Bob Dylan, ‘Stormy Weather’ (Rattlesnake RS 304/05)
Disk 1; Things Have Changed / Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright / Highway 61 Revisited / Beyond Here Lies Nothing / Stormy Weather / Pay In Blood / Melancholy Mood / Duquesne Whistle / Scarlet Town / Tangled Up In Blue / Early Roman Kings
Disk Two; Spirit On The Water / Love Sick / All Or Nothing At All / Desolation Row / Soon After Midnight / That Old Black Magic / Long And Wasted Years / Autumn Years / Blowin’ In The Wind / Ballad Of A Thin Man
Recorded live at the AFAS Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 17th, 2017.
There has hardly been a tranche of brand new Dylan field recordings as of late but the ones that we have heard have been wonderful. It’s a funny deal too as because of this reluctance to capture or rather release the shows, the producers that have been putting them out have rewarded the collectors with some stunning packaging, all the while, selling out their wares. This indifference to the NET from different labels has payed off substantially.
The Rattlesnake label, one of the few producers to have joined the launch party, have given us a show played at the AFAS Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The venue, a modern multi-room concert hall (Formally the Heineken Music Hall) is obviously well built acoustically as the label have gotten us a brilliant sounding recording of tonights show, very close, intimate and warm and a very good equal to that Crystal Cat box and Eat A Peach’s ‘That Old Black Magic’. Certainly as close as we can possibly believe that we’d get to an official recording to this leg of the tour or even a soundboard (Though I’d argue that that was a mute point at this stage) – The Dutch audience, neatly covert when they need to be, loud enough when the pressure of being at a Bob Dylan gets to them.
The show itself, not a million miles away from either of the other two shows – the set list static, the band is great, Dylan, well, we know what to expect now, we just have to keep up. His meandering trails across the pianos keyboard (Still no guitar, though there it sits if the mood gets to him eventually). An easy performance when the rockier tracks rumble along easily, the slower songs are delicately played enough to be perfect – I must admit, I didn’t detect as much as a bum note all night which is rare.
The packaging for this set is again up to the labels best, clear lines, though a strange un-Dylanish font for the cover. A packed booklet with photos from the tour and respectable, knowledgeable liner notes (From the Spaldings treasurer? Who knows, he doesn’t get a name check) throughout.
Certainly an entertaining listen, more that worthy of release and of a place in your collection. Possibly more easy to come about than the Crystal Cat box and on a par with the EAP set.
