Expecting Rain

The Latin American leg of the 2012 tour is finished (quite unceremoniously it seems).
What were your highlights?

When the audience took the reigns with 'how does it feel' in Belo Horizonte it was very moving, even from afar. Or what about that Hey Jude introduction in Porto Alegre? And new stop/start version of Cry Awhile? Drawn out Thunder?

I believe that The Latin American leg of the 2012 tour IS a highlight from head to toe

I kind of like the new arrangement of " Cry A While", thought the "LARS" singalong was very moving indeed and that the discussion of the "Hey Jude" bit was blown out of proportion. Just shows how little exciting news there is if barking out half a line of the lamest Beatle fill several thread pages.

All in all, I'm happy that he's out there, but for someone who's just recorded a new album, there was surprisingly little progress compared to the generally rather disappointing 2011. Makes you wonder what to expect from the LP.

It's not that I mind so much that he's playing the same songs night after night, many artists to that, but what I find very worrying is that he's still playing the same set that he already did in 2009, albeit in a watered-down version (for example: "Mr Jones" was a great closing song, but loses a lot of it's impact buried in the last quarter). Not playing even a fake encore is also strange. It made sense of the MK tour, with a tight schedule and people fleeing the scene, but when he's the only act and playing countries he rarely visits, at high prices like Rio, it's just weird, if not rude.

Looking forward to the excuses people will invent to defend him when he's coming to Europe for the third time within a year with the same worn out set.

Well, I really enjoyed the feeling of energetic, exuberant and appreciative crowds in the posts and in the audio / visual links. Latin America kicks ass!

Not too many ER members made it to these powerful shows. The ones that did have had very positive reports within these various threads.

Harold Lepidus gives us a recap of the Latin America leg in today's Examiner which is partially repeated here:

Here is a list of the 38 songs performed on the tour-

     Song number, title, show number:

All Along The Watchtower 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Ballad Of A Thin Man 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Ballad Of Hollis Brown 9 12 16
Beyond Here Lies Nothin'  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12
Blind Willie McTell 2 6 10 13 16
Blowin' In The Wind  4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15
Cry A While 8 11 13 14 15
Desolation Row 1 3 6 8 10 11 13 15
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right  2 4 12 16
Every Grain Of Sand 4
Forgetful Heart 1 5 9 14 16
Girl From The North Country 8
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall  2 4 7 9 12 14 16
High Water (For Charley Patton) 3 5 7 10 13 14
Highway 61 Revisited 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Honest With Me 2 3 4 8
It Ain't Me, Babe 1 5 7 11
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue 3 6 14
John Brown 6
Jolene 9 12 16
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
The Levee's Gonna Break 1 4 7 8 11 14
Like A Rolling Stone 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll 9 12 16
Love Sick 4 6 7 8 11 12 14 15
Make You Feel My Love 4 8
Man In The Long Black Coat 3 10 13
Not Dark Yet 5 9 12 16
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35   2  3 12
Rollin' And Tumblin' 10 15
Simple Twist Of Fate 1 2 3 5 6 8 10 11 13 15
Spirit On The Water 2 3 7 10 13 15
Summer Days 1 2 5 6 9 10 12 13 15 16
Tangled Up In Blue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Things Have Changed 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 13 14 15 16
Thunder On The Mountain 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
To Ramona 9 15
Tryin' To Get To Heaven 1 5 7 11 14


TOUR DATES (Show number, date, location, venue)
APRIL 15  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Citibank Hall     
APRIL 17  Brasilia, Brazil - Ginasio Nilson Nelson     
APRIL 19  Belo Horizonte, Brazil - Chevrolet Hall      
APRIL 21  Sao Paulo, Brazil - Credicard Hall  
APRIL 22  Sao Paulo, Brazil - Credicard Hall        
APRIL 24  Porto Alegre, Brazil - Pepsi On Stage     
APRIL 26  Buenos Aires, Argentina - Teatro Gran Rex     
APRIL 27  Buenos Aires, Argentina - Teatro Gran Rex     
APRIL 28  Buenos Aires, Argentina - Teatro Gran Rex
APRIL 30  Buenos Aires, Argentina - Teatro Gran Rex
MAY      2  Santiago, Chile - Santiago, Chile
MAY      5  Heredia, Costa Rica - Palacio de los Deportes
MAY      7 Monterrey, Mexico - Auditorio Banamex
MAY      9 Guadalajara, Mexico - Telmex Auditorium
MAY    11 Mexico City, Mexico - Pepsi Center
MAY    12 Mexico City, Mexico - Pepsi Center
An interesting pattern was that "Ballad of Hollis Brown" and "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" were always performed at the same concerts, with "Hard Rain" added between the two.

^ John Brown was great! I hope he does it more often. It's a great song.
The one from Bremen in '98 is amazing!

according to your avatar, i think you mean toe to head.

^^^ I'm learning about Bob every day and I need to say that when I say that The Latin American leg of the 2012 tour IS a highlight I'm thinking about Bob Dylan from today almost 71 years old and long time ahead...
Of course for most of you that follow him since... ... ... long time ago, the concerts from nowadays are quite common and the set list boring, but if you think about to be there listening the contagious music he still does... I assure you I listened a lot of young guys shouting "I love you, Bob!!" because the music they were playing was like an arrow reaching us with joy.

that's not true at all. he's putting out some very good stuff right now. it's a rare period of the NET to have it so structured, with a less than varied set-list. but he and his band have rarely sounded this 'tight' and 'intentional'. in many cases, it's a very good thing. i was listening to some 2009 shows today, and it's rocking and rough around the edges...

to see him interested in engaging the audience with physical gestures is a VERY rare thing. i don't think he's been this image conscious since the Rolling Thunder Review (okay i'm going to duck now)....

I'm happy you think this way, Troubadour

Thanks for posting the article from the examiner. Looking at the numbers, it appears I saw him perform 34 of the 38 songs from this leg...

The songs that I didn't see him play:
Every Grain Of Sand
Girl From The North Country
John Brown
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

Of these, EGOS is the only song I've never seen Bob play live. One of my favorites and it continues to elude me!

I'll think about what my favorite moments of this tour were and post in abit.

I am equally happy each new tour brings in fresh new perspectives and enthusiasms from people (like you) in different parts of the world. dylan's world presence is one his most enjoyable attributes, imo - if you ever have the chance, Highway 61 revisited (Sheehy and Swiss) has some wonderful essays...

Well, that's good. You are lucky to have something to look forward to. To appreciate. I've got to look towards the new album to find something unseen or unheard (and before it becomes overplayed). Besides the stuff that simply isn't played at all. So I seek new arrangements or nuances between nights. Of which, Latin America looked fantastic!

Very well said.

Bobs legs are aways highlights

They don't change that much. It doesn't matter if it is USA, Latin America, Europe, or else!

Yes, but are they better than South American legs?

I think the highlight was the tour itself and the fact where it happened, look to Bob's reaction on the audience - his joy of playing, it hard to imagine that this could happen in the same way on colder places(and I'm not talkin' about temperature), it's the way of life - the way to hadle life - what is really not easy in most of the places in Latin America....but, even through the tears and the laughter...., these people find a way to smile, to be happy, even when their hearts are crying and their souls are suffering, ...it's a deep blue emotion - special feeling what Latin people have, and it's not very hard t find the connection to this way of life, I'm sure Bobby found this connection long time before he touched Rio on mid-April this year, and I'm not sure if I see the same joyful, happy playing Bob on the 2nd of July here at the Zitadelle in Berlin, 'cos the city can be a very cold place even in the middle of summer....
but I'm happy for him and for us that we had such a great unforgetable month in Latin, and that's what finally counts and makes us all happy

Great Post Mr. Anderson!

And how about when Bob received that kiss from an overzealous guy in Buenos Aires and shook it off like nothing happened?

Has it been "a bit" yet Hakuna? We are interested in hearing your highlights since you are one of the folks that truly took advantage of Bob being in Latin America.
You went to the Buenos Aires and Mexico City shows, correct? Maybe Costa Rica too?

I think the fact that your top two moments consist of something the audience did and Dylan singing half a line of a Beatles tune during the introduction speaks volumes. It just wasn't a very exciting tour, with the exception of (an almost miraculously good) John Brown absolutely nothing stood out for me from the two shows I checked out and I wasn't inspired to listen to a third. I'm sure the people at the show had a good time, and I know they aren't being played for me to criticize while sitting at home in my underpants, but all the same I was a little disappointed. I'm sure the new album will shake things up, and maybe he'll do it himself in the touring over the summer. His voice sounded better than last year, for the most part, but very little connected for me or made me want to listen to it twice.

The thing about a Dylan show in-the-flesh is that the atmosphere is charged up and it comes crashing down in a good way. My distant highlights based on recordings, photos and snippets of eyewitness accounts mean nothing. Unless I was actually there. I admit I still feel the vibe, or try to, but there's nothing like being there. Hakuna might have a different perspective. Or Carolina or many of the others who were in the same room at the same time with Bobby and the boys. What you say is valid, smoke. And I think there's more to it.

While I have been bored at Bob shows in my lifetime, there's no question being there is better, and I will surely be seeing him next time he comes through town

Bored at a Bob show? You mean like while you are standing in line or waiting for the lights to dim, right?