BOB DYLAN : WATERFRONT FIRST 2015

Disc One (45:08)

1. Intro
2. Things Have Changed
3. She Belongs To Me
4. Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
5. The Night We Called It A Day
6. Duquesne Whistle
7. What'll I Do
8. Pay In Blood
9. I'm A Fool To Want You
10. Tangled Up In Blue

Disc Two (58:07)

1. Intro
2. High Water (For Charley Patton)
3. Where Are You?
4. Early Roman Kings
5. Why Try To Change Me Now
6. Spirit On The Water
7. Scarlet Town
8. All Or Nothing At All
9. Long And Wasted Years
10. Autumn Leaves
11. Blowin' In The Wind
12. Love Sick

Label : Crystal Cat Records

Venue : Waterfront Auditorium, Stockholm, Sweden

Date : October 5th, 2015

Quality : Audience Recording (A+)

Review (Collectors Music Reviews) : It seems to have been a while since we last saw a Dylan Crystal Cat release. Indeed the last one was reviewed on these pages in late 2014 by JA, The shows at the Atlantico in Rome were those special charges where Dylan had put his Tempest songbook to one side, told his band they were doing something different (Very probably 5 minutes before the shows) and skipped a good few classics across the water. These were the days prior to the Sinatra covers albums, a lot has changed since then, maybe not within Dylan's life or touring schedules but within Dylan's set lists they have become a little more grounded with Bob's want to emulate Frank Sinata dropping in various songs for swinging lovers, he has also taken to hovering out from behind his keyboard and standing stage front, hand on his hip, serenading the audience. Presumably, the Cat had been touring with Dylan for a few shows capturing tapes in the vain hope that Dylan might shout, 'Screw it!' at rehearsals again and flash a little spring in his autumn years. Alas, it wasn't to be but then this recording captures 2015 Dylan in the Crystal Cat way. The first set, a sharp, warm recording, very clear vocals with the band only a step in sound behind him giving us a very close to soundboard audience recording, the second set sounding more like an audience recording but still with the standard of recording that we know and love). The Eat A Peach label have given us a really good show recently with Southhampton, the Rattlesnake label have released one from Amsterdam (Not heard this at time of writing), we'll compare these recordings soon but for now, the Crystal Cat release is one to savour from this tour. Excellent packaging in true CC style (More of which later) the two shows here are in glorious sound and while of a static set list, are choice contenders to own from this tour. bobdy-waterfront-box-cc3 Waterfront, Stockholm, Sweden, Monday 5th October, 2015 Intro / Things Have Changed / She Belongs To Me / Beyond Here Lies Nothin' / The Night We Called It A Day / Duquesne Whistle / What'll I Do / Pay In Blood / I'm A Fool To Want You / Tangled Up In Blue Intro / High Water (For Charley Patton) / Where Are You? / Early Roman Kings / Why Try To Change Me Now / Spirit On The Water / Scarlet Town / All Or Nothing At All / Long And Wasted Years / Autumn Leaves / Blowin' In the Wind / Love Sick The first disk opens with a short acoustic prelude by Stu Kimball before Dylan seems to appear by magic (if to a rapturous applause) and gallops seamlessly in to a gentle if gently brewing,'Things Have Changed', Dylan's voice stands proudly against the backdrop of the music and because of the quality of the recording, it's easy to place each instrument in it's own context, graceful lead guitar grazes against furiously strummed acoustic while George Recicilly patters generously and assuredly keeping a solid pace. Dylan's voice, rich and rusty, sounds poised but, obviously down to the lyrics, nonchalant to the person that he's singing too. He mutters a little because of the sprinting speed of the song but does well to keep up regardless. 'She Belongs To Me' follows closely behind, a brooding stomp, Dylan, as he's want to do, plays with his phrasing, drawing out the end of every other line. The breakdowns after the choruses veer between country hoe-down to waltzing swish, Dylan's see-sawing harp playing lazily but purposefully spiking the track. The first Sinatra song is 'The Night We Called It A Day', unveiled to the setlist only days ago, to my ears when Dylan played this track on the last Letterman show, he made a pigs ear of it, it sounded desperate and hoarse, tonight however, it's luscious, stirring and wistful, some of the higher notes bump their heads against the ceiling but the rest is placidly beautiful. The second track from "Shadows ..", 'What'll I Do', is steeped in merry memories, crooned not crowed, the gossamer delicate playing by the band underpins the gracefulness of the rendition but like a bolted shock, 'Pay In Blood' kicks out the jams and launches itself on to the stage like a mafia don, pushing up it's chest, rolling up it's sleeves and jabbing you in the chest, it's a sharp appearance, hackles are raised, the register deepens, a menacing air descends, Dylan is point on with every word he speaks and sounds like he means it too! After this we step back to the more gracious sounds of the crooner, 'I'm A Fool To Want You' makes an attractive partner to the former, Dylan seems to have paired this as the answer to 'Pay In Blood', playing the gangsters moll. A woozy, gin-soaked, sway holds the track as Bob wonders aloud about just what he's doing, how he go it and how he gets out. The Cat's recording captures the delicate balance perfectly, Dylan's voice calls close to the ears and the croak is almost textural. As we finish up the first disk, 'Tangled Up In Blue' raises it's hat from a formulating instrumental. Stu's intro is strident, yet simple, the song threatens to really lift and roar but keeps it's composure as Dylan's vocals from more and more impassioned, changing the lyrics at a whim - Sometimes it's difficult to catch just what he says but the changes are obvious. Rather frustratingly the regular harp solo before Dylan walks to the piano is a little weedy and un-impassioned. His piano playing begins to border on the self-caricature, his one-two notes lessening the impact of the song. It's a shame that he continues to do this but it just seems like there's nothing to do otherwise before he calls it quits for the first half. Upon the bands return to the stage and the start of disk two (Is Dylan aiding the bootleggers nowadays?) we have a brief blues intro from Stu Kimball, a chance for the audience to clap along. This pushes through to 'High Water (For Charly Patton)'. Seems Dylan has no problem with the lyrics to this and the alpacian / rock hybrid bristles with a dark mood, grinding and jostling with itself. 'Why Try To Change Me Now' lazily and wistfully swoons, Bob's delicacy at great terms as he sounds like he's singing to himself or for himself. Thankfully, 'Scarlet Town' doesn't rattle the nerves as much as some of the crooned songs, true, it's hardly a late revival but at the same time, it justifies it's appearance in the set by being a close tie to the slower "Shadows .." tracks and classically wordy in Dylan's best songwriting sense, even the mood is darkly sombre, the electric solos, a peeling antique paint. It receives one of the largest applauses of the night from this generally sedate crowd. A special mention should also go towards, "All Or Nothing All All", originally premiered 3 days earlier in Oslo, this was relatively brand new to the set, tonight, it appears limpid and unexpressive, a strange choice to bring to the party, really. Back again to the style that 'Why Try To Change Me Now' brought us, 'Long And Wasted Years' reminds us why he returned to the standards on the last album, though there was evidently a shift in styles, the structures and themes are never too far apart and brought together in context of the show, lean against each other like old bar buddies. 'Autumn Leaves' receives a flourish of applause right at the beginning when nothing else does! It was the first inkling that Dylan was heading in this promised direction and may be the best known of the covers that he plays. 'Blowin' In The Wind' and 'Love Sick' round out the shows, the former played in standard terms from the past few years, a delicately graceful ballad, you get the feeling that as much as Dylan could play this with his eyes closed, he does. An effectively dreamy and warm rendition, it warms almost immediately. The latter, a darker tread through life mysteries, Dylan's voice steadies itself back to standing force and he sounds passionate in a deeper way. The crowd immediately engage with a ripple of applause and wolf whistles. No wonder Dylan returns to this closer so often, as both he and the band can fully interact, and bring out the best in each other.