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Bob Dylan 960712 in Magdeburg, Germany


Date: Sat, 13 Jul 1996 02:19:35 -0700
To: karlerik@online.no
Subject: Dylan in Magdeburg
From: WWinkler@T-online.de (Wolfram W. Winkler)

-hi erik,

just came home from MD

set list:

1.      To Be Alone With You  (...night time is the right time...)
2.      Lay Lady Lay
3.      All Along The Watchtower
4.      Positively 4th Street
5.      It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
6.      Silvio
7.      Hollis Brown    @
8.      Gates Of Eden   @
9.      Mr. Tambourine Man      @
10.     Jokerman
11.     Like A Rolling stone
12.     Absolutely Sweet Marie

13.     The Times They Are A-Changin'   @
14      Rainy Day Women #12 & 35

Comment: I don't like Silvio that much, but this was the best version I 
ever heard: perfect phrasing with JJ and BB singing backing vocals, and a 
long almost psychedelic outro that added some new colours to a song that 
seems to experience a little "over-do"...
A very slow, low-voice, kinda sad & mellow Rolling Stone - impressing.
Good set, no introduction of the band, no bobtalk, but shake-hands with 
someone in the front row and seemingly a little almost private chat..?


Wolfram Winkler, 100661.2537@Compuserve.com //WWinkler@T-online.de
                  Saturday 13.7.96  02:19:00

Subject: Magdeburg 12 July 1996 - comments From: Christian Zeiser Subject: Re: July 12, 1996, Magdeburg, Germany, Setlist From: Carsten Wohlfeld (happyjaq@confetti.ruhr.de) Date: 14 Jul 1996 15:52:00 +0100 > Magdeburg, Germany > July 12th, 1996 > So there I am, 250 miles from home in a venue that reminds me why I was against the german reunification in the first place... :) 50s eastern architecture at it worst, I dodn't expect much as I seems that Bob plays his best shows at nice venues as well... but of course, I was wrong. This was probably the best Dylan show I ever saw: Dylan was smiling, grinning, dancing *constantly* and the band was better than ever before. I had a nice place, second row in front of JJ and I just couldn't believe how good Jackson was on this nite. Absolutely amazing! > > To Be Alone With You The cuesheet alternative was "If You See Her" (at #1?!) but that they dragged out this one was a more than welcome surprise. The only do it once a year and always during the month of July...why??? On this song, Jackson ROCKED MY WORLD or - tp paraphrase Neil Young - he rocked he whole free world as well! (He also sang backup vocals)... Utterly fantastic harmonica solo that lasted well over two minutes from Bob at the end with a nice call and response-bit where he and JJ just got ROCKED. And, not only JJ and I seemed to enjoy this pretty much. After the song Dylan went over to Jackson slapping five with his guitarist. True! > Lay Lady Lay Nothing special, apart from the fact that this version never sounded so musically perfect. I'd rather hear "Senor" any day of the week, though. > All Along The Watchtower The best version I heard in quite a while, again they RAWKED the place, with JJ putting in his best solo. He played lead guitar again for all song except the acoustics and a couple in the last electric set, where he had some split solos with Bob. > Positively 4th Street The very nice slow county-ish arrangement that I like better with every time I hear it. Bob was in great voice on this one (as if he wasn't all evening) and there was a rare pedal-steel solo from Bucky that didn't get buried completely. > It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry They chose to play this one over "Pleding My Time" and though "Train To Cry" doesn't change much from night to night you can clearly hear why they love playing it so much. Even though it might be the slowest song in his set, it is still among the most powerful. You know that it's a good show when *all* five guys on stage are smiling. It's always fun to see Winston go beserk behind his drum-kit on this one as well. > Silvio As good as ever, even when they didn't get the last solo (what is said to be a J.Geils rip off) right, even though it was longer than usual. JJ played some brilliant extra geetar-licks on this one and was so into it, that he forgot to join in on the chorus one time. Bob played around this the rhymes a bit and he seemed to enjoy that more than anybody :) I could be wrong - and I might even confuse this with the Hamburg show - but I think I heard an all new verse onthis one. Hand me the tape, please! > The Ballad Of Hollis Brown (acoustic) Yet again a brilliant performance of his great great song (I still can't believe how much up to date almost all songs from the "Times" album still are - after 32 years). If I hadn't heard it in Mannheim a week earlier, I would've loved it even more. Pretty groovy guitar solo from Bob as well. > Gates Of Eden (acoustic) Another slight disappointment, cause it followed "Hollis Brown" at the last show I saw as well. Anyway, it is of course always nice to hear, especially on a night where the band is tho enthusiastic about playing as tonight. > Mr Tambourine Man (acoustic) A bit of a surprise to see this one so high in the set, but I pretty much liked this version, which was a bit faster and more edgy than the lullaby- arrangement I last heard during the summer 95 tour. > Jokerman Sung a bit more relaxed than in 1994, this one wasn't very special, though there weren't major lows on it, either. The bit close to the ending sounded a bit improvised but good and Winston had a big grin on his face during this song. > Like A Rolling Stone The mixed up the start of this one a bit but then it really kicked nto gear. Much faster version than the rather lush 95ers. JJ sang backing vocals on the whole chorus. Unfortunately, Bob didn't introduce the band even though they were discussing what song to play and laughing out loud before they went straight into: > Absolutely Sweet Mary Hey, thanks Bob! Always a favourite of mine and the first time I got to hear it live. And *much* better than any bootleg versions I heard. The band hit aperfect groove on this one and once again they all seemed to enjoy the performance pretty much. After that Bob went to the front of the stage to high-five a few people in the front row. You know he's in a good mood when he does that! > The Times They Are A-Changin' (acoustic) Another song that is always great to hear even though it doesn't change a bit. Incredible harp solo at the end that never seemed to stop. Even the band was surprised that it went on for so long. At least Jackson was looking quite puzzled and when he looked over to Garnier, they both just smiled...Awww :) > Rainy Day Women Nos. 12 & 35 Um, yeah, I don't know what to say as a well known Rainy-Day-Women-hater, but - hey! - I liked it! Bob played some awesome solos, and was even more animated than during the rest of the how. He played this song directly to the girl that stand in front of me and at first she seemed to be delighted, but later embarrased, I guess, because he didn't stop to look at her... At that he slapped five with about 10, 12 people in the first few rows, laughing, pulling faces and HAVING A GREAT TIME. Then he was gone and I was more than happy that I'd been there. Off to Hamburg... Carsten Wohlfeld aka HappyJaq on IRC "Whoever despises himself still respects himself as one who despises" (F.Nietzsche)

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