Expecting Rain

I hope he adds My One and Only Love to the set, I'm really coming to love that song.

The highlight of Triplicate for me, beautifully delivered too. Think it's a long shot to hear it live tho.

Well, there was nothing to get excited about, that might be the reason. It's just bland. Sad!

Not a lame crowd where I was sitting. They were absolutely rocking where I was sitting. I never go to these concerts unless I have a great ticket. I realize it can be boring sitting in the back. But they topped themselves again last night it seems. (The recording will reveal if Im correct.)

The performance was really intense and Bobs delivery was razor sharp. He is a machine at the moment and seems to be in powerhouse condition physically. Dont think Twice was a nice change. It seems to work better with the crowd, since its a more well known song.

But the set is very well thought out and working very smoothly. A fine mix og modern Dylan and some classics and even the Sinatra stuff is very well intigrated. Blowing in the wind and Pay in Blood is still very relevant with Trump and his bombings. Ballad of a Thin Man is the most awesome finale to the show.

This was my final concert on this tour - God I wish I had tickets for ten more on this tour.

A few Images:

Thanks, Blind Boy

My remarks to yesterday's Düsseldorf Bob-experience:

Beyond Here Lies Nothing
Pay In Blood
Love Sick
Scarlet Town
Soon After Midnight
Long And Wasted Years
Autumn Leaves

were great (often full of magic, you couldn't resist them).

Highway 61 Revisited
Melancholy Mood
Duquesne Whistle
Tangled Up In Blue
Early Roman Kings
Desolation Row
Ballad Of A Thin Man

were ok; so ok, that I liked the performances.

The other performances were no highlights but weren't a disaster,

Again I loved the warm atmosphere of the stage-scenery; unfortunately this warm atmosphere stayed too far away from the the audience (I don't know why. Last time in Düsseldorf it worked very well).

But I hated those people, who were too late and looked for their seats with their torches even a half hour after the show started, and forced others to let them trough. I hated those, who went to get a beer or two, and those people, who carried back to the toilet, what they drank some minutes before (the guy next to me in row 1 of block C for example came in 20 minutes too late and then drank four beers, he didn't clap or shout or do somethine else to show some reaction), I hated those watchdogs, which ran for unknown reasons back and forth.
I don't know exactly, why Bob's magic wasn't that strong as it was in former years at the same place (but for me it was obviously so).

All in all I think, to sit in such a venue isn't that good, although my last Düsseldorfian sitting experience was better.
This time the show-atmosphere rose to its peak, when Bob&band played the encores, when most of the audience stood up to be closer to what was happening (at least those in the 4 front block A,B,C and D - I don't know, what happened behind me)

All in all the show was ok, but I wished it would have been a littel bit more than only ok.
(And unfortunately Bob didn't play TO RAMONA in Düsseldorf)

and btw: listening to the lyrics of the songs (often unfortunately not easy to understand in Düsseldorf): his lyrics are still relevant, perhaps more relevant than before, beginning with song no.1 Things have changed to song no.21 Thin Man)

thank you everyone.

please pray. i work here next to the pentagon and it is very quiet here


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLg7Jdz5y64

That's a bit like saying it's the audience fault that the show sucked in the 80€ (!) section, because the didn't invest in better tickets?

I think, if you book barns like this, it's the artist's resposnibility to present a show that will illuminate the entire venue, not just the expensive sections. In that respect, the current Bob shows, despite it's obvious strong points, fails pretty miserably.

I had the worst ticket imaginabale for the Fall 2002 Arena shows and I still get goosebumps just thinking about them. THAT'S what a great show is all about.

The Düsseldorf show wasn't bad by any means, it was just very un-interesting, which is much worse than seeing a bad show. I've seen horrible shows by Bob and thought: "He'll do better tomorrow" -and he did. Yesterday, for the first time, I thought that he was giving the best he could and it just wasn't working (in that setting at least).

I was there. I enjoyed it, but the problem is the setlist especially in the second half. Spirit, Soon after midnight and so on...don´t get me wrong they were well executed but have been heard way too often. On the other side, I was there with people who haven´t seen Dylan in the last 5 years and they were surprised by Dylans strong voice and the fantastic band.
All in all I´m just grateful that I´m able to still see him playing shows

Whatever I may critizise: I'm still grateful too.
And maybe it's nonsense: But this time - for the first time in my life - I thought, the audience and their behaviour is part of the problem when such a show doesn't work as it should.
To say, the show was uninteresting will be right for Handsomeinthefog and others too, but for me, it wasn't like that - especially when I think of the song-lyrics (I hope for a bootleg, to prove what I thought and felt yesterday).
I don't have to say again, that I wasn't totally convinced, I wrote it already. But it was an interesting show for me nevertheless.

bob's piano playing was intense last night. he even kicked his piano-seat away with his leg, not exactly like little richard, but it was fun. guess he really enjoys the piano these days. especially during early roman kings!

something was wrong after desolation row or bob wasn't happy with the way they ended the song but he really ran to tony garnier, talked to him for about 2 secs and went back to the piano to sing soon after midnight.

charlie had some problems with his guitar during the intro of melancholy mood.

i guess george has hay fever or was sick. he sneezed during spirit on the water and a couple other songs.

stu turns his back to the audience for most of the show and his electric guitar was really quite sometimes but his acoustic guitar palying is superb.

the gaps between the songs are really short now, that caused some long intros to songs, e.g. love sick where bob was still at the piano drinking before he walked to center stage. and during the intro of autuum leaves bob drank again and you really could the the fear in tony's eyes who wasn't sure what to do if bob couldn't make it to the microphone on time.

bob stays way in the back of the stage now, directly next to tony and charlie and ignores the three main mics center stage completely. during one song (i believe long and wasted years) they put the spotlight on the three center mics and kept the rest of stage dark but changed it after they realised that bob wasn't there.

I haven't seen any shows from this tour, and I won't be. The last show I saw - at the Albert Hall, with Dylan performing a similar set that mainly comprised a mixture of recent Dylan songs and crooned 'standards' - was incurably lifeless.

The dull plink-plock of Dylan's off-kilter piano playing doesn't help, of course: pretty much every song performed by Dylan at the piano exudes minor key miserabilism. No song ever gathers pace, ebbs and flows, or forces itself into my attention through its musical propulsion. Song after song just sits there, or rather lies there, somewhere in the distance; possibly alive but more probably dead; never gaining enough of my attention to persuade me to find out.

And when he steps away from the piano, when things should improve musically for his absence from that instrument and his increased attention to his singing, the deathly tone remains. These songs are so dead they are beyond resuscitation, and Dylan's throaty attempts at them only heighten the morbid atmosphere. The whole thing is so completely lifeless, so relentlessly joyless, so utterly depressing.

Is there any way back from this? Is this how Dylan intends to play out the remainder of his career? God, it's all so awful.

that's my grandmother's sound

Grandmothers understand this stuff. And sucking eggs, of course - they all know how to do that.

Apart from the fact, that this is the Düsseldorf '17 live thread, where obviously you do not have anything to talk about, here is the good news for you (and all the 'current' Dylan live performance haters): you don't have to attend the gigs or buy the albums.

A random note: the gig tonight was again a very strong one, maintaining the very high level of this European leg so far. Same standouts as Hamburg or Lingen. Especially strong in my eyes and ears was "Early Roman Kings" and the funny moment when Bob invented a new way to sing " Spirit On The Water".

It's called a rut dude don't sweat it.

The quickest way out of the rut would be a change in bands. Probably not gonna happen of course, but the whole sound of the NET has grown stale. Get some new blood, some new players backing him. And of course some new material would be a bigtime bonus.

Great photos, thank you, Blind Boy Zimmerman.

Did you see him in 2013? Did you feel like that the first time Britain received these 'Set' shows?

I saw him then, I liked the show a great deal more than the previous shows I saw in 2009 and 2011 - both had varied setlists (particularly the former) but both weren't enjoyable for me. I didn't catch him in 2015 - partly due to circumstance, partly due to there being little difference with the show, with exception of more Sinatra tunes, which meant I didn't feel like I was missing out.

I feel saddened that he quickly reverts to type - it appears that, because Standing in the Doorway wasn't all that great, he won't now reattempt it, preferring to go back to Spirit on the Water! He seems to try songs now and then, but give up on developing them. A shame. He can still vocally commit - its sad that that the he can't now reach into his song catalogue anymore.

I think he should carry on touring - whether I personally am willing to see him now is another thing though.

For me, his 2013 show at the RAH was great - it was memorable, he seemed so much more committed than at previous shows, rather than just going through the motions with his barroom boogie band of old. The lack of hat helped as well - it seems like the hat hides just that bit more of him. I thought after 50 years of performing, and despite not really uttering a word to the audience, there was a genuinely great atmosphere between Bob and the audience. Great night, I'll forever cherish.

Uh huh. Maybe an approach similar to Hasidic New Wave. No compromises.

Went to the RAH in 2015, tempted by the opportunity to visit the venue rather than see Bob, after giving up on Dylan live around 2009; the upbarking finally did for me. Thought the show was a million times better than anything I'd seen since 2003 but I was slightly bored by the amount of Sinatra tunes in the set, as well as songs like Spirit On The Water, Long And Wasted Years which I just do not like and songs that have just been done to death: Blowin' In The Wind and Tangled Up In Blue. However, it was clear on songs like She Belongs To Me, I'm A Fool To Want You, Scarlet Town, Lovesick, Autumn Leaves that Dylan was performing at a very high standard, and in retrospect the October 2015 shows probably were a highlight.
I think the move into arenas is a poor choice, and why I'm only seeing Bob at the Palladium this time around. I'm slightly disappointed by the setlist variations; bringing back more done to death songs like Don't Think Twice.. Thin Man, Desolation Row and Highway 61 doesn't sound great to me; especially as the versions I've heard sound dull and tired (unlike She Belongs To Me in 2015) and is probably a result of moving back into arenas. The you have more awful Tempest tunes like Soon After Midnight making a reappearance, and the poorer songs from 2015 hanging around like Spirit On The Water... Anyway, I wasn't there so who knows? Maybe it was awesome.

I can reassure you nothing has changed since last tour, everything is still the same Meaning that after the last 3 shows, my heart is full and I'm good til next week. You can really witness these days how extraordinarily gifted this nobel peace genius really is You have to go in person and then you'll get it. or not
@Johanna Parker!!!!!!!!!

No love, it does nothing for me anymore. You don't have to understand, friebnds still. Happy for anyone who still likes it. Wish they could explain why.

I'm glad you got to experience this!!