Bob Dylan @ K-Rock Centre, Kingston Ontario, Saturday November 15/2008
Review by David Ball
Photo courtesy of Chris Morris (aka skelter)
Bob Dylan's generally entertaining sold-out show at the new K-Rock Centre was one of the final Ontario stops on his cross-Canada tour and should ease some of the unpleasant memories still lingering from when I saw him in Kingston back in 1989 in support of his Oh Mercy album. It remains one of the worst concerts I've ever seen. Saturday’s concert shared a few similarities with the '89 debacle, specifically Dylan was hard to understand (which is no surprise) and the sound was pretty spotty (surprising given the newness of the venue). But whatever punch the limp sound-system lacked didn't get in the way of some really solid playing from Dylan and his crack band.
Decked-out in a western suit-jacket and white cowboy hat, Dylan and company ploughed through an eclectic two-hour set scattered with newer tracks, classics and rarities, doing a fairly decent job of keeping things interesting and decidedly bluesy.
Dylan looked to be having a good time fronting his five-piece band on hits “Maggie’s Farm” and “Just Like a Woman”, but his later era songs actually came off better. The excellent rockabilly “Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum” from 2001’s Love & Death and equally great “Things Have Changed” from 1997 overshadowed what was to come. Dylan’s rapid-fire monotone mutterings and his unwillingness - or inability - to sing with any sort of melody rendered most of his most famous songs like "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" and "Highway 61 Revisited" nearly unrecognizable.
Dylan is an acquired taste to be sure, especially this older challenging organ-playing Dylan and I was pleasantly surprised when fans that neatly packed the floor rarely chose to sit. Instead most cheered, danced and/or sang along even if Dylan’s reworked songs were impossible to follow, so the all-ages Kingston crowd definitely deserves a medal for effort. Perhaps the audience good-cheer had more to do with the legend simply gracing a Kingston stage or even Canadian politeness in general rather than the quality of the overall performance, but loud applause repeatedly filled the hockey arena so what the hell do I know?
The two-song encore gave the night a decent passing grade. Though iconic "Like a Rolling Stone" and a rocking "All Along the Watchtower" found Dylan undermining his famous lyrics by frequently missing his mark especially on the choruses, the band generated lots of instrumental fireworks and they are two of the greatest songs ever written, so hearing them in person is still pretty rousing no matter how detached they sounded.
Dylan's career has been on a critical and commercial upswing since the early 90's and I was hoping that this in-the-flesh Dylan would be more like the coherent gravely-voiced version heard on his very accessible latter studio albums. However, I'm glad that Saturday's concert has replaced some of that 19 year-old Oh Mercy reek festering in the back of my brain. *** (out of 5)
November 18/08
K-Rock setlist:
Maggie's Farm
Lay, Lady, Lay
Things Have Changed
Spirit On The Water
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
Just Like a Woman
The Levee's Gonna Break
Make You Feel My Love
Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Honest With Me
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Highway 61 Revisited
Nettie Moore
Thunder On The Mountain
Encore:
Like a Rolling Stone
All Along the Watchtower
Bob Dylan
K-Rock Centre
Kingston, Ontario
November 15, 2008
Disc 1:
01. intro
02. Maggie's Farm
03. Lay, Lady, Lay
04. Things Have Changed
05. Spirit On The Water
06. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
07. Just Like A Woman
08. The Levee's Gonna Break
09. Make You Feel My Love
10. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
11. Ballad Of Hollis Brown
12. Honest With Me
Disc 2:
01. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
02. Highway 61 Revisited
03. Nettie Moore
04. Thunder On The Mountain
05. -encore break-
06. Like A Rolling Stone
07. band intros
08. All Along The Watchtower
Band Members
Bob Dylan - vocals, keyboard, guitar, harp
Denny Freeman - guitar
Donnie Herron - violin, banjo, mandolin, pedal steel, lap steel
Stu Kimball - guitar
Tony Garnier - bass
George Recile - drums
comments:
First five songs without Denny Freeman
source: soomlos
4th row left of center
neumann km140's > sound devices mixpre > edirol r-09hr (24/44.1)
edirol r-09hr > usb > hdd > audacity > cd wave > flac
that was a fun show, i was front row. definatley had a hard time understanding him at times. i got super excited when he picked up the guitar after first song. i think he put it away halfway through the second song. definatley need to listen to the tapes again.
