves to pick up the harmonica.
The sound resonates and swirls around the venue, deep then high 
piercing tones lifting the song to a glorious and stunning finish.

The crowd then get up and are walking swiftly down the aisles towards
 the stage  while Dylan and his band soak in the prolonged applause.
It had been one hell of a show.
Then they were gone, heading off into the night, making a rendezvous 
with the grand finale in London.

Stephen Vallely.
November 11, 2024.

A gem of a show tonight. Better than last night in every single way. Bob
was on top form, clearly well rested, vocals were off the chart, crowd 
was great and actually stayed in their seat, and the sound was much 
better. A good view from my seat in the stalls, row Q.

No guitar on Watchtower tonight - same format as last night with band 
entering first, then Bob. A nicely sung, spooky version, similar to last 
night. Bob using what I like to call his ghost voice - that quiet, 
breathy, high register - and it gave an almost spectral quality to the 
song. Keltner really brings the apocalyptic thunder to this one.

It Ain't Me, Babe was solid, with the now standard guitar intro from Bob. 
He didn't touch the Nord keyboard tonight, but his piano playing on this 
one had a different feel from yesterday, a bit heavier and louder, 
particularly in the instrumental passage towards the end

Multitudes was really enjoyable, lyrics enunciated much more clearly than 
last night. However, False Prophet is where things really started cooking 
and from then on out we were in "ok, this is a special one" territory. 
From the first line of the song, Dylan was out from behind the piano and 
the audience loved it. Even before he started singing people just really 
connected to the groove, and what a groove it was. Britt and Lancio are 
to my ear the finest guitar pairing Dylan's had in the band since Larry 
and Charlie. At points, I found it difficult to figure out who was 
playing what because they almost sounded like part of the same being, 
they were so dialled in to each other. I heard somewhere Britt and Lancio 
have known each other and played together for a while, and it really 
shows in their musical telepathy. Lancio really stood out to me tonight - 
I loved his acoustic playing in particular. Bright, snappy, dynamic and 
sensitive to the material. The crowd cheered Bob throughout the song and 
this seemed to give him a boost that lasted for the rest of the show. 
The controlled chaos of the instrumental breaks was a glorious cacophony.

Masterpiece is turning into one of the defining songs of this leg - Bob 
is really leaning into the rhythm on this one every night it seems, it's 
been consistently great and tonight was no exception. The two guys 
sitting to my left were Dylan veterans who'd clocked up about 30 odd 
shows each over the years. I turned to them after Masterpiece and they 
both grinned at me. "That's what keeps us coming back!" I said, and they 
couldn't have agreed more.

On to Black Rider, which was the first song of the night that completely 
and utterly blew me away, with Bob taking things up another notch. He 
absolutely nailed it, really stunning vocal on this one. A Black Rider 
for the ages.

I wasn't keen on My Own Version Of You at the first Wolverhampton show or 
in Nottingham, which was a shame because it's probably my favourite on 
the album (apart from Murder Most Foul). Tonight I eat my words. The 
arrangement felt tighter, and subtly different to the previous couple of 
nights. Bob using his higher register, which he doesn't normally do on 
this song. Really interesting version.

To Be Alone With You rollicked along, and there was a fantastic extended 
instrumental break where Bob seemed to lose his place among the lyrics 
sheets, stopped playing piano and was leafing through his papers for a 
while as Britt and Lancio really turned things up a level to cover for 
him. Again, a fantastic vocal.

Crossing the Rubicon was strong, with Bob leaving the piano at times and 
venturing forwards, much to the audience's delight.

Which brings me onto Desolation Row. A two verse long extended harmonica 
solo with big sweeps up and down the instrument that gave me flashes of 
those 1966 versions. Bob really getting into the harp on this one and it 
was varied and absolutely sublime. The audience gave him a standing 
ovation at the end of it, and I heard a lot of people talking about that 
song after the show so he obviously made an impression!

Key West was brilliant tonight, another hushed band arrangement with Tony 
and Jim not even playing at points (perhaps for the whole song - I was so 
focused on Bob that everyone else in the room seemed to disappear). Truly 
one of those concerts where even though there's 3000 other people in the 
room, you feel like he's singing right at you. Previous versions of this 
arrangement have had a similar loose, ethereal, spacey feel to Murder 
Most Foul, where the song has almost been deconstructed into a spoken 
word reading. This one felt a bit more bound together.

The past two nights I could take or leave Watching The River Flow, but 
tonight even this one drew me in.

Baby Blue was much better than last night, a gorgeous rendition that the 
crowd responded well to.

I've Made Up My Mind saw Bob using a more rhythmic delivery on the 
refrain than he usually does on this song. Lovely version. Mother of 
Muses was performed beautifully, as it was last night.

Goodbye Jimmy Reed had perhaps the only band wobble of the night. Bob was 
getting ahead of them with the lyrics on the first verse and it got a bit 
messy for a second or two around the first "goodbye Jimmy Reed", but then 
they picked it up and it was a sprightly, fun version. The audience were 
getting into it before he even started singing, and he was pretty dynamic 
on this one, moving around a lot.

Every Grain of Sand was for me the best song last night, but tonight's 
version was even more special. He sang the melody in a way that I've 
never heard him do, especially on the first verse. It's quite unusual for 
him to mess with this one - it's been pretty consistent night to night, 
but this one was a really nice change.

I don't know about you, but sometimes at shows my attention can wander - I 
find myself thinking about some other thing and then snap back to the 
moment and I almost feel a bit guilty for losing concentration when Bob's 
playing right in front of me. Tonight my attention didn't wander. I was 
utterly transfixed for the whole concert.

When it was over and the house lights came up I turned to the two young 
women to my right, who couldn't have been older than 21 - they told me 
before the show it was their first Dylan concert. They thought it was 
absolutely brilliant. Everyone around me did.

After the show we had another ER meet up and I finally met the legendary 
Bobcelona and many other fine folks who I look forward to seeing again in 
London. The pub was full of giddy Dylan fans walking on air, all of us 
gushing superlatives. It was such a lovely atmosphere - I don't think 
I've ever seen so many happy faces after a Dylan show. After last night I 
was a bit worried, but I needn't have been. He knocked it out of the park 
tonight. I really hope there's a good recording because you all need to 
experience this one. This is what we play for!

To conclude, I'd like to share with you the words of the elderly 
gentleman I spoke to at the pub after the show:

"I've only seen Bob Dylan once before. It was at New Street Odeon in 1966. 
The first half was acoustic and the second half was electric. It was 
brilliant. 58 years later, and that was just as good."