BOB DYLAN : ELECTRIC BLUES NITE CRASH

 

Disc One (64:58)

  1. Intro
  2. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
  3. Lay, Lady, Lay
  4. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
  5. Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)
  6. The Levee's Gonna Break
  7. Spirit On The Water
  8. Stuck Inside Of Mobile
  9. 'Til I Fell In Love With You
  10. Death Of Hattie Carroll
  11. Honest With Me

Disc Two (76:35)

  1. When The Deal Goes Down
  2. Highway 61 Revisited
  3. Workingman's Blues #2
  4. Summer Days
  5. Ballad Of A Thin Man
  6. Thunder On The Mountain
  7. All Along The Watchtower
    Bonus Tracks :
  8. Cat's In The Well
  9. It Ain't Me, Babe
  10. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight 
  11. Blind Willie McTell
  12. Rollin' And Tumblin'

Label : Tambourine Man Records

Venue : House of Blues, Dallas, Texas, USA

Date : February 23rd, 2008

Quality : audience Recording (A-)

Review (Bob's Boots) : For some unknown reason, this title took it's name from a CD released a decade earlier: Electric Black Night Crash. Of course, the color was changed to match the venue. This release is part of a trilogy from TMR that will document Dylan's early 2008 venues in Mexico and South America. TMR is halfway shooting towards themed releases like those of Crystal Cat. This set of releases is printed on high gloss paper with a red on black motif. They also incorporate Dylan's own artwork inside the packages. The discs themselves are offset printed with a closeup photo of Bob blowing the harp. A nice touch considering the venue. The recording is great, for the most part. The vocals are loud, but well mixed with the music. Virtually every thing a highlight, including the bonus tracks. These are the first five songs from the previous night that are not included in the Saturday night show. As for the highlights of the concert... pick a song! Rainy Day Women is historic. The surprise songs Lay, Lady, Lay is sweetly sung. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues is one of the best performances ever recorded. Señor is powerful, dark and menacing. Modern Times songs are as good or better than the studio versions. Listen to Freeman's solos in Till I Fell In Love With You, Highway 61 Revisited and Summer Days among others. He's on fire! All in all, simply a great package. Buy it. You'll like it.

Review (Collectors Music Reviews) : Bob Dylan's first three shows this year were played in the Main Hall at the House Of Blues in Dallas and Electric Blues Nite Crash captures the complete third show. TMR use an excellent sounding audience recording capturing the fine performance. The vocals and instruments are upfront and loud. On the tape are short sporadic patches of dullness as if someone were passing their hand over the microphone. The audience reaction is pushed back but there are occasional conversations somewhat audible on the tape, but nothing intrusive or distracting. These three shows served as a warm up for his tour of South America. A review of the first Dallas show in The Dallas Morning News, which can also apply to the third, states; "At his best, the 66-year-old legend was full of spit and venom - a grizzled blues master with a voice that bordered on the demonic. And even when the show wobbled, as it did for about a third of the 105-minute set, Mr. Dylan still gave it his all, bobbing his shoulders and pummeling his keyboard in 'Highway 61 Revisited' like he was Little Richard. Before the show, there was reason to believe Mr. Dylan might not be at his best. He hasn't played live in four months, and his handlers were apparently so sure he'd be rusty that they issued a statement saying press wasn't invited to his three sold-out House of Blues shows." Dylan plays guitar on the first three songs of the evening. His vocals on the sometime opener "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35? are a bit rough, but improve considerably for the tender "Lay Lady Lady." Two surprise numbers follow with "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" and "Seņor (Tales Of Yankee Power)." Two new songs from Modern Times follow "The Levee's Gonna Break" and "Spirit On The Water." Denny Freeman plays "Smokestack Lightening" in the solo to "Till I Fell In Love With You." In "When The Deal Goes Down" Dylan continues a trend in this show by narrating the lyrics to the newer songs, as if he's trying to expand them past their studio counterparts on stage by bring out different connotations in the words. "Highway 61 Revisited" sees Freeman spitting out some heavy metal squeals during the guitar solo. Dylan sings "Summer Days" in a very cool, jazz-like beat intonation while Freeman does his best Bill Haley interpretation on the guitar. "Ballad Of A Thinman" is the set closer. "Thunder On The Mountain" is the first encore. After introducing the band Dylan sings "All Along The Watchtower" with a heavy echo on his vocals. As a bonus TMR include the first five songs from the February 22nd show in Dallas. The sound quality is great and none of them were played on the 23rd. It might have been better though if TMR dropped two of the songs and included "Mississippi" from the February 22nd and "Can't Wait" from the 21st, since both are the first live performances of the songs since 2005. But this is a minor quibble of a very good release. Electric Blues Nite Crash is packaged in a slim double jewel case with picture discs and glossy paper inserts with several of Dylan's own paintings (on display in England at the moment) on the artwork.