During his band introductions, Bob Dylan mentioned how nice it was to be back in the Big Apple and to see New York come back alive. The city that he fell in love with sixty years ago is slowly trying to return to normalcy while Dylan, amazingly, continues to evolve live on stage.
Pre-Covid installments of the Never Ending Tour found Dylan and his band re-working some lesser-known tunes and classics with fantastic arraignments, but things have changed this go around as Dylan is primarily focused on promoting his newest album, Rough and Rowdy Ways. Also of note, there are new band members in the mix as guitarist Doug Lancio and drummer Charley Drayton have joined multi-instrumentalist Danny Herron, guitarist Bob Britt, and longtime Dylan bass player Tony Garnier.
The band was really secondary on the opening Friday (November 19th) of the three nights Beacon Theater residency as Dylan took center stage singing strongly and enunciating clearly. Playing eight songs from Rough and Rowdy Ways gave added weight to Dylan’s vocals as the numbers all have sparse instrumentation. On these efforts, the band played restrained and jazz-like around the long passages of lyrics, songs like “My Own Version of You”, “Black Rider” and “False Prophet” achieved varying degrees of restrained success. “I Contain Multitudes” was the first and most well-received of the new songs, while “ Goodbye Jimmy Reed” provided the most energy.
The pacing of mostly alternating new efforts with re-workings of older, deeper cuts made for a stop-start night overall as the long drawn out “Key West (Philosopher Pirate)” was sleepy with an accordion before the roadhouse revving of “Gotta Serve Somebody” pumped things up, only to retreat to the more mundane “I Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You”.
The highlight efforts arrived when the band went in a country direction as “When I Paint My Masterpiece” and “To Be Alone With You” both had a loose, easy gate about them, accented by excellent fiddle from Herron and the acoustic strumming of Lancio and Britt. Dylan saved his best piano work for the show-closing “Every Grain of Sand” which was deliberate and beautiful as Herron’s steel guitar wept along with the poignant lyrics.
There was no encore after the hour and a half show, and while some in attendance were disappointed, the fact that Dylan continues to deliver such high level, challenging music at eighty years old is a joy in and of itself.
10 Responses
This reviewer was at the Nov. 19 concert. I attended the Nov 21 concert and Dylan’s singing was far from “strong” and his “enunciation” was mostly indicipherable.
My rule of thumb Brian for any concert is, it doesn’t matter how far back you are as long. as you are center or close to it. So Dylan in Louisville and is was crystal clear.
Brian was comments on Dylan’s actual voice, not venue acoustics.
I personally was not in attendance at either nights, but I do know Dylan can be hit or miss. He’s certainly better now than his low points in the early ’90s. I remember a performance on a David Letterman anniversary special when Letterman was still at NBC. Dylan looked frail, and his voice was disturbing. (Not a “good” disturbing.) The next time I saw him was live in Tucson in the late ’90s. That performance was light years better than on Letterman. Since then, I’ve gone to four Dylan concerts over the years. Three were excellent. One was so bad, I left worried about his health. Bottom line, Bob Dylan is Bob Dylan. He’s still going, and I’m happy he is. Anytime you see him it’s witnessing musical royalty.
Night 2 pitch perfect crystal clear! The needle was never stuck in a groove
I attended his concert in Albuquerque New Mexico last night and was so disappointed!! The entire time he stayed seated behind a standup piano, occasionally standing up to the side of it for about 3 seconds, then back behind the piano, needing assistance to manage both maneuvers. He obviously could not walk or stand on his own and chose to entertain while seated and out of sight. He remained behind the piano even while playing guitar and harmonica.
Also, to make the visual experience even worse, there was no spotlight on him at all!
The entire time (90 minutes)! I walked to the back of the auditorium and asked one of the engineers why there was no light on him and he told me that is the way he wants it!!
I’m not quite sure that it was Bob Dylan up there on the stage! It could been a stunt double lip syncing for all I could see!!
And to make the experience even worse (aside from feeling as though I wasted 200+ dollars), he didn’t sing one of his old songs that I’m positive all of the grey haired old hippies were hoping for!!!
I love him but, he shouldn’t be on tour disappointing his fans and should have stayed home resting.
Do not expect the younger version of Bob Dylan!! No even close!
I saw Bob Dylan’s concert kick off in Phoenix AZ. I have seen three Dylan concerts in the past, all of which were brilliant. The songs he sang in Phoenix were slow and pondering, from his latest album, Rough and Rowdy ways. The whole concert was boring and seemed too long. I have great respect for Dylan, but didn’t get what he was doing by his song choices.
I think it’s just plain ignorant to think you were going to get a young version of Bob Dylan when the man is 80 years old. What you DID get is the opportunity to be in the presence of the greatest songwriter and musician that this world has ever seen. Indeed, you had the chance to to hear the only SONGWRITER in history who so moved international academia with his words and music that they presented him with the Nobel Peace Prize. This 80 year old – the one that you were so disappointed in – is one in the same as the young man (barely out of his teens) who performed on that fateful day when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech to some 250,000 people at the march on Washington. His accomplishments are too numerous to list, his contribution to music too profound to explain to one who found his performance disappointing because they lack the understanding as to why an 80 year old (or at times a 60 year old, or any other age for that matter) might just need to perform seated and the empathy to know why that incredible performer might not want to illuminate the situation. Seriously, show some respect!
Saw Dylan in Montgomery March 21. Very poor performance. Did not sing a single song except from his new album. He was almost indecipherable, made no connection with the audience, could have seemingly cared less about his band, and the steel guitar was mixed down so low as to make it useless in the songs. For what I paid for tickets, I feel practically scammed.
Saw Dylan In Montgomery on March 21. He was awful. Played only songs from his newest album–no old favorites. Isn’t that what people go to concerts for? His voice was almost undecipherable, he made no effort to connect with the audience, could have seemingly cared less for his band, and the steel guitarist was mixed down so low as to be a useless to the concert. A poor value for the $200+ tickets, nights lodging, meals, etc. I won’t waste my money to ever hear him live again.