BOB DYLAN : GLASGOW 2022 SECOND NIGHT

 

Disc One (53:08)

  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. My Own Version of You
  8. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
  9. Crossing The Rubicon

Disc Two (52:04)

  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. That Old Black Magic
  6. Mother of Muses
  7. Goodbye Jimmy Reed
  8. Every Grain of Sand

Label : No label

Venue : SEC Armadillo, Glasgow, Scotland

Recording Date : October 31, 2022

Quality : Audience recording (A+)

Concert review (The Scotsman) : Bob Dylan’s latest Glasgow show was a magical evening, hosted by an alchemist who has lost none of his passion for performance and creation, writes Paul Whitelaw. Spending Halloween in the company of Bob Dylan was a suitably bewitching experience. Performing against a backdrop of elegant drapes and subtly bathed in warm orange lighting, Dylan and his five-piece band conjured an effortlessly intimate mood punctuated by flashes of intensity and electric blues boogie fun. No one cried “Judas!" Dylan played an upright piano throughout, which, because it was facing the audience, ensured that all we could see was his tousled head and hunched shoulders. That felt like a typically perverse and funny move on his part. In any case, no one attends a Dylan show to see him bust some moves. Even while partially hidden, he exuded presence: a benign Davros. He was in surprisingly strong voice too. At the age of 81, he’s fully settled into that parched half-spoken croon, and his phrasing remains exquisite. He’s also a crowd-pleaser of sorts. He’ll perform some "hits” for you, but only on his terms. Hence why, as always, tonight’s handful of nods to his distant past were delivered in heavily rearranged form. The undoubted highlights were a garage-blues revival of Gotta Serve Somebody, which improved upon the original, and a gloriously eccentric version of I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight pitched somewhat improbably between In the Wee Small Hours Sinatra and Johnny Kidd & The Pirates. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did. And how. Advertisement Hide Ad Otherwise, the set was devoted to his most recent album Rough and Rowdy Ways. Fortunately for all concerned, it’s his strongest collection of original material in years. People always say that about every new Dylan album, but this time it happens to be true. The ballads in particular are stunningly beautiful. A magical evening hosted by an alchemist who has lost none of his passion for performance and creation.

Concert review (Bob Links) : Dylan is in excellent voice, his singing is amazing and he plays the piano like no one else. All of the band members are incredible, restrained and extremely focused on what Dylan is creating, carefully adding touches on the master's painting. "Things aren't what they were", says the concert poster, and that's for sure. The show is a hauntingly beautiful journey to unknown places in Dylan's musical universe. Yet the last song of the night, a wonderful Every Grain of Sand, brings it all back home. What a lovely rendition this is! Dylan's singing is heartfelt, and his seemingly simple piano playing contemplative, serving the performance in a particular way, especially on this night in Glasgow. A few weeks ago in Krefeld, his performance of the song was absolutely magnificent, putting so much care in the singing. Though I had a ticket, I failed to attend this show, but I heard a recording. If you get the chance, just listen tot he way he sings "newborn seed", and then hits the piano. And then "The sun beat down upon the steps of time to light the way/To ease the pain of idleness and the memory of decay". For this alone, I would have bought a ticket. This is art that is created (or should we say born) on the spot, something which could not have happened the day before or the day after. Dylan himself doesn't seem to have full control of the moment it happens, but he is capable of it when it happens. I guess you could call that genius. And then Dylan's delightful, trademark harmonica solo at the end of the song seals the whole night.

Review (The Skinny) : At the age of 81, it feels like Bob Dylan may have finally grown into his famously gruff, wizened voice. For most of the show he's hidden behind his upright piano, just a head poking over with some wispy tufts of hair, but that voice is on magnificent form tonight. When he emerges late on to soak up some applause, hand on hip, he's every bit the legendary figure everyone expects. All but one song from 2020's brilliant Rough and Rowdy Ways is played tonight (sadly, there's no Murder Most Foul), making up more than half the set. And even the rest are far from hits, with a couple of 1971 deep cuts and a smattering from elsewhere. Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine is the oldest song (1966) and the best example of Dylan's predilection for completely warping his own songs with eccentric and unpredictable vocal cadences. This song, I'll Be Your Baby Tonight and Gotta Serve Somebody are the closest to singalongs tonight, but doing so is impossible given their wildly new styles. I'll Be Your Baby... is the best of the bunch, because the arrangement has also been substantially altered to make it fit with Dylan's current style and range. This is an important reason why the show is so successful, and makes Dylan a standout figure in a crowded “legacy act” field – he's very aware he's no longer 24. Not many 60s superstars are playing sets mostly made of 2020 songs, but then most aren't still releasing material of such high quality. I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You and Mother of Muses are simply beautiful, I Contain Multitudes shows his wry sense of humour and Black Rider is dark and foreboding, with a twisted edge also present on the cover of Johnny Mercer's That Old Black Magic. All are perfectly accompanied by a top band that can bring violin, double bass or twanging guitar to every whim of Dylan's improvisations. With a rare word mid-show, he acknowledges that it's Halloween night – very fitting given the skeleton tour poster and eerie orange backlights illuminating the stage – letting us know in staccato phrasing that “I. Am. Scared.” It's a suitably weird moment to precede the wonderfully existential Key West (Philosopher Pirate). Every Grain of Sand closes the night on a ruminative note, Dylan treating us to a snatch of harmonica for the only time, before the band takes its final bows. Bob Dylan has had nothing left to prove for over 50 years now, but the willingness to go on creating and experimenting show him to be cementing his legendary status with every new show and song.