Bob Dylan 960727 in Stockholm Sweden
Subject: A (bit more than a) Handful of Thoughts on the Swedish Concerts ...
From: Lars & Andreas Gustavsson (gson@LSG.PP.SE)
Date: Sun, 28 Jul 1996 21:36:59 +0200
- Part 2 / I got shoved down 'n' pushed around ...
The Stockholm concert was a strange affair. The relatively calm crowd at
the Malmo concert was replaced by a bunch of rowdy teenagers ... Let me put
it this way: I was STANDING in front row and got kicked in the head by a
shoe ... try figuring that one out?!
LOLLIPOP, LIDA, (ouside of) STOCKHOLM - SATURDAY (July 27)
Oh well, all in all this was a good one too, with some great monents. I
will make the review of this concert a bit shorter since my memory fails me
(way too much time had to be spent fighting for your place). Some things
still linger in the back of my head though ...
The first song of the evening, "To ===================================
Be Alone with You," sounded a lot | Setlist (Stockholm) |
better this night. Much better singing -----------------------------------
from Bob, or was it just the sound | To Be Alone with You |
system that was set up differently? | Shake Sugaree |
Hard to tell ... (but the tapes will) | All Along the Watchtower |
| Tears of Rage |
"Shake Sugaree" was pleasant. Had | It Takes a Lot to Laugh, |
been hoping for him to play this one at | It Takes a Train to Cry |
one of the two concerts at least ... | Silvio |
| |
"All Along the Watchtower" was the | @ Mr. Tambourine Man |
same as always, again ... | @ Tangled Up in Blue |
| @ A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall |
The fourth song, "Tears of Rage," | |
was another pleasant surprise. Great | Tombstone Blues |
singing ... great harmonica ... | I'll Remember You |
| Maggie's Farm |
"It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a | |
Train to Cry" and "Silvio" passed | @ It Ain't Me, Babe |
almost without me noticing, the crowd | Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35 |
was now so rowdy that it was very -----------------------------------
difficult to remain focused on what Bob
was doing ...
The acoustic set opened with "Mr. Tambourine Man," which was all right,
but could use a rest now ...
Then came "Tangled Up in Blue" which was as great as the night before ...
An excellent version of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" closed the acoustic
set. The crowd had now calmed down somewhat ...
"Tombstone Blues" opened the second electric set. Great version ...
"I'll Remeber You" and "Maggie's Farm" were both good performances.
Before "Maggie's Farm" Bob did the band intro again: "Give a hand for my
band." Tony turns to Bob and says: "YOUR band?," and they both crack up. It
is nice to see that this band now is so tight with Bob that they can joke
around with him like that ... they always seem to have such a great time up
there, all of them ... well, most of the time anyway ...
The encores for this evening were "It Ain't Me, Babe" and "Rainy Day
Women # 12 & 35." Both where good versions, especially "It Ain't Me, Babe"
had some great moments. Bob went off the stage before "Rainy Day Women" and
the pressure in front row was so intense that one almost wished that he
would not come back out for that last song ...
In the end, a good concert, which probably would have been great had it
not been for the rowdy crowd.
Bob did not seem to enjoy this concert as much as he did the one in
Malmo. Not at all as much audience interaction, he either looked straight
down or straight out over the audience. Nor did he move around on the stage
that much this night. Some small moves here and there during the guitar and
harmonica solos, but not much. I would think that the rowdy crowd was not
really his favourite audience, the man is, after all, 55 years old ...
In conclusion: the Malmo concert was more of an experience than the
Stockholm one, due to Bob's better mood that night. The Stockholm concert,
however, will probably sound better on tape since it probably was a better
concert, performance wise.
BTW, a cool think happend in Malmo. My girlfriend, who is from the U.S.
and is currently spending the summer here in Sweden, just happend to be
wearing a jacket with the letters U S A on the back. Well, we decided to
hold it up during the harmonica solo during "The Times They Are A-Changin'"
and sure enough, Bob saw it ... did one of those squeezing things with his
eyes (hard to explain) and then gave up a surprised expression. He also
gave her one of those pointing fingers he gives the audience after he bows.
Sure made her day!
Oh, well, since this is turning into a family affair anyway I guess I'd
better mention that my Dad, who had been giving Bob the thumb up throughout
the evening, recieved a thumb back at the close of the concert ...
OK, that's it. Hope it was pleasant reading, otherwise, sorry!
- Andreas Gustafsson
Setlist
- - Part 1 / "Bob Dylan for President!" (audience-member in Malmo) Malm¤ouml; 960725
Tour
Dates
Calendar
Expecting Rain