Auckland, New Zealand (11-Aug-07)

Disk: 784

Sound & Image: This very well put together collaboration heralds a new era in of inventiveness and excellence in fan generated DVD production. There are minor bouts of obstruction and shaking but overall this does nothing to detract from a highly enjoyable viewing experience. The special effects, that I believe are unique to this DVD, are expertly done and the movement between the various sources almost seamless. There are some problems with vocal and video sync but they do not detract from the total experience. What is annoying to this reviewer is the unfortunate bouts of audience chatter that are particularly loud during some of the slower numbers. However, this is a fine piece of editing that along with D782 sets a new benchmark in audience recording and production. See Jman’s review below for more detail on the many strengths of this fine production.

Performance:
The night of August 11 finds Bob in very good voice. The first three songs, a “does-the-job” Rainy Day Women, a sensitive Don’t Think Twice, and a tight Watching the River Flow open the show on a buoyant note. The audience sings along with “everybody must get stoned” and there is some lovely phrasing from Dylan on Don’t Think Twice and Watching The River Flow. The sometimes pedestrian Watching is invigorated tonight by the careful attention Dylan pays to the words. Bob moves to keyboards for Just Like A Woman which is sung with gentleness and tender feeling in marked contrast to the “frightening” version performed 8 nights later in Melbourne on D782. The first two Modern Times songs, Rollin’ & Tumblin’ and When The Deal Goes Down are well performed, the band beginning to interact and Dylan dancing and directing from the keyboard.

With the riveting opening lines “I’m a worried man with a worried mind”, sung with genuine feeling, i.e., as though he really means it, we move into the first highlight of the night – Things Have Changed. The song is packed with memorable characters and images of uncertainty of conviction both in the face of change and in changing personal attitudes themselves. Tonight the song is energetically delivered with its Oscar gleaming in the background. Dylan seems genuinely proud of this achievement; for a lovely moment that illustrates this see Dylan’s antics at the end of another good version of the song on D197.su2 Liverpool 2001.

Directly following is the next highlight, Tangled Up In Blue, a favourite concert offering that has been played over 1000 times since its 1975 debut. Perhaps one of Dylan’s best story-songs, Tangled is a song that somehow remains a work-in-progress. Dylan once commented that he felt the song wasn’t finished and that the version he was happiest with was on 1984’s Real Live. Perhaps that is the reason for the continual change of personal pronouns and lyrics in performance. Listen for the many interesting lyric changes tonight. Tonight’s version is slow with a driving push from the band that enables Dylan to emphasize differing facets of the lyric. For a very different up-tempo version, with a little help from someone in the audience, see the 1997 Philadelphia show D521.su.

Along with Love & Theft’s Summer Days, played with a joyous swing a few songs later, Spirit on the Water, is developing into a performance favourite. Tonight there is a lovely lead break where Denny improvises on the theme of Rogers & Hart’s 1934 classic Blue Moon to audience approval. The gesture highlights the general connection of many Modern Times songs, not only to the Blues, but also to the “Great American Songbooks” of Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, and the above mentioned Rogers and Hart.

Highway 61 is given a spirited outing, played and sung with vigour. A disappointing Desolation Row follows. The song begins well enough to anticipate a treat, however somewhere in the second verse Dylan appears to become uncomfortable; he mumbles and even with lyric sheets in front of him, forgets words. It’s almost as though he’s not sure how to sing the song and begins to ‘experiment’ with a few styles. Unfortunately he settles on “up-singing” at the end of each line; a technique that shatters the power of the lyrics and throws any notion of melody out the window. I’ve commented on Dylan’s mastery of phrasing elsewhere and, on his day, no-one can deliver a line with more subtlety or emotive force but this version of Desolation Row is an exercise in how not to phrase a lyric. Rather loud audience chatter also mars this song although most of the damage is done by Dylan himself. (To offer some consolation check out Jim50’s list of superb Des Rows on: D197.su2, D569, D559.su, D635.su, D519 & D337.su)

Most Likely Go Your Way begins promisingly but also suffers from some wandering and up-singing but not terminally so. With the last three numbers before the encore, Nettie Moore, Summer Days, and Masters of War, Dylan seems to “shift gears” becoming more vocally focused and with the band right behind him - delivers. Nettie Moore is a powerful song in performance, like Time Out Of Mind’s Highlands and Ain’t Talkin’ from Modern Times the song is carried by the lyric with the music sometimes acting in dialogue sometimes serving as punctuation. In all three songs the landscape is shifting, the destination uncertain, and the central character searching but not necessarily finding. Nettie Moore and Ain’t Talkin’ share the theme of a painful loss that can’t be healed. Tonight Dylan sings the chorus of Nettie Moore with heart-aching emotion and the uneasy, disjointed lyrics take on the mesmerising cadences of a spell.

The last song before the encore, 1963’s Masters of War is another of the night’s highlights. Dylan sings the song with the gravity and authority of an elder statesman, clearly articulating the lyric, absolutely sure of the delivery. When performed like this, Masters of War is a compelling reflection of almost Shakespearian proportions on corrupted power, organized greed, and the thoughtless sacrifice of innocents that is (sadly) timeless. Can this be the same man who sang Desolation Row a few songs ago?

The encore of Thunder On The Mountain and All Along the Watchtower is forcefully played and vocally strong. Although tonight’s Thunder is good I can’t help but feel that the song still hasn’t come into its own in performance. In comparison to Rollin’ & Tumblin’ it feels a little flat and doesn’t quite spark. Watchtower is a fine finisher and does not disappoint. We say goodbye with a nice shot of Bob & Band acknowledging the applause.

Highlights: Things Have Changed, Tangled Up In Blue, Nettie Moore, Masters of War.

Thanks: Filmers: Southern Man and Northern Weed, Soomlos for the audio and Longforgan for an accomplished and innovative editing job. J50 for the review template.

Stars: Four. Fine production and very good performance. Well worth having.

Just recieved this dvd today.
Although some of the shooting is not in time with the singing, i rate it 5 out of 5.
The songs are sung so good.
The picture is clear, and what else is clear is the obvious dedication that the filmer has for Mr Dylan.
This project would have taken along time to piece together.
I reccommend if you dont have this masterpiece, GET A COPY ASAP!!!

Thanks for circulating this DVD.
John

If you take a few moments to read the authors notes, you will see that this is indeed a new level of fan-DVD production.
The careful and painstaking work of editing these various sources together is really quite seamless. I must admit there were times when I didn't realize that the video was not 'native' to the scene I was watching.
The special effects are by no means distracting, on the contrary, I found this DVD to be very entertaining. I found that the tasteful effect work, cross-fades, and coloration only adds to the enjoyment of this viewer.
Most impressive are the picture in picture sequences, where the author has managed to sync two shots of the Bard plus the somolos audio to fine effect.
There are also very cool split screen effects now and again.
These are all new features to fan produced Dylan DVD, and all highly entertaining and effective.
Its clear that beyond the standard dozen or two hours that a 2 camera sound upgrade might take, this labour of love has a great deal of extra effort put in. This is not experimentation, the experimentation was done first, and now we get to enjoy the fruit.

The only bummer to mention regarding this item is the unfortunate obstruction of side stage cables which mar, but by no means ruin all shots from camera 1.

I will allow the performance to speak for itself.

This is one of, if not the, coolest fan shot and authored DVDs in the catalog so far, and highly recommended viewing.