London/Hammersmith (11-Feb-93)

The Good:
The view is unobstructed, and the sound is excellent most of the time. Dylan fingerpicks on every song, using electric and acoustic guitars. For me this was unusual to see and I enjoyed watching his technique. I like this band. Winston Watson was the most ferocious drummer Dylan ever toured with. Bucky Baxter's hallucinogenic pedal steel guitar solo on "Tangled Up in Blue" is a song within a song. J.J. Jackson's guitar playing never made my jaw drop, but he could usually cover up the gaping holes Dylan made in the instrumentals. At the end of "Highway 61" Dylan introduces a simple but magical guitar riff, and the other musicians respond to it like sparring partners. "I and I" and "It Ain't Me, Babe" are both sung exceptionally well, right from Dylan's heart of darkness.
The Bad:
The picture is always shaky, making it hard to watch for more than a couple of songs at a time. There are obtrusive sound problems during the acoustic set, on my copy anyway.