Concert Review: Dylan brilliant even when less than perfect
post-gazette.com
Tuesday, November 07, 2000
By Ed Masley, Post-Gazette Pop Music Critic
By the time Bob Dylan went electric last night at the A.J.
Palumbo Center, the local stop on his never-ending tour
was beginning to feel a little like the set he should have
played at Newport all those years ago.
While hard-core folkie purists may have had a problem
with the drums -- and possibly the volume -- the
instrumentation across the front was positively 4th
street -- acoustic guitars and upright bass -- as Dylan led
a red-hot band through a blues song called "Duncan and
Brady," "Mr. Tambourine Man" (deconstructed but
unmistakably jingle-jangling) and a haunting train ride
through "It's All Right, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)."
Guitarist Larry Campbell switched to pedal-steel guitar
for a version of "Love Minus Zero/No Limit" that was
more than just a little reminiscent of "If Not For You,"
then back to acoustic guitar for "Tangled Up in Blue"
and finally the mandolin for "Searching for a Soldier's
Grave," a gorgeous bluegrass waltz.
And then, it was on to the first electric number of the
set, a Grateful Dead-indebted "Country Pie" from
"Nashville Skyline," followed by the only song he played
from 1998's "Time Out of Mind," his strongest album
since the early '70s at least, if not a little longer.
"Standing in the Doorway" proved an early highlight,
greeted by a cheer as Dylan took on the opening line
with a fire he could have used on "Like a Rolling Stone"
and other songs he's more than likely sick to death of
singing.
It was Dylan at his poignant best as a vocalist.
As is Dylan tradition, the road-weary classics were
frequently deconstructed to the point where little more
than the lyrics remained. And every so often, it worked
like a charm, no more so than on "Blowin' in the Wind,"
a song I'd tend to doubt has ever sounded quite so
moving or so beautiful.
But sadly, a few of the others could have used a little
reverence from the singer for the way he knew the song
was meant to sound when he was closer to the point of
inspiration. "Like a Rolling Stone" was only
recognizable enough to make you wonder when the
words had lost all meaning for the man, while "Stuck
Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again" took a
wrong turn on Highway 61.
And boy, did he play guitar, an instrument he plays at
least as well as Master P plays basketball. But hey, it's
his name on the ticket. If he wants to get some leads in
when they could have gone to Campbell and/or Charlie
Sexton, both of whom were just amazing, I suppose it's
up to him.
And in the end, as always, it was worth it sitting through
the remedial solos and the screwed-up versions of the
classics just to get to all the moments that found him
redeeming himself: "Forever Young," awash in aching
harmonies; a lazy nightclub jazz arrangement of "If
Dogs Ran Free"; a breathtaking "Just Like Woman"; and
a gently-rocking, smile-inducing version of
"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat."
In closing, no, the night was not without its flaws, but it
was brilliant all the same. |
