Life is droll...and so are Raptor and Flattop. :-) Two old pals of mine...

Another old pal is Mr Bob Dylan, and out of the many Dylan shows I have seen, this was one of the best...and unexpectedly so, given the one I saw about a year ago.

I give it a 9 or a 9.5 on my Dylan: zero to ten scale.

Why? His voice was far stronger and more effective than last year. He actually hit some high notes (which he couldn't seem to do at all a year ago) and sustained them a bit. I don't think Raptor heard those parts too well. :-) His phrasing was strong, certain, and very effective, while maintaining that glorious sense of unpredictability that is typical of Dylan. He really sounded strong and convincing tonight. A year ago he sounded competent, but sort of like he was only firing on half his cylinders. He was firing on all cylinders this time.

Remember, this guy is 63 years old. How well do most people play and sing a rock show at 63?

He played nothing but the keyboard all night, which was a bit odd. There was an acoustic guitar standing ready, but he never used it. Oh, and he did quite a bit of harmonica playing, which was good to hear...although I wish he would play it now the way he did in the 60's. His harmonica solos THEN were ornate, tuneful, and amazingly good. Listen to Live '66 for some examples of that. Now they are much less imaginative. I think he's out of practice or he's gotten lazy on the harmonica.

So, yes, it would have been nice to hear some guitar work by Bob. A year ago he did lots of that, including some nice leads, but tonight it was strictly keyboard and harmonica.

The band was absolutely great in every way.

The songlist was also great. More on that tomorrow.

I loved it. I come to hear the man sing the songs, and he sure did that. Two thumbs up and then some!

Johhny Death, who is the most hardcore Dylan fan I know of except for maybe me also thought it was an exceptionally good concert. That speaks for itself.

For the worst Dylan performance, I would like to teleport Raptor back to the Isle of Wight show. He ain't seen nothin' yet. :-)

- LH