Rotterdam, Netherlands (06-Jun-84)

FANS EXULTING AT THE ALTAR

First, let's discuss the only shortcoming of this DVD - a few songs cut short either at the start, middle or end - and that's about it! In fact, if some of the songs weren't cut, this would be a five-star DVD.
Oh, to have been in the audience that night!
Dylan's Vocals: Excellent throughout.
Dylan' Guitar: pretty inconspicuous (as usual) when he's playing electric but great and full during the acoustic numbers.
Band: Tight, on fire during some songs.
Video quality: Pretty consistent throughout. Very little shakiness. Few heads get in the way (but this is no fault of our taper's!)
JOKERMAN : Great, hauntingly-faithful version. Bass is pumping! Great lead guitar.
WATCHTOWER : Nice harmonica throughout. The way he plays harmonica in this concert on this song really does take one back to the original cut on JWH . Possibly the best version I've heard since the '74 tour.
JLAW : Once again great harmonica. Solid vocal performance here and nice soft strumming to back it up on the washburne.
License to Kill : My personal favorite from Infidels . Simply brilliant. I would have preferred something of this calibre to have appeared on Real Live .
Particularly noticeable in this song but also in some others is Dylan's nice '84 sound with skillful sustain of his notes (like in the Shot of Love period) mixed with a return to the mercurial sound which dominated from '85 through to '89.
Imagination : Cut.
Hard Rain : Start cut but what we have is a beautiful document of this timeless song. If you listen carefully, you can hear the Dutch audience singing along with him. Really inspiring stuff. End of Hard Rain flows right into It's Alright Ma, but then the start is cut.
It's Alright Ma : Possibly my all-time favorite Dylan song. This song is so powerful every time I hear it. The lyrics are truly amazing as Dylan knows recalling it what he said in the 60 minutes interview, "You try and sit down and write a song like that" (or something to that effect). I remember the first time I heard this song - after the song was finished I just stared transfixed at the stereo thinking what on earth was that! I felt like I had just been attacked, but beautifully attacked!
Baby Blue : Pretty good but nothing really to write home about.
Twist of fate : This song has undergone a real face-lift since Blood on the Tracks . Quite good. Rather understated. Less visceral than the recorded version.
Man of Peace : Nice new version of this great song. Bottleneck guitar is cookin' in this song!
Every Grain of Sand : One of the best songs off Shot of Love and is performed reasonably well here but now and then Dylan plays a few jarring guitar chords which kind of ruin the song's atmosphere a bit. 2nd half is cut.
Don't Think Twice : Brilliant as usual. Possibly one of Dylan's most consistently well-played songs. Good harmonica solo although my favorite is still the one whicn appears in a performance on Don't Look Back .
Love Minus Zero : Wonderful. Nice organ backing. Last few minutes the picture cuts out and we are left with only audio.
VERDICT : GREAT! Hunt it down and get it! Highly recommended.

This show was filmed from the middle or back of the standing room floor, there are heads in the bottom of many shots. however, it is very well filmed, mostly very steady for hand held footage with a few tasteful and more or less smooth pans and zooms. lots of good waist-up shots of bob suffer very little from the heads. there is some flair, washout, and 'trails' from the light but it's generally easy on the eyes considering the year. a little dark and fuzzy compared to todays standard as i would expect.
The sound upgrade is a good audience recording, and it is nicely syncronized.
This DVD has very good menus and chapters. Thanks to all involved for your work!

Dylan is passionate and serious in his delivery and seems to be enjoying the show, chatting it up between several tunes. I personally like the 'Infidels' heavy setlists on this tour. Licence to Kill is a highlight performance on this disc, Dylan sways and swings, and misses not a word.
'standards' like Watchtower and Just Like a Woman are treated with care and Dylan appears to be into it. great harp work on both.
My copy has a cut after one verse of Every Grain of Sand, and also a slight clip during the first few lines of It's Alright Ma
The whole performance is strong and fun to watch.

Over all this is a nice addition to the collection that is enjoyable through multiple viewings. easily a 4 star/worth having DVD.