"Bob Dylan doesn't deliver knockout punches anymore. He feints, he jabs and every now and then he stings with a left hook.

Saturday night at Tsongas Arena, the sharp hooks were "Simple Twist of Fate" and "Ballad of a Thin Man." They're two of Dylan's best, and they were the rare tunes where he left the keyboard and electric guitar behind and ventured to the microphone stand armed with just a harmonica. He cut into "Thin Man" fiercely: "Something is happening here but you don't know what it is, do you Mr. Jones?"

Can't help but wonder that about Dylan nowadays.

The man has acquired a habit of running roughshod over his tunes. He has a crack backing quintet, led by guitarist Charlie Sexton, and they're tight, Dylan among them. But as a singer, there were moments when Dylan was so rough he out-growled Tom Waits. In "Love Sick," "Visions of Johanna" and "Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum," you wondered what the mumbled words hurtling past were. [Boston Herald]

Bob Dylan kicks off a three-night run at NYC's Terminal 5 tonight (11/22). His last four setlists, all sixteen songs long and ending with an encore of "Jolene" and "Like A Rolling Stone", are listed below...

Continue reading "Bob Dylan kicking off NYC run (here are his last 4 setlists)"

Bob Dylan & band @ United Palace Theatre (on night 1) (wflines)

"...this was the first show I've seen since guitarist Charlie Sexton rejoined the band. The setlist was phenomonal: they opened [night three] with a hard rocking, swagger heavy "Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking" (from Slow Train Coming), followed by a loose "The Man In Me" (from New Morning, and also used in the opening credits of The Big Lebowski). The fans loved the semi-obscure picks. Then he played my favorite song from my favorite album of 2009: "Beyond Here Lies Nothing" from Together Through Life. He also played "Jolene" and "My Wife's Home Town" from that album, all of which were great. Dylan is such a '60s icon, and of course he has nearly five decades of material to draw from, I'm glad he still plays so much recent music, which shows his continued relevance: the album he drew from the most was 2006's Modern Times: "Thunder On The Mountain," "When The Deal Goes Down," "Workingman's Blues #2" and "Ain't Talkin'." He played my favorite song from 2001's "Love & Theft," "High Water (For Charlie Patton.)" And I was glad he hit one of my favorites, "Cold Irons Bound," from 1997's Time Out Of Mind. Over 50% of the show was from the past 12 years, which I think is awesome. As you know, I consider Bob to be one of the best artists of the '00s." [No Expiration]

Bob Dylan played his third show in a row at United Palace Theatre in NYC on Thursday night (11/19). It was also the last show of his current tour. The setlist varied night to night. You can see Tuesday's HERE, Wednesday's HERE, and Thursday's, along with a widget for his new Christmas album and a video from the first night, below...

Continue reading "Bob Dylan completed his three night run at United Palace Theater in NYC - night 3 setlist"