Bob Dylan concert in Hollywood reveals his amped up and harder driven side

  Bob Dylan (Photo: AP)

Bob Dylan Returns To Hollywood Palladium With Charlie Sexton

By Phyllis Pollack

Bob Dylan’s first of three shows slated for Hollywood’s Palladium was amped up and rocking hard, with his current band being as much electric as it was electrifying. With this being their first week out, the band sounded as if it had been together for years, as Dylan was reunited with guitarist Charlie Sexton. Not mellowed out with age, Dylan’s vintage tracks were translated as powerfully, perhaps even more so, than in recent years, with Sexton refuelling and revving up Dylan’s rhythm section. Nothing was subdued about this show.

Dylan sported a long black suit jacket, adorned with bright red buttons, a red collar and red trim on his wrists. He wore matching black pants. Both pant legs were donned with a red stripe. His five band members wore identical grey suits and black shirts. Dylan sported a black bolero hat.

Earlier in the day, Dylan’s new album Christmas In The Heart was released, with all of his royalties earmarked for the UN World Food Programme and Crisis UK.

Dylan’s repertoire for the evening featured three songs from his forty-seventh album Together Through Life, his most recent previous release. This evening, his songs were translated harder and heavier than on their studio versions, while retaining their intensity, as well as their beauty on numbers like the enchanting “Nettie Moore.”

His lovely harp playing on “Ballad Of A Thin Man” was among his Dylan’s best moments of the evening.

The show began with the blues rocker “Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking.” Dylan’s raspy voice punctuated his lyrics with intensity matching the band’s rhythmic attack. It was during “Shooting Star” that Dylan first played harmonica at the show, which was greeted with thunderous applause. As his raspy voice proclaimed, “Listen to the engine,” the lyrical phrase could aptly describe his revved-up band.

The rhythmic intensity moved like a machine during “Cold Irons Bound.” Dylan obviously felt it, too, as he rhymically moved to the music. As the band played the song, Dylan grinned widely as he moved his harmonica towards his mouth. Every note mattered. Dylan offered harmonica on other tracks, including the soulfully delivered “I Feel A Change Coming On.”

Dylan’s growl during the slow, bluesy “My Wife’s Home Town” had the perfect match with Dylan’s own guitar playing during the song. Dylan offered guitar soloing during “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” which was interpreted with an almost country, folksy feel, despite the driven nature of the band. This song, as well as others, were well augmented by Tony Garnier’s stand-up bass. Dylan's gritty voice permeated past the scorching band, becoming more fiesty as the band's playing became more determined. Although Dylan never interfaced with Sexton or guitarist Stu Kimball, and Dylan never seemed to visually acknowledge them, their musical union could not have been more perfected.

Among other tracks the band played was the rockabilly inspired performance of “Thunder On The Mountain.” “High Water (For Charlie Patton)" was interlaced with banjo played by Donnie Herron, as Dylan returned to his guitar. During several songs, Dylan swayed to the music.

That it was raining heavily outside, and Los Angeles is expecting rain for the next few days, mattered little to the hypnotized audience, much of whom brought umbrellas with them.

Actor Johnny Depp was in the audience, roaming around the upper balcony.

Among the evening’s highlights were “Like A Rolling Stone” and the very danceable “Highway 61.” The evening ended with the Dylan-penned “All Along The Watchtower,” the hardest rocking song of the evening. The hard rock, bordering on metal feel added by Dylan’s drummer George Recile, rocked harder than music played by many artists far younger than Dylan. This rendition was nothing less than vicious.

There is no question when it comes to this thin man, Dylan’s growl is still as good as its bite.

Dylan will be playing at the Hollywood venue on October 14 and 15. The tour will continue with dates announced through mid-November.

Set List October 13, 2009:

Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking
Shooting Star
Beyond Here Lies Nothin’
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Cold Irons Bound
Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)
My Wife’s Home Town
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
High Water (For Charlie Patton)
I Feel A Change Comin’ On
Highway 61 Revisited
Nettie Moore
Thunder On The Mountain
Ballad Of A Thin Man
Like A Rolling Stone
Jolene
All Along The Watchtower

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