I am posting some pictures I took the last week in Dresden, I've had some problems with internet, so I am almost one week late.

It was my third Dylan show and it was the first time I heard him sing Like a Rolling Stone, it was the first time I heard him sing Blowin' In The Wind, it was the first time I saw him taking the centre of the stage, it was the first time I saw him with guitar. And I was really close. So I had a great time obviously :-) We also got great Visions Of Johanna, Ballad Of a Thin Man, Tangled Up In Blue, Simple Twist Of Fate and then some other songs, which are somehow regular in the setlist.

Dylan started the show with Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat and switched to Watching The River Flow after a few lines. The members of the band exchanged puzzled looks and I can't really say what happened, whether the band played WTRF from the very beginning, or whether Dylan switched to another song as it progressed. Everyone knows that Dylan's songs in the present arangement can sometimes be recognised only by the lyrics and I really don't know whether it was Dylan or the band who got it wrong. Either way they handled it without any problems and the show was very relaxed, Bob seemed to be in a great mood (as you can see from the pictures) and his voice was very good I guess - by Dylan's standards :-) Sure, you can say his voice is shot down, he croaks the lyrics, whatever...but there is something absolutely irresistable about the man and about his singing. And in Dresden, it was easy to understand each and every word, the sound was really good.

Dylan and his show is definitely getting more and more fan-friendly and better. At least when I saw him in 2008 I enjoyed it much more than in 2005 and the last week it was better than in 2008. So I hope he will come the next year somewhere close again :-)

glad u enjoyed. but for many of us longtime dylan fanatics, the live act has worn out its welcome. one of the great things about dylan through the years was his restlessness and desire to reinvent himself (both on stage and in the studio). unfortunately, somewhere along the way, that desire left him and we're left watching essentially the same act ad nauseum. it's hard to fathom what keeps him doing the same thing over and over again. it can't be for the money. what happened to our restless bobness?

bloody hell. superb photos.

Thanks, Gazza!

StonesTod, I guess it is like with any other act. How can I not be happy when I see him doing Like a Rolling Stone for the very first time? I guess it might feel different if you have seen it fifty or I don't know how many times. I will never be able to see Dylan (and others) in the sixties and seventies, so this is as good as it gets and I am thankfull that I've had a chance to see quite a lot of acts that really belong to different times already and that they still do the music that I love.

Saw him in Buenos Aires months ago, and that was awesome. Great concert, good music and well-taste masterclass.

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"I'm gonna walk... before they make me run"

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The thing is the setlist is getting a tad predictable: that will, probably, change once the new album comes out later in the year.

I can remember the great band he had with Larry Campbell and Charlie Sexton; I saw him at Docklands Arena in 2002, on the back of Love & Theft, and he was amazing. He opened with an old Stanley Brothers bluegrass number, and really did some amazing numbers.

I can also remember a 2007 show at Wembley Arena, this time on the back of Modern Times. He did an amazing Hattie Carroll and Spirit On The Water.

Bob works best, in my opinion, when he has a new album to promote, or when he has a new challenge. I also saw him in 1995 at Brixton Academy on the back of MTV Unplugged: his version of Mr Tambourine Man that night was beyond brilliant. I think that was the beginning of the renaissance that manifested itself with Time Out of Mind.

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Happy24
Thanks, Gazza!

StonesTod, I guess it is like with any other act. How can I not be happy when I see him doing Like a Rolling Stone for the very first time? I guess it might feel different if you have seen it fifty or I don't know how many times. I will never be able to see Dylan (and others) in the sixties and seventies, so this is as good as it gets and I am thankfull that I've had a chance to see quite a lot of acts that really belong to different times already and that they still do the music that I love.

makes sense to me. i should have had the sense to avoid him all those dozens of times i saw him. i will learn from this in my next life....

I heard him three days later, he is in a fantastic form. Your photos are very good!

Amazing photos Petr. You actually caught the great man smiling. Very rare indeed. Keep the good work up.

Nice photos!

Here is a groovie solo by Bob on the Grand Piano in Bad Mergentheim were I heard him. I think the Piano souns fresher than the organ.

I saw this show and also the one in Berlin the night before.
Dylan is definitely in fine form these days. Adding the grand piano was a wise choice, I thought.

I thought Mark Knopler was along to play guitar on this tour? was he there??

MLC

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MCDDTLC
I thought Mark Knopler was along to play guitar on this tour? was he there??

That was last Fall.

Nice Phots!

I haven't seen Dylan since 2010, with a one year lapse, since the late 90s and before, even. I never thought his shows were getting anything but better.

I too have felt a certain predictability with recent setlists -due to lack of new material, but if the performances are there, well...Yea, heavy and a bottle of bread!

A sad observation of recent years is how his shows seem to disappoint or confuse casual fans, almost as if he's circling territory established by The Grateful Dead's later years: you've gotta be all the way in it if you wanna get it!

(However, after I typed that, I thought: Is this anything new? Think Newport 65, Before The Flood, The Desire Tours, Slow Train era - how many people do you remember whining about how much he'd changed for the worse!)

The fact that Dylan is now into his 70s seems irrelevant - though it should not be - to the fact he will still play great shows. Anytime he wants to play, I'll listen.

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erikjjf
I saw this show and also the one in Berlin the night before.
Dylan is definitely in fine form these days. Adding the grand piano was a wise choice, I thought.

Very good choice! Damn it, I thought the same in Buenos Aires' shows... almost perfect... wish Dylan include a piano!!

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"I'm gonna walk... before they make me run"

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MCDDTLC
I thought Mark Knopler was along to play guitar on this tour? was he there??

MLC

Not in his band.

The Dylan-Knopfler US leg later in the year will be a double-header.

Indeed those photos were terrific, thanks.

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StonesTod
glad u enjoyed. but for many of us longtime dylan fanatics, the live act has worn out its welcome. one of the great things about dylan through the years was his restlessness and desire to reinvent himself (both on stage and in the studio). unfortunately, somewhere along the way, that desire left him and we're left watching essentially the same act ad nauseum. it's hard to fathom what keeps him doing the same thing over and over again. it can't be for the money. what happened to our restless bobness?

A You have to remember that the vast majority of people in the audience do not see multiple shows. For them it's all new and exciting. And one of the reasons Dylan still is a major player in music and in the music business, is because he has always managed to find his own unique way to appeal to that vast majority and the "fanatics". If he only played for the "fanatics" he would not be able to fill arenas all over the world.

B Dylan HAS once again completely reinvented his stage show. Since Paddock Wood/England (Hop Farm Festival), June 30, 2012 he has been playing grand piano for most of his current shows, which has completely changed the sound from what it was only a few months ago on his October/November 2011 European tour (when he played organ and electric guitar). At those October/November shows the sound was quite brutal at times, with heavy electric guitars and abrasive, upfront vocals. Now a lot of room is given to the piano, with the band playing discreeter stuff and Dylan singing in a much more "normal" and melodic way. I like both approaches.

By the way these current shows are the first shows with Dylan predominantly on acoustic, grand piano since he played with his Rock & Roll bands in Minnesota in the 1950s!!!! This fact alone is quite sensational.

[The last time he had a grand piano on stage (late 1989/early 1990) only a handful of songs were actually played on the instrument. When he played (some) piano in 1991 it was an electric piano and when he played piano in concert from late 2002–late 2005 it was a Yamaha Motif 7 keyboard (later switched to organ mode from 2006–2008, replaced by Korg CX-3 organ in late 2008).]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-07-10 01:57 by MrEcho.

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MrEcho

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StonesTod
glad u enjoyed. but for many of us longtime dylan fanatics, the live act has worn out its welcome. one of the great things about dylan through the years was his restlessness and desire to reinvent himself (both on stage and in the studio). unfortunately, somewhere along the way, that desire left him and we're left watching essentially the same act ad nauseum. it's hard to fathom what keeps him doing the same thing over and over again. it can't be for the money. what happened to our restless bobness?

A You have to remember that the vast majority of people in the audience do not see multiple shows. For them it's all new and exciting. And one of the reasons Dylan still is a major player in music and in the music business, is because he has always managed to find his own unique way to appeal to that vast majority and the "fanatics". If he only played for the "fanatics" he would not be able to fill arenas all over the world.

B Dylan HAS once again completely reinvented his stage show. Since Paddock Wood/England (Hop Farm Festival), June 30, 2012 he has been playing grand piano for most of his current shows, which has completely changed the sound from what it was only a few months ago on his October/November 2011 European tour (when he played organ and electric guitar). At those October/November shows the sound was quite brutal at times, with heavy electric guitars and abrasive, upfront vocals. Now a lot of room is given to the piano, with the band playing discreeter stuff and Dylan singing in a much more "normal" and melodic way. I like both approaches.

By the way these current shows are the first shows with Dylan predominantly on acoustic, grand piano since he played with his Rock & Roll bands in Minnesota in the 1950s!!!! This fact alone is quite sensational.

[The last time he had a grand piano on stage (late 1989/early 1990) only a handful of songs were actually played on the instrument. When he played (some) piano in 1991 it was an electric piano and when he played piano in concert from late 2002–late 2005 it was a Yamaha Motif 7 keyboard (later switched to organ mode from 2006–2008, replaced by Korg CX-3 organ in late 2008).]

not good enough. he's overdo for a complete makeover. new band, new approach. and a new suit and hat.