September
4
Judging The Legends: How, Exactly, Does A Critic Review Bob Dylan
The tough call in reviewing is almost always how much of curve is one willing to grade on when it comes to a legend.
Recently, Glen Campbell, Solomon Burke and Steely Dan made it easy. Campbell, for example,showed up with a big band of ace rock and country musicians capable of re-creating his current album and his hits from the '60s. The others were impeccable.
Some acts you go in knowing it might be a struggle. Crosby, Stills and Nash can't find a note to save their lives on some nights, but if they don't embarrass themselves or tarnish their legacy they get the benefit of the doubt. Al Green is chief among the artists whose careers began in the '60s and '50s who always gives a good show yet rarely a great one.
Then there's Bob Dylan, the ultimate iconoclast. How in the world does one judge one of his performances without basing the quality of the show on the critic's experiences? Can a show's greatness be determined by a setlist? Can the abilities of the backing band scale the bar that separates good from great? Can exuberance in Bob's vocals make up for problems in pitch?
It seems like anyone seeing Dylan for the first times, whether they are a critic or an observer making a post on a website, cut considerable slack for Bob and his crusty vocal delivery. For those of us who see nearly every show on every tour, a line has to be drawn between nitpicking and deciding whether he is as good as he could be on any given night. I gave a thumbs down to Wednesday night's show, one of the last concerts on his North America trek, even though he thrilled another critic or two.
In this case it's personal. My odyssey with Dylan recordings began when I was 10 and I acquired Dylan's "Greatest Hits." "Positively Fourth Street" hit like few other songs; "Blowin' in the Wind" felt like it was 100 years old. I kept buying more records until the Dylan section was the largest in my collection. That occurred when I was in high school and remained true for a decade after college. "Blood on the Tracks," released when I was 15,was one of those life-changing records, music that makes you see the world through a different set of eyes.
As far as concerts go, my first came in 1978, when Dylan was wearing the clear mask and traveling with a good-sized band, many of the musicians carrying over from the Rolling Thunder Revue that never got closer than 1,500 miles to my home.
But over the years I never got that great Dylan show, regardless of whether I was seeing him in New York, Philly, Boston or L.A. A Hollywood Bowl show came close, but it was not until the December 1997 run at the El Rey that I finally saw a great one, a concert worthy of his stature that made the songs all magical. Night one of the El Rey stand was my 14th Dylan concert, bringing about a monumental shift in my desire to see him every time he visits.
That run from 1997 to 2002 really spoiled us, and for a good three or four years after that it was quite easy to cut him a break, especially when he was moving between piano and guitar. Wednesday night it felt like Bob forced my critical and fan sides into a corner, making it hard to defend his 100 minutes onstage. He's still the greatest, he just does not look it.
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Its okay to change a song. Dylan only changes the music part not the lyrics. Which by the way is a much harder thing to change. One has to be a supper genious to change the lyrics and keep the punch line without changing lets say the music part. Dylan hasn t achieved that yet. So the music changes but not the lyrics. So its like a new song and one judges it for its quality of a new song. Dylan s singing live unfortunately is dismal most of the time. He back band is great though. His playing is so so. Dylan most of the time sings songs from the 1960's and adds a few more recent songs. Dylan in the end is intrested in making money after all. especially in older age. But why not. He hasn t compromised his recording yet. The bootlegs are most of the time filled with songs that just didn t make it lyrically , music wise or recording wise. They are only of intrest to s small group of scholars in the end.
Posted by: albert Insinger | September 05, 2008 at 01:39 AM
Yeah, Dylan isn't the performer that he used to be. But.. he is going on seventy years old.. to me, and i'm sure you'll agree, its just nice to still have him around. I'm envious of your show resume.
To the comment above.. "One has to be a super genious to change the lyrics and keep the punch line without changing lets say the music part. Dylan hasn t achieved that yet."
Here you are wrong. Dylan has done this quite a bit actually.. Songs like 'Tangled Up in Blue', 'Isis', 'It aint me babe', 'Like a Rolling Stone' are just some of the songs that Dylan has changed the lyrics and kept the "punch line" and music the same.
Posted by: luke | September 05, 2008 at 06:44 AM
I've seen Dylan a good dozen times. I passed on this show, and your review confirmed why. I wouldn't accuse a 67-year-old man of going through the motions, but I wonder now if Dylan is capable of delivering a concert that transcends the boundaries of the routine.
If you have seen him in the past four years, his current tour offers no compelling reason to return. Beyond, of course, the obvious -- it's a chance to see Bob Dylan.
I'll take that chance again (if offered). But I'll wait a year to hear the same songs once again.
Posted by: Glenn Whipp | September 05, 2008 at 02:50 PM
You know - I think it's wonderful that he's going on seventy. I don't care. I love him. I love his work. I saw him on the East Coast last month and it was my best yet. I will keep going for as long as he wishes to offer himself.
Posted by: Lady in Washington | September 05, 2008 at 07:03 PM
"I wonder now if Dylan is capable of delivering a concert that transcends the boundaries of the routine." Yes, he is and he did so last night in Temecula, last year in Costa Mesa, and the year before that at the Forum. But last night in Temecula was the greatest. Thank you, Mr. Dylan. Santa Monica had a horrible sound mix and after the sound check, I wonder if Mr. Dylan wrote it off and saved his voice for a better venue. Santa Monica auditorium sucked, not Mr. Dylan. I didn't care, I was off to Temecula the next night with no expectations. He blew everybody away that was lucky enough to be there. Oh, well. I guess you are not very lucky!
Posted by: LILLY S | September 05, 2008 at 08:07 PM
Actually, I am very lucky. I looked at the Temecula set list, and I've seen that show -- a couple of times. If it's your first time seeing and Dylan was in good form, then you have every reason to be happy.
However, if you've heard him sing these same songs for the past five years, the thrill of discovery is gone. You're left with The Man himself ... still a prize, still a wonder and, God bless him, still plying his trade quite capably at age 67.
As Phil noted, that great run from 1997 to 2002 (I might even extend it to 2004) spoiled us. (Or some of us.) I don't begrude anyone their enthusiasm. I just can't quite share it.
Posted by: Glenn Whipp | September 05, 2008 at 10:53 PM
Phil: Having seen Dylan a dozen or so times over the decades, he's been hit and miss and as you say, but always Dylan, so it's always felt churlish to bitch too much.
But the gap between what you saw and described at the Santa Monica Civic the other night and what I saw last night at the Pechanga Resort in Temecula can't be explained away. You say he's on his last legs. The guy I saw last night had the energy of a 12 year-old after too many Snickers bars.
The most blistering version of "Highway 61" I have ever heard, one of the most poignant readings of "Just Like a Woman" and a "Hattie Carroll" for the ages were among the highlights of the 17 song nearly two hour set. Oh, and "Lovesick" was an eerie masterpiece performance with "Ain't Talking, Just Walking" ominously sliding in close behind.
Maybe familiarity breeds contempt and Malibu Bob didn't feel the need to give the Westside beach crowd his best.
Maybe he loves the Pechanga Indian Tribe. He's always had kind of a shaman vibe going, right?
Maybe it was the intimacy of the 1200 seat room.
Maybe he cleaned up at the slots before the show.
Whatever the explanation, I know you will be happy to hear he rocked like there was no tomorrow.
I know what you mean about the familiarity of some of the guitar-driven arrangements, but he's been on this Texas roadhouse tear for a while so I wasn't surprised by that.
And since the Dylan I saw last night kept reminding me of the Hibbing High yearbook inscription, "Most likely to join Little Richard's band," I was pretty damn pleased with that slippin' and slidin' Specialty records groove.
Bottom line: last night in Temecula, Bob drove the band so hard THEY seemed like the older cats and he was the Kid.
Tired? Near the end? Not only is it not dark yet, I'd say Bob's wheel is blazingly on fire.
One quick question: what's with the Oscar on his harmonica stand? A prop or the real deal (from "Wonder Boys"?)
Any of your readers know?
Posted by: StevenGaydos | September 06, 2008 at 12:19 AM
I was at a great Dylan concert five years ago. It was in Niagara Falls Canada and the last concert of the 2003 tour. The venue was a very small garden area that is usually used for wedding photos. I rode down on my bike from Toronto at the last minute thinking that if I couldn't get it, I'd still be able to hear. That turned out to be the case and I had to settle for standing by the garden wall and listening to the music bounce off the hotel where people were dancing on their patios. People on the street were dancing and some cluelees woman asked me if I knew who was playing. I shrugged my shoulders because I thought If you're in Niagara Falls and dont' know that Bob Dylan is in town, you don't deserve to know. A tad unkind perhaps but she moved on down the line and asked someone else. Dylan and the band were fantastic on every song, rocking on one song and breaking your heart with slow richly textued ballads on the next. The climax of the night was the band kicking into Like a Rolling Stone as fireworks went off over the Falls.
Posted by: Fred Gardiner | September 06, 2008 at 07:20 AM
Ultimately, the good news is that we all have memories of a great Dylan show and whenever anyone talks about the greatness of a performer, you always need the big three: the songs, the recordings and the live show. It has become too rare in the 21st century that anyone has all three and a good-sized audience capable of honestly assessing their moves on a regular basis. Has any Radiohead fan ever written a negative word to be anythign but a contrarian? As far as Santa Monica goes, seems like I caught an off night.
Posted by: phil gallo | September 09, 2008 at 02:04 PM