Bob Dylan 2000.10.01 in Münster, Germany
Halle Münsterland
Capacity: 4100
Date: Mon, 02 Oct 2000 01:15:56 +0200 From: Carsten Wohlfeld office@carstenwohlfeld.de To: billp61@execpc.com, webmaster@expectingrain.com, rec.music.dylan@carstenwohlfeld.de Subject: Münster, Germany - October 1, 2000 - a review Bob Dylan MŸnster, Germany Halle Münsterland, October 1, 2000 A Review By Carsten Wohlfeld So there it was most definitely my last Dylan show for this year, maybe even for longer, as I finally have come to the conclusion that finishing school and getting a degree at long last may make more sense that wasting time & efforts on Bob. In the long run at least (it's about time, I hear my Dad sigh, but that's a different story). So what can I say? MŸnster was a blast!!! Frankfurt two nights ago was an outstanding show simply because Bob was having more fun than ever before (well, I for one never have seen him having so much fun on stage anyways), but of course there was a little room for improvement as far as the setlist was concerned. "Frankie Lee" maybe or "Tell Me That It Isn't True" is what Gunter and I were hoping for. Then again, what do you really want if you travel to faraway places to see Bob? Here's my idea what I'd want to get from a good tour of say seven or eight shows. 1. Perfect renditions of old warhorses, 2. Some surprising songs from Bob's "once a year" rotation (maybe "I&I", "Masterpiece", "Lenny Bruce" or "John Brown"), 3. See "Tangled getting dropped or at least a new verse for it, 4. A live debut, 5. "extra songs" 6. "Vision Of Johanna". Well, that's what I would've wanted to see and hear in the space of seven or eight shows. MŸnster had all that within two hours and even more. But let's begin at the beginning. The show started at 8.05, all four guys dressed in black (a first time on this tour!) with Bob wearing a new jacket that kinda looked like a navy uniform. Duncan & Brady (acoustic) Was first and what a great rendition it was! The sound was great, even though were were in front of the "iron curtain" in what was maybe the fifth row. Bob's singing was very strong right at the start, even though this voice itself was a bit rusty - no wonder at the end of the tour! It was funny to hear how he waited with his "...too long" until Larry & Charlie had finished their part. Unlike other songs and versions where he's clearly singing against the two guys and not WITH them, this was still fitting in very nicely with the song. To everybody's surprise Larry then reached for the bouzouki. What song would be next? "Fourth Time Around" maybe? Certainly they wouldn't do "John Brown"!? Why? Well, to the best of my knowledge he has played the song only twice in Europe over the last ten years, one in the very same venue in MŸnster in 1996 and then again in Bremen, only about 100 miles away from MŸnster. So playing it again here would either mean that he strongly connects the song with this part of Germany for some unknown reason or that it would be a very, very unlikely coincidence. Well, he did start John Brown (acoustic) Which made everybody who knew of the above mentioned fact smile. Pretty good version too, even though I believe he skipped a whole verse (the "letter ceased to come..." part). I might be wrong, but it definitely seemed shorter than usual too, despite a pretty good solo courtesy of Larry on the bouzouki, who was playing exceptionally well throughout the whole show. Last time I'd heard "John Brown" in a by far inferior version was in New York City at Tramps last summer and at that show he followed it up with "Visions". I have to admit that I was hoping that he wouldn't do it again, because, hey, if you've travelled to Portland, Maine in a fucking snowstorm to see Bob do this song and then hear him do it at an 800 capacity show, you kinda hope he won't do it when everybody and their dog is in attendence. My hopes rapidly vanished though when Tony told David that "Visions" would be next. Sometime I hate it when you can read his lips... Visions Of Johanna (acoustic) It was a sublime rendition though. I guess it has been featured quite a bit over the last two years, but this must have been by far and away the best version he has done in ages. Larry's rhythm guitar part was beautiful too, very laid back, yet perfectly suiting Bob's singing. A real showstopper, just like you except it to be. It obviously couldn't get any better from this point onwards, but Bob still tried hard, giving us One Too Many Mornings (acoustic) Which opened with a gorgeous and pretty long pedal steel solo by Larry. Bob's singing was much better than on the pretty bad version in England a couple of weeks ago. He ended the song with a funny riff on the guitar (I guess it was supposed to be a full-blown solo, but it really was just a little riff he played over and over again). He then even reached for the harmonica and repeated the same riff a few times on the harp again. Nothing terribly exciting, but a lot of fun to hear nevertheless. Tangled Up In Blue (acoustic) Followed a long discussion between Bob and Tony, but if they even talked about dropping this song, they clearly weren't ready yet. It was a nice version though, especially since Bob changed a few lines again. He sang something about "being self employed" and changed the next few lines too, but I didn't catch it. The guys in the taper section will let you know soon, I'm sure. Searching For A Soldier's Grave (acoustic) With Larry on mandolin was the usual version with all three of them singing. A nice song, though you tend to get tired of it after a handful of renditions. Well, I do anyways. To make it a little more exciting for people like me, they played a new a-capella endimg, similar to the "This World Can't Stand Long", which was nice. Country Pie Same old song, same old routine with Larry and Charlie trading solos. Not much change there. Standing In The Doorway Not a million miles away from previous renditions either, except for the fact, that Bob seemed to have gotten all the lyrics right this time, instead of repeating certain lines like in Hamburg. I know quite a few people had hoped to get to hear the new lounge version of "Trying To Get To Heaven" in this slot, but we were in for a very loungy surprise of an alltogether different kind later on. This could've been my first tour without "All Along The Watchtower", my alltime favourite song, since early 1998. Well, it could have. All Along The Watchtower It RAWKED, man! Larry messed up the intro, because his arm got stuck in his jacket (that's what it looked like from my point of view at least), but as soon as David came in, it just ROCKED, ROCKED, ROCKED. Did I mention it RWAKED already? Well, it did! The last time I hear them tear this song to pieces like this was in in May 1996. And that was only on tape. I person I don't think I even heard the JJ/Winston line up rock harder. Bob's phrasing was very weird too, almost like the slow 1998 versions. Larry was going absolutely MAD on lap steel and just when you expected David to slow down after the last verse for the "quiet" solo part (you know what I mean), they just kept racing through the song without ever slowing down. It was fast and - it RAWKED!!! Dignity Was sort of an anti-climax and the only song all night that we'd heard in a better version the days before. The intro was kinda messed up and it just didn't flow as nicely as it did the previous nights. Just Like A Woman With Larry on pedal steel was a welcome surprise. Not because I desperately wanted to hear the song, but because it was very well done indeed. Bob put a lot into the vocals and seemed very concentrated. After the "happy" Frankfurt show he seemed to be much more into his playing and singing than into smiling and having fun tonight. Drifter's Escape Was a semi-surprise, as this meant we would be getting a 13-song mainset tonight. Rocked even harder than usual, even though it was the "regular" driving "We remember Jimi Hendrix" arrangement with Bob on blues harp at the end. Band intros followed... "some of the best players all over the place..." Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat Was the last song before the stood in line to greet the raptous reactions from the audience stone-faced as usaul. "Pillbox" gave Charlie to show off a bit at long last, even though Larry still took the better and longer solo. This song as well rocked harder and had longer jam/solo parts as usual. A perfect end to an extremely high-energy show. (encore) Love Sick But of course they returned and gave us another semi-surprise by replacing "Things Have Changed" with "Love Sick". A rather slow version, but Bob's singing was strong and clear and Larry's solo even better than usual. Bob did the improved "ploughed under" version, even though you could see that he had to think hard to remember the lyrics, now that he's not on auto-pilot anymore not doing the song every single night. Like A Rolling Stone Huge cheer from the crowd behind the "iron curtain", a crowdpleaser for the first-timers and tourists. Sounded a bit tired, maybe it was just a regular version after the previous ones that I'd heard actually were above average. But it was what was next that completely made the night. And I say that knowing that we had heard "Visions Of Johanna" earlier in the set already. I had to laugh out loud at Dylan shows before, usually at stupid mistakes or crap jokes Bob made. Tonight for the first I was laughing about the song choice and the arrangement of a song. In fact, I was laughing so hard, I completely missed the first verse of the song and tears were almost rolling down my cheeks. Picture this: Big discussion before the change to the acoustic instruments. Then they finally decide on a song. Everybody on stage is smiling already! Bob, Tony and Charlie go for the acoustic guitars and bass guitars respectively. Larry however goes for his electric white Telecaster. I am thinking: Larry must be daydreaming again. It's not yet time for "Highway 61". Larry plugs the guitar in. Looks over to Tony and Charlie. Now he must notice his mistake, I think. He doesn't. Instead: More smiles. Bob's only an arm length away from Larry. Surely he must tell him that he better gets his acoustic guitar fast??? No, Bob doesn't say a thing. What are they gonna do? Play "Fourth Time Around" backwards? The only other song with a mixed lectric/acoustic arrangement part from "Fourth Time Around" is "Highlands"!!! The song finally starts. It's jazzy bar music, with Larry playing a funky lead riff. If the new "Trying To Get To Heaven" is Frank Sinatra, this is Dean Martin done badly. Hilarious though! Las Vegas hear we come! They play a looooong intro. Bob looks over to Tony and laughs out loud - people in the first rows are looking very surprised.... what the FUCK is this????? Then Bob finally moves closer to the microphone....and sings the first line: "If dogs run free, then why not we". If Dogs Run Free (acoustic) I wish I could tell you what happened next, but I was basically lying on the floor laughing. It was fucking amazing, it was awesome, beautiful and ridiculous all at the same time. After every verse Bob stepped back a bit and laughed out loud!!! He was LAUGHING at himself, probably thinking: Am I really doing this? Playing an acoustic live debut of one a song that was released thirty years ago? It was good to see that they obviously weren't taking themselves or the song too seriously. At the end Larry played a great jazzy solo on electric guitar which topped it all off. Bob was laughing again. A great, great moment!!! Things Have Changed Followed and brought back things to an earthy level. This rendition seemed to be a bit faster than usual (EVERYTHING seemed to be faster than usual tonight) and the funniest moment was when Bob stepped back a bit when he came to the "far from myself as I can" line. I Shall Be Released (acoustic) Every bit as good as the nights before, again Bob sang the lovely chorus WITH Larry and Charlie rather than AGAINST them like so many times before. Highway 61 Revistited Came as no surprise and gave Charlie his first (and last) chance on the german dates to really show what he's able to do on the electric guitar. He Bob and Larry were trading solos longer than usual, rocking harder than any other night. Smoking version, even though David kinda lost control once and Tony had to help him back into the right rhythm. It was fun to see how he was looking at David, nodding his head and rolling his eyes as a way of telling Kemper how to get back into the song. Blowin' In The Wind (acoustic) Was the 20th and last song. Bob seemed to be singing louder than usual, but unlike the previous versions, this one didn't seem to have started off with a guitar solo. Maybe I just missed it. A nice song to make the tourists happy once more and to close a show that lasted a bit over two hours, meaning that it was more than 15 minutes longer than Frankfurt. Having seen as many shows as I did, it probably would look a bit silly if I'd say now that this was the best Dylan show I've ever been to, but with the possible exception of Dortmund 1995 and the first Miami Beach show in 1998 it probably was. As I mentioned before, it had everything you could possibly hope for and more. It was a great night and even though I'm sure Bob won't be able to top this - if anybody is willing to offer me a ride back to Essen or the western parts of Germany directly after the Brussels show, please get in touch: office@carstenwohlfeld.de Thanks a lot for reading, you really had to be there to fully appreciate it, I assume, but this really was Bob at his very, very best. Many thanks to Gunter for the ride and the great time! Goodnight. Carsten Wohlfeld -- http://carstenwohlfeld.de "i look like robert de niro, i drive a mitsubishi zero" (billy bragg)