"Dylan and company in fine form at Orpheum".

Source: Lowell Sun
Date: Sunday, 9 October 1994
Author: Steve White, Sun Correspondent.
Concert review: Bob Dylan, The Orpheum, Boston, Friday night.

[Note: the review claims that "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" was
played, it was not. It was played on Saturday the 8th, but "Mr. Tambourine
Man" wasn't played that night. Perhaps the review attended two shows and
got mixed up confusion, or just made a mistake.]


BOSTON - If anything, a Bob Dylan concert is always an adventure.

Will he sing his hits, or will he trot out those perplexing - as one critic
aptly describe them - "what the hell was that?" songs.

Will his voice soar, or make it sound like you're listening to Clint
Eastwood trying to sing.

Will he even face the audience (he's been known not to)?

Well, I'm happy to report, based on Friday night's sparkling show, that if
you're lucky enough to have tickets to tonight's show, then don't think
twice, it'll be alright.

Obviously still on a professional high from his excellent spot on the
Mudstock '94 bill back in August, Dylan delighted a crowd made up of
college kids, aging boomers, CPSs and leftover Deadheads, with a smashing
100-minute show that featured mostly his big hits, sung reasonably like the
recordings.

Never really acknowledging the crowd (though he uncharacteristically
plucked a rose from a front row fan's hands), Dylan appeared to be in top
form right off the bat, as he beautifully delivered "Just Like a Woman,"
before segueing into a crunching "All Along the Watchtower," as crack
guitarist John Jackson peeled off one blistering lick after another.

A good portion of the show's success could be credited to Dylan's brilliant
entourage, which also included bassist Tony Garnier, steel guitarist Bucky
Baxter, and manic drummer Winston Watson, who must have splintered two
dozen drumsticks in the couse of a hardworking evening.

Dylan and the band worked together wonderfully, especially powerful
versions of "Tangled Up in Blue" and a smokin' "Positively 4th Street,"
which earned him the first of several standing ovations.

A highlight of the evening was the way Dylan deftly alternated between
highcharged electric accompaniment and simply gorgeous acoustic numbers,
like the walloping one-two punch he delivered with superb renditions of
"Mr. Tambourine Man" and "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright."

After a scorching "Maggie's Farm," which prompted a kind of mini-mosh pit
off to the side underneath the balcony, Dylan rounded out the evening with
some excellent harmonica work on a singalong of "It Ain't Me Babe," which
had the sold-out crowd chipping in with the "No, No, No" chorus.

I'm not sure, but I think the 30-year veteran almost ... smiled.

Nah.

--