Expecting Rain

An update on a post I submitted on ER last week (on the Dylan has late-night get together with Shane McGowan thread):

“I have it from a reliable source that Dylan and his band spent three full days at Ardmore Studios in Bray after his end-of-tour show at the 3 Arena in Dublin on Thursday 11th of May. Apparently American personnel were flown in. This is as much information as I have. Ardmore is an old film studio. It has a sound studio used mainly for video and TV post production - it’s not known for recording albums. This was the same weekend that Bob met up with Shane MacGowan. Bob works in mysterious ways.”

Apparently the (intense) sessions went on for three days and nights with Dylan and the band recording a wide range of songs (I don’t know what they consisted of), all recorded on video and with John Hillcott on directorial duties. This is all I know. My confidante said that Dylan was in tight control of the band, so much so that he took over guitar duties at one point for one of the guitarists (not sure if it was Charlie or Stu).

New album? Originals or covers I can’t say…

All recorded on video?

Weirdness prevails

Please, let it be a Ronnie Drew/Shane McGowan tribute.

Call it O'Triplicate.

I wouldn't bank on it. The person I got the info from is not a Dylan fan but would have mentioned if it was Irish material. It doesn't seem Shane was involved.

Thanks for that. Hopefully, it's original material, then.

perhaps it's video Sinatra

Thanks for that. Hopefully, it's original material, then.[/quote] Who knows??? Hopefully, something interesting in the pipeline. All very strange

For how much Dylan seems opposed to being filmed for long periods of time, this comes as a surprise

Before anyone else predicts it, whatever it is, it won't be as good as Blood On The Tracks.

Thank you.

Well, there is Don't Look Back, Eat the Document and Renaldo, but that was way back. My friend said it was a totally exhausting three full days til' 12. And John Hillcoat (who made 'The Road' & the Dylan 'Visions of Johanna' video two years ago) as director? Hard to figure out...

Yeah that's true, but since Masked and Anonymous he hasn't really been in much besides the occasional music video here and there. At festivals he rarely likes for the screens to show him up close. Could this be a music video for one of the Triplicate tracks like he did with The Night We Called It A Day? How long would one of those take to film?

If it was for Triplicate, I have to imagine it would have been released by now. This is just another piece to the puzzle. Album of originals in 2018!

Yeah that's true, but since Masked and Anonymous he hasn't really been in much besides the occasional music video here and there. At festivals he rarely likes for the screens to show him up close. Could this be a music video for one of the Triplicate tracks like he did with The Night We Called It A Day? How long would one of those take to film?[/quote]

Good point. One music video could take days or even weeks to make, but apparently there was a wide range of material on this one. As I said, my friend is not a Dylan fan, so I couldn't draw her on the music. We'll find out soon enough

Bray is a lovely place. Not sure what this adds to the conversation, but I was very taken with that seaside town when I was in Ireland a few years back. Maybe Bob did some location shoots as well? I do think the fact that it was all filmed is fascinating. Long form video? Maybe he was inspired by Beyoncé and is going to drop a new album and video simultaneously.

Sleepy sideside village, Bray, it's kind of been neglected. Yes, it was all filmed and using the best talent in Ireland. Sounds like a big project - people being flown in from the US with Hillcoat at the helm. You could well be right re longform vid:-)

Possibly a tribute video, something like the Tony Bennett thing?

But why spend three days in a dilapidated movie studio in Ireland? (apparently loads of songs)

Is there a difference is professional audio versus video recording?

He probably flew in video guys from America and then promptly banned them from filming him.

Bob does what he does.

I'm in the film industry and can tell you that three days for a music video is a standard amount of time, if not rather short.

The fact that personnel were flown in from the United States, rather than waiting to return home to shoot, tells me that there's something about the material that relates to Ireland, either in terms of its content or because of somebody that lives there that he was collaborating with.

My guess is that it either relates to Shane McGowan or traditional Irish music, or is the music video for a song from Triplicate or an upcoming album of originals or covers. If it's the latter, there must be something very special about the Ardmore Studios that Dylan and his team thought could not be found in the United States, which is strange considering the amount of vintage Hollywood studios that would be littered across Los Angeles. Perhaps they also did some shooting outside of the studio in parts of Ireland where Dylan wanted captured, therefore making the Ardmore Studios a cheaper option to shoot the rest of the video in compared to finishing it up in the United States.

It'll be interesting to see how it all turns out. The fact that there was a bunch of material performed strikes me as a sort of tribute performance video rather than a music video. Perhaps he performed all the songs from a new album and is going to decide which one he will release as a music video at a later date?


Did he say anything about the material? Style of music? Content of the lyrics? I know he's not a fan, but even just a sliver of a phrase or description of the music would probably be enough for us all to make an educated guess.

Perhaps this all relates to the reason why Dylan couldn't make the Nobel Ceremony due to "preexisting commitments"? He could have been recording an album in Los Angeles at the time. I'm clutching at straws but it's nice to think that perhaps the Daniel Lanois rumours were true.

Could he have thought about the Most of the Time video and figured why not just scrap the whole Lanois album and redo it live on film?




I doubt that very much!! Though it may have to be...

With only three days I'd think multiple stabs at several songs for some sort of tribute project would be the most likely scenario but it could be anything, including (YES!) a Beyoncé style movie/album sneak release later this year. M&A #2!!

Mickvet: O'Triplicate!!! Love it!!

thank you very much shipcomesin!

exciting

I know this isn't what you meant by that, but I'm imagining a pedal steel guitar cover of "Single Ladies" right now.
It's an "American Standard" from the 21st century, isn't it?