BOB DYLAN : MILAN 2002

 

Disc One (71:11)

  1. Humming Bird
  2. The Times They Are A-Changin’
  3. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
  4. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
  5. Solid Rock
  6. Positively 4th Street
  7. Lonesome Day Blues
  8. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
  9. Visions Of Johanna
  10. Masters Of War

Disc Two (75:32)

  1. Boots Of Spanish Leather
  2. Summer Days
  3. Make You Feel My Love
  4. The Wicked Messenger
  5. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
  6. Not Fade Away
  7. Like A Rolling Stone
  8. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
  9. Honest With Me
  10. Blowin’ In The Wind
  11. All Along The Watchtower

Label : no label

Venue : Assago Filaforum, Milan, Italy

Recording Date : April 20, 2002

Quality : Audience Recording (A+)

Review : Excellent recording of an interesting show. Apparently a lit cigarette was flicked toward Dylan as he entered the stage. This obviously didn't sit well and he refused to sing the first song. The house lights were brought up for the entire show and Dylan spent much of the time standing close to the drums and Tony's area. This capture is very well done of the well covered show.

Concert review (Bob Links) : Wait for the light to shine. Well, no, that song wasn’t played last night in Milan but it would have been the perfect opener. Wonder how come Bob didn’t promptly give instructions to the band and switched to it instead of performing Humming Bird. Maybe he thought it’d be too much…it’s ok to tease the audience but you can’t push too far, right Mr. Dylan? Whatever, I wasn’t waiting for any particular light to shine but I (and all of us) had actually the lights turned up against us all thru the show. Dylan’s revenge, I guess. Someone threw something on the stage (a lit cig?) just as soon as Bob and the band took the stage. He turned back, looking upset, talking to this (security?) guy, shaking his head as if saying no, as the band was going on playing Humming Bird, Larry and Charlie doing the humming. Dylan plays some nervous strums on his guitar, goes back, whispers something in Charlie’s ears, the song comes to an end without any single word by Dylan. The band hits the first chords of Times the are A-changin’, Bob grabs the mike stand and pulls it back, just about where Tony usually stands. And starts singing. Times is boring as always, but Bob’s singing is clean and good. By the time they got to Love Minus Zero, the mike is back up front, although it will be brought back once again soon after and then forth again…Dylan needs some walking tonight, evidently. The walking that he didn’t have in Ravenna the night before, maybe? After this long, weird scene, you’d expect the man to be distracted, not focused, angry. Well, not really. Angry? Probably. But not distracted. His voice and phrasing in the first four acoustic numbers, were way better than in Ravenna. Not outstanding, but pretty good anyway. It’s Alright Ma features the usual great work by the band (Receli above all) . Pity, Bob just can’t catch up with the song. He chases the lines instead of controlling them, always running behind them, skipping almost all the opening words to each line. When the first electric set starts, the show takes off. Solid Rock is actually rocking, really good, but you get the feeling that a little something is missing, whatever it is. Lonesome Day Blues is one of the highlights of the night. Literally rocking the house down, as powerful as can be, Dylan’s singing is full of rage, irony, stretching the last word to each line in the wildest possible way. Truly inspired, terrific. When I hear the intro to Positively 4th Street, I think there could be no better night for it to be performed. Spit your anger out Bob, let it just flow. But no, this version is average at the best, Bob’s delivery is dull, he’s going through the motions, no direction home really. Stuck Inside Of Mobile is probably the most boring song you can hear at a Dylan’s show these days (well, actually it’s been like that for years now). Acoustic again. Now, I’ve been to lots of shows for the past 25 years and my ‘holy grail’, the song I never got to listen live and I was dying for, was Visions Of Johanna. I recognize it after a few chords. My heart starts beating fast…here it is, finally. But Bob is somewhere else. The first line is sang in way less than a second. The faster, the better, Bob seems to think. The overall rendition is gentle but Bob is not caring much about it. I watch him and hear him as the song develops. Bob sings it as if he was thinking ‘What do this lines mean?? Did I actually write these??’ No commitment, no passion. Fortunately, my disappointment is tempered and soon forgotten thanks to the best version of Masters of War I’ve heard in ages. Now THIS was powerful and inspired. Bob is really focused. It’s the kind of performance you just have to surrender to. Ain’t no reason to resist, you couldn’t make it anyway. Just let it come and it gets to your bone and your blood as well. Fantastic. Summer days is another highlight. Pure fun, this band is really majestic. Charlie is doing most of the job here. Different licks, riffs at almost every verse. You just got carried away and can’t stop swinging, dancing, shaking around. Make you feel my love is nice enough, but I doubt I will remember it for a long time. The song would need a more subtle arrangement to me. This one sounds a bit too heavy to my ears. As long as the shows proceeds, the feeling grows that the electric numbers are way more challenging, inspired and interesting than the acoustic ones. Aside from Masters of War, not even one of them was much more than adequate, often even boring. Not Fade Away is further evidence of this. Perfect, strong, clean. The right opener to the encores. Rolling Stone wasn’t bad but you have more fun watching the audience cheer than listening to Bob singing it these days. ‘Nuff said. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door was actually beautiful (tho not even close to Masters in the acoustic ‘pool’) and I got pleasantly amazed by Honest With Me, a song I never really got to like, but whose live rendition is really convincing.