DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 47

Subject:      DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 48 (pt 1)
From:         xyx  
Date:         1996/12/20


  I'm driving my 6-year old daughter to a friend's house and I say, "Honey,
I'm gonna play Bob Dylan on the ride over." She says, "I don't like Bob
Dylan." "Why not?" I say. "Because of the way he sounds," she says.  "What
do you mean, I thought you liked him." She says, "I like his songs but he sings
funny all the time." Now I'm suspicious. "Did Mommy tell you to say that?"
"No," she says, but with a big smile on her face. I had a nice chat with my
wife that night.

"CHRISTIANIA" 4CD (Crystal Cat 407-410)  407/408: 23 July 1996, Den Gra Hal,
    Fristaden, Christiania (Copenhagen, Denmark) plus filler from 2 July
    Mannheim, GER (4), 24 June Differdange, LUX (1), 3 July Konstanz, GER
    TRACKS: 21   TIMES: 73/75   SOURCE: AUDIENCE    QUALITY: OUTSTANDING
The first 2 disks in this box set (more on the box itself later) present
the entire 23 July show in primo quality. In fact, the crispness and
clarity of the sound, not to mention the balance and separation, are quite
astonishing. Audience tapes don't get much better than this (see Berlin
17 Jun for an example, tho). Bob's vocals are captured perfectly and every
instrument is clearly defined. This is a high quality performance to match,
although it has raised no goosebumps on the first 2 listens. I thought I
felt some coming on the fantastic penultimate "It Ain't Me Babe," perhaps
on the next listen they will emerge fully. An interesting set list that
features a rave-up ToBeAloneWithYou as the opener and a rollicking, fast
paced IfYouSeeHer next. The band sounds particularly good tonight, and it
seems Bucky's pedal steel is even more prevalent than usual. Watchtower
gives way to TearsOfRage and the always-welcome-in-these parts IDontBelYou.
After the usual #6 Silvio, a wonderful acoustic set follows - the clarity
of the sound is incredible during these songs> a gorgeous Boots, Masters
and FriendOfTheDevil. A rare TBlues picks up the pace and the country
SheBelongsToMe follows with Bucky's "sounds" setting the tone. A not-so-
good EverythingIsBroken leads into the divine, 12-minute ItAin'tMeBabe with
Bob taking the last 3 1/2 minutes to display some killer harmonica. RDW
ends this show, as most others. A nice performance, not great IMO, but the
sound is so good that this will receive repeated airings. As often happens,
you might read in a few weeks how great I find this show. First impressions
are sometimes misleading.
The filler tracks are equally good quality-wise and well chosen for rarity:
Pretty Peggy-O is a treat (though IMO not as sublime as the '93 versions),
ToRamona is a beautiful rendition and wonderfully played by the Band. What
GoodAmI and AlabamaGet round out the filler from Mannheim. A slow, subtle
RingThemBells works nicely and the set ends with Shelter from Konstanz.
Good performances, great quality, nice track selection. No one should be
disappointed with this first part of the set.
Note on the big, bulky, fat 12" long box. It's ugly, worthless and
unnecessary. You can't store it, it adds nothing of worth to the set.
A smaller, CD-size box would have been most welcome to house the CD's.
Other than that, it's a nice package w/excellent color photos on the CD
covers and inserts, a nice copy of a review from the Danish papers, and
a short description of Christiania with some pictures of this strange place
that apparently is a self-contained, self-sustaining, independent part
of Copenhagen. It looks like a retreat for Dead-Heads! Part 2 another
time. Until then........

xyx



Subject:      DEEP BENEATH THE WAVES vol 48 (pt 2)
From:         xyx  
Date:         1996/12/20


"CHRISTIANIA" 4CD (Crystal Cat 407-410)  409/410: 24 July 1996, Den Gra Hal,
    Fristaden, Christiania (Copenhagen, Denmark) plus filler from 01 July
    Munster, GER (3)
    TRACKS: 18   TIMES: 76+/76+   SOURCE: AUDIENCE    QUALITY: OUTSTANDING
The second night from Christiania presented in the same drop dead quality
as the first two disks from opening night here. Another fine performance
from all concerned, this one elevated to greater heights based on the
last 4 songs of the show. Just a general impression until then: another
interesting set list with only 3 duplications from the previous night:
To Be Alone With You/Silvio/Watchtower. All told, the entire 4 disk set
provides 38 songs with an amazing 35 different songs performed, quite
an offering if you ask me. This second night includes I Want You/BigGirl
Now and a really, really enjoyable version of I'llBeYourBabyTonite,
countrified and hoppin' with some nice vocals and pedal steel. The acoustic
set shines with Love-0/Tangled/Hattie Carroll. Maggie's and LennyBruce
precede the heart of the show- easily the greatest performance of CatsInthe
Well I've ever heard. Screaming vocals and searing guitar highlight this
performance - play this one loud and it blows you over. What a rendition!!!
MyBackPages had the goosebumps going still, they retracted a bit for a
nice chunka-chunka-beat version of H61Revisited (which sounded like
Bloomfield on guitar) and the 'bumps returned during a positively beautiful
GirlFromtheNorthCountry, which ended the show on a glorious high note. These
last 4 simply blew me away. When the goosers hit you more than once during
a show, that is saying something!
Filler from Munster is equally satisfying: a sweet SimpleTwist, JohnBrown
and MamaYouBin. Great quality once again.
That's it. Another great effort from Crystal Cat. I only wish they would
do more Bob's and less Bruces's (they are mainly a Springsteen specialty
label).
Happy Holidays to everybody.

Peace - xyx

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