Bob Dylan 980612 in Hamburg, Germany
Stadtpark
Address: Saarlandstrasse/Jahn-Ring
Capacity: approx. 12,000
Open air
General admission (no seating)
Showtime: 7 PM
Date: 08 Jul 1998 23:39:00 +0100
Sender: happyjaq@confetti.ruhr.de (Carsten Wohlfeld)
Subject: June 12, 1998 - Hamburg, Germany - a review
Bob Dylan
Hamburg, Germany, June 12, 1998
Freilichtbühne im Stadtpark
A review by Carsten Wohlfeld
Unfortunately the weather wasn't as nice as I'd hoped for, but at least it
didn't rain during Dylan's set, that was put back for 90 (!) minutes due to
the bad weather (or so we were told). So Dylan didn't come out 'til 8pm, to
give us his 1991-comeback-special. He looked like a grumpy old man for most
of the set, walking around the stage like a lunatic, stopped playing guitar
for no apparent reason at various points and managed to not sing into the
microphone on eight (count 'em, eight!) songs. A very weird experience that
left the band and the audience equally puzzled. I hope this step back to
1991 was only a one off.
All Along The Watchtower
was even worse than the nights before, the lyrics delivered totally
unconvincingly. And that comes from he, the biggest fan of this song on
r.m.d....
I Want You
Nice choice, even though is off-mike singing basically killed it for me.
The band was trying hard to make it sound as gentle as possible, but Bob
sounded pretty rusty.
Tough Mama
Interesting choice, even though the song was given the same careless
treatment that it got on last year's US tour. It's okay if they don't
always do "Bound", but there must be better alternatives than this one I'm
sure. A quick "thanks ev'rybody" (the only one tonight if my memory serves
me well) followed.
Tears Of Rage
I was impressed that he attempted to do this complicated song on a night
like this. Not surpringly he messed up the lyrics and at one point stopped
playing guitar, one foot on the drum riser, doing absolutely NOTHING while
Larry was struggleing to put in an emergency solo. Why Dylan did that will
remain a mystery I guess. The harp solo that graced the Rostock version was
missing, natch.
Silvio
Baaaaaaad version. Bob wanted to skip the jam-bit a the end again but only
told Kemper about it. As a consequence Larry jumped straight into the
loudest solo and it took him a few bars to figure out that the other were
not following him. Ouch!
Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie (acoustic)
At this point the whole show really reminded me of 1991, cause after what
was the worst first electric set I've ever seen from Bob he delivered a
killer acoustic set, save a few off-mike excursions. As far as I know he
never did this Elizabeth Cotton-song before in Europe but it was a great
rendition, better than most of the teped versions I've heard.
Masters Of War (acoustic)
Still a highlight even though it didn't quite reach the heights of the
Copenhagen performance.
Boots Of Spanish Leather (acoustic)
We had heard a beautiful version at the soundcheck already, but this one
was my favourite song of the night. Just gotta love it! Best vocal delivery
all night as well. Finally Bob sang as passionately as I'd hoped for.
Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic)
Another pretty fast version that was killed by the fact that Bob hardly
sang into the microphone AT ALL. Tony looked quite puzzled, as if he'd want
to say: "What the hell are you doing there?" At least we got a very long
harp solo out of Bob. Leading up to it though, Bob stood with his back
facig the audience doing NTHING for about 30 secs. Then he decided to go
back to his amp to pick up a harp. Weirdo!
Can't Wait
As in Copenhagen the night before this was one of the highlights. For the
first time tonight Bob started moving around the stage for a bit, even
smiling occasionally.
Make You Feel My Love
Nothing much left to say: It sounds very sweet every evening even though I
consider it to be one of Bob's lesser works.
'Til I Fell In Love With You
After he had skipped "Cold Irons Bound" it was kinda surprising to hear
three "TOOM" tracks in a row here. This trio of songs was clearly the
highlight of the show. Also the only three songs in a row where Bob's
sining was really strong and loud. Then he introduced the band quickly,
just to launch into...
Highway 61 Revisited
which, unsurprisingly wasn't as hot as it could be, cause Bob hardly played
guitar at all, leaving all the work to Larry.
(encores)
My Back Pages (acoustic)
A long and at least in the end pretty cool harp solo graced this solid
performance of this much-loved gem. Got what was probably the biggest cheer
of the night, too. After the song a number of people were yelling for
"Blind Willie McTell" and Bob even took a few steps forward as if he wanted
to make sure he would understand what they were yelling. He either didn't
get it or wasn't too impressed because what followed was:
Love Sick
Average rendition that was okay to hear but didn't reach new heights.
Alabama Getaway
Yes! "Rainy Day" was even on the cueshet but wan't played. The fact that he
messed up all three verses BADLY didn't matter much, to get anything else
than "Rainy Day" was a reason to celebrate for me and many others. Hot solo
from Larry as well. Tony was twisting hard, having a great time!
Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic)
Almost as good a in Copenhagen, one of the few real highlights of tonight's
show.
I certainly hope that this was a one off, cause it definitely was the worst
show I've ssen him do in at least two years (and I've seen quite a few).
Maybe he was just tired after having played four shows in four days and
three different countries, so here's hoping that he'll deliver a better set
on sunday in Bremen. See you there! Thanks again to Christian for letting
me use his computer (his messed up keyboard is resonsible for the tons of
typos ;-)) and I forgot to mention Tobbe from Sweden who got me the tickets
for Gothenburg and Stockholm. Thanks alot! so long, kids!
carsten wohlfeld
--
"if you live outside the law you must be honest" (bob dylan)
