Bob Dylan 960725 in Malmö, Sweden
Subject: A (bit more than a) Handful of Thoughts on the Swedish Concerts ...
From: Lars & Andreas Gustavsson (gson@LSG.PP.SE)
Date: Sun, 28 Jul 1996 21:36:59 +0200
- Part 1 / "Bob Dylan for President!" (audience-member in Malmo)
Finally Bob Dylan came to Sweden again (last time he was here was in the
summer of 1992). Two concerts we had to look forward to: one in the city
of Malmo in southern Sweden, and one at the Lollipop festival in Lida, a
couple of miles outside of Stockholm.
SLOTTSMOLLAN, MALMO - THURSDAY (July 25)
The venue for this concert was Slottsmollan, a grass field in front of an
old windmill in downtown Malmo. The stage was set up right in front of the
windmill -- those standing in the back of the field could still see parts of
the mill reaching over the top of the stage, an interesting view ...
The event started at 18:30 (6.00 pm) with Nationalteatern, a Swedish
band, on the main stage (there were two stages set up). Following their
set was Hoola Bandoola Band, another Swedish band with their roots back in
the 70s (as far as I know), they have reunited this year for a summer tour
in Sweden. One of the members of this band is Mikael Wiehe, who recorded his
own album with Dylan-tunes (translated to Swedish) some years ago. This band
had their own stage located in the back of the field so we that were
awaiting Bob's set (and wanted to keep or spots in the front row) were stuck
there and could only listen to their show from the distance ... seemed like
an alright show but, as a Swedish reporter put it: "How can you yell for
encores with Hoola Bandoola, when Bob is expected on the stage in a couple
of minutes?"
Bob was scheduled to take the stage at 21:15 (9.15 pm) and sure enough,
there he was, right on time. Bob really seemed to be in good shape. He was
wearing a pair of dark red pants with some sort of decoration on the sides,
a white shirt tucked loosely into a belt. Certainly makes him look like a
Russian import of some kind ... (BTW, the stage was too high for us in
front row to see what kind of shoes he was wearing, as if that would
matter?!)
The show took off with "To Be Alone ===================================
with You," and to be honest, I did not | Setlist (Malmo) |
like it! Of all the show openers he -----------------------------------
has tried over the past few years I | To Be Alone with You |
think few work as well as "Jokerman" | If Not for You |
and "Crash on the Levee (Down in the | All Along the Watchtower |
Flood)." The other ones just don't seem | Just Like a Woman |
to have that fire and energy that is so | Watching the River Flow |
much needed to get the show going. | Silvio |
| |
Following that came "If Not for | @ Ballad of Hollis Brown |
You." I totally missed out on this one | @ Tangled Up in Blue |
because of a drunk person behind me who | @ Don't Think Twice, |
had great difficulties with the simple | It's All Right |
task of standing up. After a brief | |
confrontation he (read: me and the | Stuck Inside of Mobile with |
other audience members he bothered) | the Memphis Blues Again |
decided that maybe he'd be better off | I Shall Be Released |
somewhere else. So off he went ... | Like a Rolling Stone |
| |
Third song, same one as always, | @ The Times They Are A-Changin' |
though it was a good performance there | Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35 |
is not much to say about it ... ===================================
We were then treated to a marvellous version of "Just Like a Woman."
A truly great performance from Bob. Vocals, guitar, and harmonica,
everything clicked on this one ... especially the harmonica solo stood out
as being a true masterpiece.
That was followed by "Watching the River Flow," which was the same as
always, and then "Silvio" with the same arr. as was used during the Spring
Tour, good performances of both songs ...
The first surprise of the evening came with the first song of the
acoustic set: "Ballad of Hollis Brown." A nice surprise, never heard this
one live before. It was given a slow and gentle treatment, with John
Jackson on banjo. Very good ...
"Tangled Up in Blue" came next. Was not too thrilled with the choice of
this one until Bob started to sing. The song had definately been given a
new phrasing by Bob. It's hard to describe it (read: get the tape!), but
he certainly blew some fresh air into this one.
The acoustic set came to an end with "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right."
Although definatley an over played song in the acoustic set quite a treat.
Excellent guitar playing from Bob ...
We were then taken back into the electric set with "Stuck Inside of
Mobile with the Memphi Blues Again" followed by "I Shall Be Released." The
first one was alright, but the second one was definately a highlight! It
was performed a bit slower than what I am used to hearing it and Bob's
singing was truly great!
The main set of the concert closed with an electrifying "Like a Rolling
Stone." A crowd-pleaser, but nevertheless a great version ... BTW, before
this song there was a brief band introduction from Bob: "Give a hand for my
band." No invividual presentations ...
Bob then took some bows, looked out over the audience, and left the stage
only to come back a few minutes later for the first encore "The Times They
Are A-Changin'." Great performance again, with extended solos from Bob both
on guitar and harmonica.
Then came the closing song for the night: "Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35."
This is one of the songs that you can enjoy tremendously when you are at the
concerts, but always skip when you're playing the CD-bootleg at home ... For
some reason the appreciation of this song (at least for me) heavily depends
on the circumstances under which you hear it. Sure, it is a great way to end
a rock'n'roll concert, but definately nothing worth playing when you're
relaxing on a Friday evening after a week of hard work ...
All in all, another great evening with Bob, who seemed to be in a very
good mood throughout the whole evening, with lots of interaction with the
audience and the other band members.
The concert lasted for 110-115 minutes, and there were approximately
7,000 in attendence. The crowd featured people of all ages and social
classes ...
Setlist
- Part 2 / I got shoved down 'n' pushed around ... Stockholm 960727
Tour
Dates
Calendar
Expecting Rain