BOB DYLAN : LJUBLJANA 2015

 

Disc One (49:40)

  1. Things Have Changed
  2. She Belongs To Me
  3. Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
  4. Workingman's Blues #2
  5. Duquesne Whistle
  6. Waiting For You
  7. Pay In Blood
  8. Tangled Up In Blue
  9. Love Sick

Disc Two (59:10)

  1. High Water (For Charley Patton)
  2. Simple Twist Of Fate
  3. Early Roman Kings
  4. Forgetful Heart
  5. Spirit On The Water
  6. Scarlet Town
  7. Soon After Midnight
  8. Long And Wasted Years
  9. Autumn Leaves
  10. Blowin' In The Wind
  11. Love Sick

Label : no label

Venue : Arena Stožice, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Recording Date : June 25, 2015

Quality : Audience Recording (A+)

Concert Review (The Rockontologist) : Bob Dylan is without a doubt a living legend. That might be the reason why at least half of the people who came to see him in Ljubljana, did not know (or at least recognize) any of his songs and perhaps just came to see the legend, to cross that off their list. By *any* I mean not even Blowin’ In The Wind. But more on that later. At the same time the arena was half empty which with such a legend in mind can be a bit shocking. I haven’t seen his concert five years ago in Hala Tivoli so I cannot compare it to that one but more or less I was disappointed. The endless queues (for a long time only one door was open, after some time, they opened the second one) outside the hall made it look like there are thousands of people that are rolling in to see the lyrical mastermind at work. Upon entering the shocking emptiness of the hall became apparent. The stage was set very beautifully and intimately, with a long flowing curtain that made it seem smaller, some strategically positioned lights and the instruments and spaces for musicians quite crammed together. But the tight-togetherness could be a very good thing, if this was a nice New York jazz club or even Križanke. I still cannot fathom why the organizers didn’t move the concert to a smaller, more personal space with a much better acoustic, which did not do any favours to Bob’s 74-year old voice. There is one thing you cannot expect from Bob Dylan. An array of hits on his setlist. The man whose songs were often made more famous (for the mainstream listener) when performed by someone else (even Bob himself applauded Jimi Hendrix’s version of All Along The Watchtower and said he did it better!), doesn’t care about hits. He comes to play and have a good time and it does not necessarily mean he cares at all about how you feel about his performance. That was proven by the fact his microphone was set firmly three meters away from the edge of the stage. From the edge of the stage to the front row were another three meters. I presume people in the front row did not get much more from Bob Dylan than anyone on the balcony did. No contact with the audience was made until he decided to take a half an hour break. He only notified the people he’ll be back. There was no hello, no goodbye, no introduction of the band, nothing. There was however an important announcement made beforehand that no kind of recording (video, audio or photos) is allowed. A request made in vain in these days, when people focus more on making videos of songs they will most likely never watch again than on enjoying the concert. The demand was not very successful but the security guards were »well prepared« for that. Each had a strong flashlight that was pointed at the perpetrator and flashed endlessly until that person gave up, not the least because he and everyone around him was totally blinded. Thanks for that! Unfortunately despite his brilliance in songwriting, Bob Dylan is not a very good performer, his voice is slightly failing and he doesn't really care much for the audience. The latter is important in order to have a good, engaged concert and not one where people around you are chit chatting about someone's neighbor whose roof is leaking because they (a) cannot understand anything he's singing or (b) cannot recognize a song for the life of them, until he gets to the chorus, which happened most notably during the encore, when he played Blowin' In The Wind. A few of the songs were done quite well and were very enjoyable but all in all, I was not convinced enough to come back for more. I'll just hit play on my favorite songs of his, it might be more fun at home with no violent flashlight in my eyes.