Lonesome Day In Brooklyn (Stringman Record SR-020/021)
Prospect Park Bandshell, Brooklyn, NY – August 12, 2008
Disc 1 (63:06): Introduction, Rainy Day Women #12 & 35, Lay Lady Lay, Lonesome Day Blues, Girl Of The North Country, The Levee’s Gonna Break, Spirit On The Water, Honest With Me, John Brown, Highway 61 Revisited, Beyond The Horizon
Disc 2 (48:26): It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding), Nettie Moore, Summer Days, Masters Of War, Like A Rolling Stone, Thunder On The Mountain, Blowin’ In The Wind
Lonesome Day In Brooklyn captures Bob Dylan’s first ever concert in the New York borough. The bandshell at Prospect Park was an ideal venue with great acoustics. It enabled the taper to produce a very clear and well balanced audience recording of the event.
Stringman released this on professional CDR with full color inserts. It’s a great recording and would have made a really nice silver release.
The actual concert is a mixed bag, according to reviews posted on Bob’s Links. One of the attendees writes: “The other reviews seem to have captured the spirit of this show: definitely “hit and miss” to put it generously. The only tunes that were really compelling were Masters of War and maybe LARS. But reading a review of the Asbury Park show I am inspired to say YES, the sound mix SUCKED. If anyone in the Dylan camp ever reads these reviews, please fire the guy with tin ears behind the mixing board. His idea of mixing is 90% bass and 10% the rest.
“That mixed with Bob’s bass growl of a voice these days is the chief reason I feel that I am seeing more mediocre reviews than ever these days. Well, that and the fact that his current band sounds like an average lounge band compared to the soulful guitar driven Campbell/Sexton edition. Plus, Dylan subtracts half of his power by hiding behind a huge hat and playing keyboard at the side of the stage. I just watched the video of “Love Sick” from the MT dvd version and it is striking what a different experience it is of his genius. C’mon Bob”
