Project Description

Bob Dylan 

“The Never Ending Tour”

@ Perth Arena

08/08/18

(Live Review)

Reviewer: Jarrod Henry

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Folk singer, rock musician, poet, Nobel Prize recipient, former Travelling Wilbury, author, whiskey maker, Bob Dylan has worn many hats down the years. From the protest songs of his early years to his most current incarnation, the lyrical imagery he has woven into his songs have resounded down the years, being discovered by each new generation of artist and music lover alike. His compositions have become ingrained in the collective DNA of countless millions worldwide, and so the chance to see a living legend live – in WHATEVER form he presents himself in – is too good an opportunity to pass up.

Now let’s be very clear here: If you go to a Dylan concert expecting him to rattle off note perfect versions of Like A Rolling Stone and Hurricane, you’re in for a big disappointment friends. He’s a performer you have to take at face value, accepting that he’s as uncompromising a live act now as he was back in the 60’s, and just sit back and let him and his incredible band do their thing.

And that’s just what 99% of the people at Perth Arena did when Dylan bought his Never Ending Tour to town for the first time in four years. With a stage set that consisted of minimal but very apt lighting (these lights played a massive part in setting the mood for the show, but more of that later) and a simple curtained backdrop, Dylan and Co strode onto the stage, no fanfare, and kicked straight into Things Have Changed. And this one song pretty much set the mood for the entire show. “I used to care, but things have changed” could almost be seen as a summation of Dylan’s attitude towards the constant touring; he probably does still care, he just makes no bones about how he approaches it these days. He rarely plays guitar any more, preferring to sit/stand and a grand piano and intone his lyrics, a lot of the time looking over towards his band, giving them cues. The songs themselves change from night to night, sometimes only containing the barest hint of its original structure, sometimes the arrangements are so radical that you only recognise it when the lyrics come in. It Ain’t Me, Babe and Simple Twist Of Fate were prime examples of this, especially the latter.

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Don’t let this deter you however. He still puts on a great show, he still blows that iconic harmonica on some songs, and his band – lead by the incredible Charlie Sexton – are an incredible collection of musicians, some of whom have been with him for many years now, who are adept at reinterpreting the songs, sometimes on the spot, on their leader’s whim. A banging Highway 61 Revisited and Duquesne Whistle from his most recent studio album Tempest showed that, whilst he can come across as insular on stage, there’s still plenty of the old Bob lurking somewhere beneath the surface.

One thing was clear and that was that, having now spent several years sitting at an organ/piano, Dylan is a really great boogie piano player. Whereas on tours past he’s certainly relied upon different keys players to bolster the live sound, he’s now content to tackle the duties alone, stage front, directing the band, blowing some harmonica, most of the time standing up whilst doing so. A gorgeous To Make You Feel My Love was a perfect example of this, and it was one of those rare moments in a Dylan show where true emotion shines through. Tangled Up In Blue was reinvented as an almost smokey barroom blues piece, only recognisable when the singer intoned the chorus lyric, whereas Desolation Row was presented reworked for electric guitar, but with most of the melody still intact. A total highlight for this reviewer, as was Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright. Again the song was quite far from its original solo acoustic treatment, but the way he does it now still resounds with the same sentiment as it did on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan all those years ago. A couple of more recent songs, Thunder On The Mountain from Modern Times and Soon After Midnight gave way to Gotta Serve Somebody and finished off the main set in style as the band left the stage.

Returning to the stage, he surprised the crowd with a lovely Blowin’ In The Wind. With some tasteful acoustic guitar accompanying his raspy vocal delivery, for this reviewer it was about as good as it gets. Beautiful, restrained, a still perfect little time capsule of a song. Finishing off with Ballad Of A Thin Man, the underlying menace of the original still present in its current incarnation, only then did he and his band acknowledge the crowd as they took centre stage for a brief bow before taking their final exit.

Love him or hate him, Bob Dylan once again gave a worthy performance and showed the singer in an almost jovial mood. Some understated dancing as he stood at the piano, those all too rare harmonica passages, and a night of some iconic songs more than compensated for the lack of crowd interaction through the night. Instead he simply let the music speak for itself, and it spoke volumes. The performance may not have been everybody’s cup of tea, but again, it’s all about taking Dylan at face value these days. This was about as good a show as he’s played in recent years, and at the end of the day one can’t rally ask for much more than that.

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