BOB DYLAN : BOISE 2022

 

Disc One (51:56)

  1. Watching The River Flow
  2. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)
  3. I Contain Multitudes
  4. False Prophet
  5. When I Paint My Masterpiece
  6. Black Rider
  7. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
  8. My Own Version of You
  9. Crossing The Rubicon

Disc Two (50:41)

  1. To Be Alone With You
  2. Key West (Philosopher Pirate)
  3. Gotta Serve Somebody
  4. I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You
  5. Melancholy Mood
  6. Mother of Muses
  7. Goodbye Jimmy Reed
  8. Every Grain of Sand

Label : No label

Venue : Velma V. Morrison Center, Boise, Idaho, USA

Recording Date : June 28, 2022

Quality : Audience recording (A+)

Review : Good quality audience recording of Bob's show in Boise, Idaho.

Concert Review (Bob Links) : Bob's March 28th performance at the Velma V. Morrison Center on the Boise State campus was quite spectacular. It was fitting to listen to a set that opens with "Watching the River Flow" at a venue located immediately along the bucolic Boise River. There was no signage indicating that the troubadour himself would be performing, save a large television screen in the lobby. Anecdotally, locals also seemed unaware that Bob Dylan was coming to town. Even so, the actual performance sufficiently made up for this understated advertising. Having previously caught the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour in New York, Washington D.C., Atlanta, and Memphis, I must say that Bob's voice sounded better than at any of the other four shows (and by extension, better than it has in a very long time). The crowd itself was initially quite tame. There was no standing when Bob first came out, and during one of the pauses between songs, a hot mic picked up someone questioning whether there was "anybody out here?" This helped to increase the energy in the theater, and by the time Bob played "Goodbye Jimmy Reed" near the end of the performance, a substantial portion of the audience was clapping along to the bluesy beat. This left Bob unfazed, although there was a brief (but palpable) flash of concern across Tony Garnier's face. Such liveliness carried over to the band introductions and Bob was quite jocular. Bob opened on the guitar before migrating to his perch behind the piano for the two best renditions of "Watching the River Flow" and "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)" that I have heard so far on this tour. It was great to attend a show where Bob and his band opened so strongly. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the performance was Bob's decision to begin several songs, including "False Prophet" and "Gotta Serve Somebody," by playing alone on the piano for the first verse, with the band joining in for the subsequent verses. This choice had a quite a transformative effect on these pieces, which had previously been the loudest and most rocking portions of the set. While it was unfortunate to lose out on the (by octogenarian standards) high-octane rendition of "Gotta Serve Somebody" that I found to be a highlight of the Memphis show, the clarity and crispness of Bob's voice during the song's opening lines was quite moving. This is also consistent with a broader trend in which Bob appears to be toning down his excellent band (just compare the accordion-rich versions of "Key West (Philosopher Pirate)" Bob performed on the East Coast at the end of 2021 with the slightly more austere rendition he has favored in his shows over the course of 2022). Another notable element of this Boise performance was the usually unassuming "Melancholy Mood," which Bob performed standing at one of the mics on the center of the stage. This seemed especially appropriate for a Frank Sinatra cover and was perhaps the most intimate moment of the set. It went a long way toward evoking the smoky lounge atmosphere that Bob sought to capture in last summer's "Shadow Kingdom." Bob played excellent harp solos on "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and especially on "Every Grain of Sand." Along with "Gotta Serve Somebody," "Every Grain of Sand" appeared to be a crowd favorite (Idaho is clearly the place to go for fans of the "Trouble No More" era). During the final verses of the latter song, the theater went completely silent as Bob beautifully sang about "the violence of a summer's dream" and "the bitter dance of loneliness fading into space." Just as at other shows, you could hear a pin drop. It was a brilliant way to close out a performance that provided further evidence that Bob Dylan's still got it.