Review: Americanarama - Bob Dylan and his Band

Subject: Review: Americanarama - Bob Dylan and his Band
From: voyager
Date: 01 Aug 13 - 10:50 AM

Fiddlers Green Ampitheater (Denver, CO) - July 31st, 2013

""This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend"
- The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

I've caught the Bob D. show 5 times over the past 20+ years
Merriweather Post Pavilion (1988)
Wolf Trap (w/ Kris Kristofferson Vienna, VA) (1991)
9:30 Club (DC) - 1997 <-- Best Show
Ripken Stadium(w/ Willie Nelson) - 2004

To quote Bob D - Ballad of a Thin Man

You have many contacts
Among the lumberjacks
To get you facts
When someone attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect
Anyway they already expect you
To just give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations

Bob - this check was for you
voyager

Subject: RE: Review: Americanarama - Bob Dylan and his Band
From: michaelr
Date: 01 Aug 13 - 03:17 PM

So where's the review?

Subject: RE: Review: Americanarama - Bob Dylan and his Band
From: voyager
Date: 01 Aug 13 - 03:49 PM

Hey Reverb Review (Denver Show) - Positive Vibes

Toronto Review - Negative Vibes

Subject: RE: Review: Americanarama - Bob Dylan and his Band
From: voyager
Date: 01 Aug 13 - 03:53 PM

Toronto Review #2 - Bob Dylan's unintelligible performance at ACC leaves fans, c

Subject: RE: Review: Americanarama - Bob Dylan and his Band
From: GUEST,Rev Bayes
Date: 02 Aug 13 - 02:10 PM

It's something of a minor sport amongst Dylan fans to enjoy reviews by critics who have no damned idea what they're talking about when they review a Dylan show. That there is a classic of the genre.

You want to listen to a loud tape player, go watch the Stones.

Subject: RE: Review: Americanarama - Bob Dylan and his Band
From: Little Hawk
Date: 02 Aug 13 - 02:30 PM

Dylan's shows are always unique...seldom predictable. I've seen him do shows that varied from a quality of, say, 5 out of 10...to 10 out of 10. His voice is pretty much wrecked now, which is unfortunate, but the content remains extremely interesting, regardless. I'd love to go along for a whole Dylan tour sometime, take in about 40 shows, just to get the entire sense of what he's up to these days.

Subject: RE: Review: Americanarama - Bob Dylan and his Band
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Aug 13 - 02:31 PM

I hate it when people writing a review talk about what they think other people attending thought of it rather than sticking to what they thought of it.

I note those two reviews were from different shows, which makes it hard to estimate them against each other.   But I get the impression the Toronto was was written by someone who'd gone there meaning to write that.

It's always far easier to write a knocking review of anything. There are far fruitier insults around than compliments.

Subject: RE: Review: Americanarama - Bob Dylan and his Band
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Aug 13 - 06:20 AM

For what its worth, I just dont go to these kind of shows anymore. A couple of years ago we bought the most expensive tickets for a BB King show in Oz. Invited some friends down from Interstate. We wanted to see The Man! The Blues legend! Instead we and the rest of the sellout venue got a very pale imitation of what was once a great musician. It was really, really sad and seemed as if someone just wanted to make a few more bucks out of the legend before he passed away. This Dylan thing seems a bit similar. I reckon save yer money and just sing the songs that made a difference to your life and that you care for. This is one that still works for me.

"Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free
Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands
With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves
Let me forget about today until tomorrow".

Cheers,

Andrez

Subject: RE: Review: Americanarama - Bob Dylan and his Band
From: GUEST,Rev Bayes
Date: 03 Aug 13 - 10:33 AM

It's really the other way around with the modern Dylan show. He is very obviously extraordinarily committed on stage. Nothing is done by the numbers - his band approach telepathy in how they deal with him. I remember seeing them a few years ago where he decided to extemporise an extra verse of TUIB. Very, very fast reactions. My wife didn't notice a thing and neither did most of the crowd.

I would say if you're going to your first Dylan show in years, go and download some concert bootlegs and get familiar with them. As I mentioned above, you're not going to see a tape player.

Subject: RE: Review: Americanarama - Bob Dylan and his Band
From: Little Hawk
Date: 03 Aug 13 - 11:52 AM

Yeah, he improvises all the time changing the music, altering the arrangements, and doing brand new lyrics to old songs, and the band adapts on the fly. You hear him do a song off the latest record and it's more likely to sound pretty much as it is on the recording, but even that isn't a certainty. The hardcore Dylan aficionados catalogue the lyrical changes on sites like expectingrain.com and you can find multiple versions of various older songs there.

I figure this keeps Bob from getting bored, it keeps the music fresh, and it makes the shows considerably more interesting than they might have been otherwise.

I'd have to say, though, that the very best shows I saw with Bob were in the 70s and 80s when he still had his whole vocal range, and he sang like a hurricane. I unfortunately didn't see any of his 60s concerts live. I wish I had.