Euro 2005 Manchester (Tambourine Man Records TMR 107/108)
MEN Arena, Manchester, England – November 16th, 2005
Disc 1: Maggie’s Farm, She Belongs To Me, Cry A While, Lay Lady Lay, Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine), Million Miles, Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again, I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, Man In The Long Black Coat, Down Along The Cove
Disc 2: Girl Of The North Country, Highway 61 Revisited, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, Summer Days, Like A Rolling Stone, All Along The Watchtower. Bonus tracks, Nottingham, England – November 15th, 2005: Love Minus Zero/No Limit, Under The Red Sky, Blind Willie McTell, John Brown
Euro 2005 Manchester is the third release by Mr. Tambourine Man covering the last Dylan tour and the second from the UK. This tape sounds very similar to the Birmingham tape. It is very close to the stage and very clear. The Manchester Arena itself has received complaints about the acoustics and that is really the only distraction on this recording. There is a noticeable echo throughout that couldn’t be helped no matter what kind of mastering the label could do. But it’s very enjoyable and there is minimal audience interference (someone close to the recording claps along to “Down Along The Cove” for instance).Just like the other release, Dylan and the band deliver yet another classic performance. “She Belongs To Me” is very beautifully delivered with Herron’s steel guitar making this a classic performance. Several reviews use the word “sublime” to describe this number. “Cry A While” sounds very delicate with the banjo underlying the melody. “Million Miles” and “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” are given very jazzy almost swing bass lines that is very catchy. “Girl Of The North Country” is very laid back with a harp solo. “Highway 61 Revisited” has been singled out as the highlight of the entire show and this performance is very powerful and the set closes with “Summer Days” which closed a majority of the dates on this tour. Dylan struggles a bit during “Like A Rolling Stone” and “All Along The Watchtower” is very strong and well received. The liner notes claim the bonus tracks come from Newcastle but are really from the Nottingham Arena in Nottingham the night preceding Manchester. The sound quality is the same as the main tape on this release being very clear. “Love Minus Zero/ No Limit” sounds very dreamy with the steel guitar and dreamy melody on guitar. “John Brown”, which closes out this release, is an acoustic version that again sounds great. The packaging is very good using the blue tint to the western theme utilized for all three TMR releases. Euro 2005 Manchester is another very good title worth having. (GS)
