Bob Dylan

One of the last words I expected to use in reviewing a Bob Dylan concert is “beautiful,” but that was my thought as I left the Bowl Wednesday night. No raspy voice, no primitive arrangements, no protest–and also no hits. Instead there were a lot of love songs, all performed by a swinging band that had me bouncing in my seat all night. The stage was dimly lit in a mauve glow; four candle-light fixtures bracketed the four backup musicians, all in black. At the very back stood an electric keyboard, and that is where Dylan, in a black hoodie, stood for 75 minutes. He never said a word, and the band hardly broke between any of the sixteen numbers.

Everything was uptempo, a happy lilt. Some of the songs were vaguely familiar, although I doubt any sounded quite like they did as released. The show was put together as a seamless whole. Only one song, an Eddie Cochran cover, had a discordant rock beat; the rest had an easy country-rock groove. A number were vaguely familiar, but the only “hits” were “All Along the Watchtower” and the closing “I Shall Be Released.” Four came from Dylan’s latest (2020) album, “Rough and Rowdy Ways”; six other relatively obscure albums were sampled; and Dylan performed four covers. Considering he has a catalogue of well over a thousand songs, it said to me that he was more interested in the music than himself. Paul McCartney has complained that Dylan doesn’t play his hits.  I knew better than to expect that; I was happy that he was giving us a night of beautiful music. And his singing wasn’t bad.