Expecting Rain

Apologies if there's a thread about this elsewhere but I didn't see one. I'm loving the new arrangements, perhaps not for the arrangements themselves but for the fact that they've clearly invigorated Bob. I think once again Bob has made a vital adaptation that allows him to showcase what remains of his vocal abilities. The one thing he's never lost is his phrasing and breath control, so why not show that off with all this uptempo jazzy deliveries. I saw him this summer and I think they got through Old Black Magic in about 70 seconds, and it had a great deal of spirit.

Not that I care what casual belly-achers will say, but now more than ever they can genuinely say, "I didn't even recognize [Song X]." I think the fact that even Tangled is getting this treatment speaks to a total overhaul. I'm surprised to see there isn't more discussion of this. I suppose it's occuring in individual concert threads. I haven't seen any blogs or music publications discussing it either but I guess they'll always be caught up in whatever the latest release/news event is rather than the performative peccadilloes of the based NET.

The only one I don't like it TUIB, just sounds too happy for what the song represents. But, otherwise, I enjoyed the changeup of the other songs.

He should go back to the original version of Tryin' To Get To Heaven, also. The new version took all the feeling out of it.

The fact that Bob keeps rearranging & experimenting with the flow of songs is one of the primary main attractions for this listener.

Tangled is one of the most played songs in the repertoire. Good for Bob to keep it fresh. Change must help keep him sane, too. Even the trimmed down version with the “newer” verses was getting old over these past few years. The change is welcomed here! One of the strangest Tangled deliveries, for sure, has been this Fall.
Haven’t seen that kind of surprising shift on that song since maybe Toronto 1978 (?)

Change feels so good. Get crazy with it Bob.
Thanks for keeping it rolling, Bob!

The fall 2017 round of shows have produced my favorite Things have changed versions that I have had the chance to see him do live. Thunder on the Mountain is a fantastic, love it. I enjoy the recent changes to ERK. Overall, the shows just seem to have so much more energy compared to previous shows of the last few years.

As for tangled, it's not to my liking but I would not change a thing. Let Bob be Bob.

I agreed that Tangled and Heaven are the least effective. Honest with Me and Thunder on the Mountain are the most improved I'd say. I can't tell you how bored I was by these two songs for the past decade or so and now they're the highlights.

I also think they all really work, save Tangled. I appreciate Dylan's practice of reworking, but this might be the least effective Tangled yet.

It's the most radical re-casting of the concert repertoire for some time, but it seems there's little interest around these parts at this point. Strange that there was more activity here in the wilderness 2006-12 period, but there you go. For what it's worth, I think the rearrangements are pretty interesting. Tryin' retains the spirit of the song but takes it down a different path; Honest and TOTM are clear improvements on earlier versions; Tangled is an audacious effort that just about works; and the new IAMB is a ModBob-meets-Rolling Thunder concoction that's definitely worth lending an ear to. This tour has seen a proper re-think of the set and the songs within it after around 4 years of relative samey-ness. I get that for some people a garbled, under-rehearsed Handy Dandy (or similar one-off) might seem more exciting, but this shift in the set and the song structures - in the context of late-period Bob - is more significant. As for the (lack of) response to it - perhaps it comes down to the difference between reading the setlists and listening to the music.

Thank you sincerely.

i make that they're delicious,
all of them,
even tangled,
it's strange and fantastical,
and they still seem to be in motion,
still changing

Its all relative. It feels a bit like it did in the 80’s.
Most everyone thought you were crazy if you liked Bob, nevermind attending multiple shows.



I think that’s a large part of it.

In Bloomington I will say that Tangled literally had me on the edge of my seat, hanging on every word.

great chemistry in many positions



thanks band. all tore up



Charlie Feathers - Can't Hardly Stand It https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h_O6U1xMlc

seriously though, this band brilliantly always has a voice
that gives bob wide berth to find his words

new arrangements are always possible,
the songs though always remain the same.

the developments of the band dynamics this tour only prove that.
outstanding to see tryin' break in new shoes.

call me hermetic but you can't change the holy of holies in the heart of a song
i mean that's what makes an artwork classic, a billion people can play it a billion ways,
it's soul never is lost, it always begins anew by honest expression billionly
sorta like any living being's many incarnations

bob is just in front of us living out his many lives, special to see together

I had a lukewarm reaction to Tangled when it was being played live, but even only a couple weeks later the fog of memory has improved it for me. It's a radical reinterpretation that fits a contemporary mood. Or at least that's how I now 3/4 remember it. Nice little trick the memory can play there.

The other interpretations all land brilliantly with no lapse of time required.

I’m just glad it's something different.

Yes. This!

Loving TOTM. Warming to Tangled.

TOTM is now the highlight of set in my opinion. Honest With Me, TUIB and Tryin' to get to Heaven are not improvements.
When Bob stops reinventing tunes is when the tour is truly over.

As for less activity here it tailed off after a couple of years of static set lists. Many, myself included, not longer saw the need to check in regularly.

Which means people were more interested in the setlists than the music/performance?

Damned if I don't love Tangled, now.

Finally got around to hearing a show, and I like the new Tangled. It reminds me of those old Johnny Cash that would change key every verse, and in combination with the way he cuts every other chorus it's a pretty brilliant reinvention, really. Greg Kot said the Chicago version was almost spoken word but he we certainly singing it a couple days later in Indiana.

Thunder On The Mountain is better than ever before, in my opinion.


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As someone else has noted the new arrangement of Honest With Me borrows the Beach Boys' Dance Dance Dance riff to great effect- and I just realized the new surfy Thunder on the Mountain is using the riff (and the first guitar solo) from Shut Down Pt. II- someone's been listening to some Beach Boys lately... I really like the new sounds - different from the summer tour to be sure. Akron was excellent and looking forward to Pittsburgh tomorrow!

Yes thats what it is, thanks Mr scratchy for enlightening, thats Bryan Wilson riff, very nice