Expecting Rain

While Bob has certainly had his moments on the just completed tour...Hannover wasn't one of them. I just "forced" myself to listen to a boot of the show...and the sound quality was excellent. Bob wasn't. In fact, I've never heard Bob so bad, in both vocals and arrangements. Every song was butchered. Don't Think Twice...made me think twice. Tangled was beat up beyond recognition. (BTW..why does Bob gut this song so that a great story makes no sense...while he rarely leaves a verse out of HWY 61...and sings 112 verses of Desolation Row?) Visions was disgusting...torn apart beyond belief...while he does a vocal that falls in line with the bizarre pattern of his organ (playing). Even songs that he has performed exceptionally well on most stops of the tour...were terrible...like Not Dark Yet, Honest With Me...and a few others.

I didn't go back and look at threads...but did any er members attend this show? And if so...what was your take? To me...it was unbelievably bad...unlike any concert I've listened to from Bob. Terrible singing....horrendous arrangements. I've seen Bob 30 plus times....and never have I witnessed anything this bad. Couldn't blame herds of people for walking out..and my guess is that they did. And I say this as a fan who has enjoyed much of this tour.

Miami Matt

Sorry to hear that this show affected you so badly. Oh well. Maybe the wine?
Haven't listened to this one, but thanks, I'll steer clear. There are so many to find and so little time!

Ha! Maybe the wine. I opened a Napa Cabernet after the 6th song or so...thinking possibly it would help. It didn't. It was simply awful. I think there's a link to it on the news page. Click on it...and try listening to the entire 90 minutes. Or least go as far as Visions and lemme know what you think. Overall, I've liked this tour...but that was the pits.

I defy any sensible fan...to listen to that show...and give a positive spin.

BTW...it didn't effect me that badly. I mean, I'll still sleep tonight. Though I may have Bob nightmares.

I haven't gotten to that one yet, only in sampling the Knopfler bits for a possible comp. Actually Mark's guitar is quite prominent in the mix, especially noticeable on the opener, which is a good thing. Going back now for a quick listen of Tangled and I agree that it doesn't sound as good as the others I've heard, I think part of the problem is Bob's vocals are too hot in the mix. In the second verse when they usually get a good groove and beat going it is all just led along by Bob's 'vocals'.

There was some sort of sound problem at the venue, but it was a good concert to attend. Will listen back via yesterday's front page link later.

Thankfully I saw a good show on this tour (Florence) although the start of it was dodgy. On balance I think there were more "hit" shows on this tour than misses. A friend saw a terrible show in Luxembourg, but my sister (veteran attendee) though Nottingham was one of the best she's ever seen.

I attend this show in Hannover and it was excellent. I saw 4 shows this tour and Hannover was with Hamburg the best one. Very intensive , the Band and Dylan had much fun on the stage and I liked the setlist. I was in one of the first rows and the sound was really good. I think every concert is different and it depends also from your own mood. And it's also a visual experience and not just a pure listening. The voice was not different to the other shows I saw. So I guess to hear a concert live is not the same as a recording. My feeling for Not Dark Yet and Honest With Me were suberb. Honest was the best version I saw and heared ever. It's not my favorite song, but in Hannover it was great ! I think there are always different views on a concert as many factors play a role. For me (and a lot of others) the Hannover gig was brilliant, for others even not. The people who went out during the Dylan set were Knopfler fans. I heared in the break between Knopfler/Dylan that a Knopfler fan talked to his wife, that he hoped that Dylan will come with his accoustic guitar and not with his Band .... They went out after Honest ... For me hannover was great !! And I'm sure that also Dylan and the Band enjoyed this evening. A lot of smiling on stage and a Blowin' in the Wind as an extra ....

everyone of them words ring true!!!!

We must have sat close to each other. Sound was great and my friends and I enjoyed the concert very much.

When we went to the rail though, even though it was only a few steps, the good sound stayed behind, esp the voice. It was really strange.

I herewith admit my preference for a GA concert over a reserved seated one despite all the inconveniences coming with it. Standing at the rails and observing all the smallest nuances of Bob’s stage presence and the interactions with his band clearly adds something special to a sole audible experiences.

But GA was not the case here in Germany during the autumn tour and so we had to struggle for proper seats, didn’t we?
Well, I was more or less lucky with my tickets in rows 5 (Oberhausen), 4 (Hannover) and 4 again (Nürnberg). The sound there was good to excellent at all gigs. Nevertheless I sat on pins and needles to not miss the notorious stagerush, which began at different times with Oberhausen really late, Nürnberg quite early and Hannover in between, if I remember it right.

Obviously the sound was not laid out to be good so close to the stage. I didn’t take note of this in Oberhausen, maybe due to the fact that the stagerush was that late (and I didn’t make it to the rails, but rather some rows back). In Hannover on the other hand I managed it to the rails, but somewhat to the right, and Bob’s voice I heard through a mixture of the both the stage monitor and the general sound system. This was bearable.

In Nürnberg it was a complete desaster. I was at the rails right in the middle and I heard of Bob’s voice only to one of the stage monitors and it was more or less inaudible, just as it came through a thick wall of cotton wool from outside the venue. I did not step back to my seat anyway, which I do regret now.

So please tell me, what is the use of stagerushing if you can indeed see every drop of sweat falling from Bob’s face but don’t hear his voice anymore? Do we gain anything from it or do we rush the stage only for the sake of stagerushing?

Seeing him perform close up is what we gain. If you are all about sound quality, you can listen to the tape once you get back home, but a concert itself is, for me, all about seeing a great master performer at work. As is well known, I too usually prefer GA concerts, though it was very convenient to just have to walk up to my front row seat each time when MK was done.

And about Oberhausen, people were almost asleep.
I've never seen such a lame audience ever in my life. I felt very sorry for Bob to have to fill 90 minutes somehow.

What do I care for how the rest of the audience behaves? If they need some sleep I won't wake up any of them.

Like I said, I had row 4 tickets and this is not so far away from stage that I had to use binoculars. And no, I'm not all about sound quality. Even at a GA concert where people are supposed to stand at the rails the sound there is not as good as some meters back and I try to make the rails anyway. But see, if you cannot hear his voice at all, like it was the case in Nürnberg, don't you miss nothing? I don't expect you to be so sick of it like, say, bennyboy is, by the way.

You yourself had front row seats, right? How was the sound there? Obviously way better than three steps forward to the stage, I dare say. Otherwise you would not have mentioned the good sound stayed behind.

Well, I do care about the audience in general, esp if I see they don't give any feedback to the performer and it sucks the lifeblood out of the whole event, which was clearly the case in Oberhausen. People walked out of the center of the front row, leaving five free seats directly under the main mike, and many of those that remained refused to show even the most basic signs of life you'd look for in a concert audience, like attention or applause.

The sound was fine throughout the seated shows that I saw, absolutely no complaints there.

But do you expect the audience to cheer/clap even if they don't like what they are hearing/seeing?

I expect them to be informed enough to know whether they want to see an artist or not. These people clearly didn't know a thing about Bob these days. Stay away if you don't like someone, but don't let them starve on the stage. That's just rude.

So play some games on your cellphone while Mark is on stage is ok, but not clap when Bob sings is rude?

It's getting difficult to know how to behave at a show...

If everyone had been as rude as you, the halls would have been empty during the first half of the events

Rrrrohh, you wouldn't have heard ten times "'Im tired of making out on the telephone 'Cause you're so far away from me"

You almost have to...at least try to listen through the entire show, to get a full idea of how terrible it was..at least on tape.

At least I had the decency to stay away as soon as I knew that I didn't want to see it. I never played any game on my cellphone during Mark - I took one photo once. As for the halls being empty during the first half, that would teach them not to shop Bob around on some senseless double header bill. And if I "had to" be there during MK at GA shows, I was polite enough to give applause because I appreciated the effords of his very able band. borisw was next to me during one of the London shows, so she should know.

The sound from the link on the front page is of excellent quality...so it's not a sound problem. The vocals were terrible...and some of the arrangements were the worst I personally can recall. Listen to Visions....the song is just butchered. I think anybody that is without bias would agree.

Obviously, I wasn't there...and Bob's presence, and animation, can't be felt unless you were at the show. That said, it doesn't change the poor vocals or arrangements.

But I am happy for those who were there...and enjoyed it. In the end, that's all that counts.

BTW...I did listen to some of Hamburg...and that appeared to be far superior.

You do realize Bob doesn't play for the tape collectors, right?

Yes, I do realize that. I just happend to click onto the link...and once the show started...I kept hoping it would get better....but it got progressively worse. But as stated...I wasn't there

Perceptions can differ.... have you heard London 2nd night?

True...they can differ. And understand that what I consider a terrible arrangement, may be great to someone else. But a bad vocal...is a bad vocal. And yes, I've heard some of London night 2. It certainly paled in comparison to night 3. But it wasn't Hannover.