Saturday, 12 November 2011
Friday, 11 November 2011
DYLAN Live: A Discussion.
HOW DYLAN CONCERT EXPECTATIONS HAVE CHANGED
I was listening, the other day, to 'Sugar Baby' from Hanover - and it was terrible: just terrible. So bad I felt almost bereft. And then I said so, in private, to the estimable Rainer Vesely of Vienna, and he sent me this response, which seemed to me so admirably expressed that I asked (and obtained) his permission to reprint it here. He wrote this:
Back from Innsbruck and all the way on the road I was thinking about how to describe for you why I really liked the concert. Even more: why I was deeply impressed... I think what he is doing now, and maybe since 2010 - since he crawled out from his hiding place behind the keyboard, where he ducked away from 2005-2009 - is staging a 90-100 minute drama, in which he puts much, much more emphasis on his physical presence than ever before. He really acts(!) and recites, gestures, mimicks, uses – very consciously!! – his weird way of walking, knee-bending, staring, half-closing or wide-opening his eyes etc. and not only when being center stage but also behind the keyboards. And this presence is so overwhelming, especially since he looks so trim and fit again, that you (well, me and many others) just don’t mind the bellowing and raspy sounds coming out of his mouth.
I understand very well that just listening to a CD or mp3 of the concert can make one shiver with embarrassment. The thing is: where in years long gone the singing, real singing, has been the main attraction, the recitation now is just part of the whole experience. There’s no use any more in recording it: you have to see it, have to be there. Also, the moments that stick in one's mind after the show, and that are exchanged with friends, have shifted from “Oh, when he stretched those vowels over five bars …” to “ Oh, when he pressed both fists to his chest when singing ‘Don’t get up gentlemen’ and then opened his arms and eyes wide for ‘I’m only passing through’”. I dare say, Michael, that even you would have loved it if you haad been with us in the front.
So I guess we really (once again) have to change our expectations and our views of what a Bob Dylan concert is.
posted by Michael Gray | 6:13 PM
8 Comments:
Anonymous said...
My feelings exactly. Also, his band is terrific. Not *The Band* but a great band nonetheless. It's still a wonderful show and tell me anybody of stature who doesn't just play the hits. I'm a Geordie, nigh on 46. Wish I'd seen him in 65/66, 69, 74, 78. Missed them, too young. But saw him in 81 and many times since. Just one show I hated, the rest a dream. Like going to a corrida, part of the thrill is you don't know if you're going to get a slaughter or a profound dance.
6:35 PM
Singing Bear said...
Is there any other artist who would be forgiven for singing like a rabid dog and praised because he now makes funny gestures and wiggles a bit? This is simply ridiculous. Let me state clearly now that I am a Bob Dylan fanatic. No artist means as much to me or has given me so much pleasure and food for thought since I first encountered his work in the 70's. Also, I've seen him live many times and, on the whole, had a fun time. Having said that, let's call it as is: he now sounds pretty dreadful (and being a musical artist, how he SOUNDS is what really counts). His voice, as least in the live context, is shot to pieces and the constant touring doesn't seem to have done his muse too many favours judging by the quality of the songs on 'Together Through Life'. I find it ever so slightly disturbing that so many Dylan fans don't seem to accept what is happening (here) - the great man is grinding his art into dust. Also, take a look at the set lists for the recent tour - how many times do we want to hear these songs? How many times does he want to play them? It's the same old thing, night after night. This is a crying shame bordering on artistic tragedy and it's high time we admitted it. Still, I know I will be a lone voice: the Boblings will never admit he's now wearing the king's new clothes. Bob, do yourself a favour, get off the road, write some songs and enjoy life a little.
9:57 AM
Glenn said...
Well, I loved that Sugar Baby ... But yes, being there is so much better.
9:57 AM
Anonymous said...
I have always thought his records were about the words and his concerts were about the music. Not too much anymore. Concerts are now about seeing Dylan live and acting out his songs. The band is good but seems to sleep walk thru many songs. His singing is barely tolerable. But the entire package of his performances are still remarkable.
11:18 AM
Anonymous said...
Does this: "I dare say, Michael, that even you would have loved it if you had been with us in the front."
suggest that if one is further back one does not or cannot enjoy it?
11:34 AM
Rajan Mahadevan said...
Dylan still lives through the words he wrote at any time when he sings them anytime on stage. The emphasizing may differ, but the dramatic effect is there for him to feel, for others to see. Already knowing the words by heart, most in the audience hardly complain when Dylan is incomprehensible, they follow the words nonetheless. At this rate, songman Dylan stands to end up one day like dance-man Mr Bojangles, about whom no attention is paid these days.
11:59 AM
Anonymous said...
Its great that Dylan is still doing it. Dylan was never really great live. Even though his years with The BAND were his best live. Now its rather pathetic at times. His voice is just horrible his arrangements are rather poor. But his ego many times stands in the way too. I heard one song he wouldn t even let Mark Knoffer do a lead. If Dylan was really brilliant he change it though. Talk his song rather than try and sing them and play them less loud maybe more accoustically.
12:09 PM
Anonymous said...
the trouble is all that gesticulating only plays to those very close. when he starts playing venues the size of my living room, i'll start going to watch.
I was listening, the other day, to 'Sugar Baby' from Hanover - and it was terrible: just terrible. So bad I felt almost bereft. And then I said so, in private, to the estimable Rainer Vesely of Vienna, and he sent me this response, which seemed to me so admirably expressed that I asked (and obtained) his permission to reprint it here. He wrote this:
Back from Innsbruck and all the way on the road I was thinking about how to describe for you why I really liked the concert. Even more: why I was deeply impressed... I think what he is doing now, and maybe since 2010 - since he crawled out from his hiding place behind the keyboard, where he ducked away from 2005-2009 - is staging a 90-100 minute drama, in which he puts much, much more emphasis on his physical presence than ever before. He really acts(!) and recites, gestures, mimicks, uses – very consciously!! – his weird way of walking, knee-bending, staring, half-closing or wide-opening his eyes etc. and not only when being center stage but also behind the keyboards. And this presence is so overwhelming, especially since he looks so trim and fit again, that you (well, me and many others) just don’t mind the bellowing and raspy sounds coming out of his mouth.
I understand very well that just listening to a CD or mp3 of the concert can make one shiver with embarrassment. The thing is: where in years long gone the singing, real singing, has been the main attraction, the recitation now is just part of the whole experience. There’s no use any more in recording it: you have to see it, have to be there. Also, the moments that stick in one's mind after the show, and that are exchanged with friends, have shifted from “Oh, when he stretched those vowels over five bars …” to “ Oh, when he pressed both fists to his chest when singing ‘Don’t get up gentlemen’ and then opened his arms and eyes wide for ‘I’m only passing through’”. I dare say, Michael, that even you would have loved it if you haad been with us in the front.
So I guess we really (once again) have to change our expectations and our views of what a Bob Dylan concert is.
posted by Michael Gray | 6:13 PM
8 Comments:
Anonymous said...
My feelings exactly. Also, his band is terrific. Not *The Band* but a great band nonetheless. It's still a wonderful show and tell me anybody of stature who doesn't just play the hits. I'm a Geordie, nigh on 46. Wish I'd seen him in 65/66, 69, 74, 78. Missed them, too young. But saw him in 81 and many times since. Just one show I hated, the rest a dream. Like going to a corrida, part of the thrill is you don't know if you're going to get a slaughter or a profound dance.
6:35 PM
Singing Bear said...
Is there any other artist who would be forgiven for singing like a rabid dog and praised because he now makes funny gestures and wiggles a bit? This is simply ridiculous. Let me state clearly now that I am a Bob Dylan fanatic. No artist means as much to me or has given me so much pleasure and food for thought since I first encountered his work in the 70's. Also, I've seen him live many times and, on the whole, had a fun time. Having said that, let's call it as is: he now sounds pretty dreadful (and being a musical artist, how he SOUNDS is what really counts). His voice, as least in the live context, is shot to pieces and the constant touring doesn't seem to have done his muse too many favours judging by the quality of the songs on 'Together Through Life'. I find it ever so slightly disturbing that so many Dylan fans don't seem to accept what is happening (here) - the great man is grinding his art into dust. Also, take a look at the set lists for the recent tour - how many times do we want to hear these songs? How many times does he want to play them? It's the same old thing, night after night. This is a crying shame bordering on artistic tragedy and it's high time we admitted it. Still, I know I will be a lone voice: the Boblings will never admit he's now wearing the king's new clothes. Bob, do yourself a favour, get off the road, write some songs and enjoy life a little.
9:57 AM
Glenn said...
Well, I loved that Sugar Baby ... But yes, being there is so much better.
9:57 AM
Anonymous said...
I have always thought his records were about the words and his concerts were about the music. Not too much anymore. Concerts are now about seeing Dylan live and acting out his songs. The band is good but seems to sleep walk thru many songs. His singing is barely tolerable. But the entire package of his performances are still remarkable.
11:18 AM
Anonymous said...
Does this: "I dare say, Michael, that even you would have loved it if you had been with us in the front."
suggest that if one is further back one does not or cannot enjoy it?
11:34 AM
Rajan Mahadevan said...
Dylan still lives through the words he wrote at any time when he sings them anytime on stage. The emphasizing may differ, but the dramatic effect is there for him to feel, for others to see. Already knowing the words by heart, most in the audience hardly complain when Dylan is incomprehensible, they follow the words nonetheless. At this rate, songman Dylan stands to end up one day like dance-man Mr Bojangles, about whom no attention is paid these days.
11:59 AM
Anonymous said...
Its great that Dylan is still doing it. Dylan was never really great live. Even though his years with The BAND were his best live. Now its rather pathetic at times. His voice is just horrible his arrangements are rather poor. But his ego many times stands in the way too. I heard one song he wouldn t even let Mark Knoffer do a lead. If Dylan was really brilliant he change it though. Talk his song rather than try and sing them and play them less loud maybe more accoustically.
12:09 PM
Anonymous said...
the trouble is all that gesticulating only plays to those very close. when he starts playing venues the size of my living room, i'll start going to watch.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Simon and Garfunkel, 1969
A vintage programme from a turbulent time in America's past. Considered controversial at the time, it features footage of Simon and Garfunkel on stage, in the studio and on tour. It also integrates video montages of key events of the era, including news clips of Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, activist Cesar Chavez and the Poor People's March on Washington. Songs include America, So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright, Bridge over Troubled Water, Scarborough Fair, El Condor Pasa (If I Could), Punky's Dilemma, Mrs Robinson, Mystery Train, The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy), The Boxer, Homeward Bound, The Sound of Silence and several others.
Catch it on BBC iPlayer until 16 November: http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01770d9/
Simon and Garfunkel - The Harmony Game
In Jennifer Lebeau's film, Simon and Garfunkel: The Harmony Game, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel talk openly and eloquently about an extraordinarily creative period in their career - the making of Bridge Over Troubled Water. The story behind what was to become their final album has long been shrouded in rock and roll mythology and is told in gripping detail in these rare interviews. Archive footage is used to reveal technical breakthroughs and the emotional feelings the two artists had for each other.
On BBC iPlayer until Tuesday 27 December: http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b0171r6x/
Last night's set list
At The Habit, York: -
There Stands The Glass
Things We Said Today
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Mind Your Own Business
Very much the worse for drink, but who cares? Not me.
There Stands The Glass
Things We Said Today
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Mind Your Own Business
Very much the worse for drink, but who cares? Not me.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Monday, 7 November 2011
John Mayall in Concert plus special guest Oli Brown Band - The Sage, Gateshead
Signed by the man himself.
Oli Brown Band
Here was a young band, but very much steeped in the history of UK blues: a cross between Taste, Ten Years After and The Groundhogs. Oh, and with a bit of Mountain and Cream here and there. Excellent guitar playing from Mr Brown. A blues reworking of Blackstreet’s hip-hop No Diggity was a surprise. Their song Mister Wilson featured a (maybe unintentional) quote from George Harrison’s I Dig Love. An enjoyable opening set which finished with I Feel On Top Of The World.
John Mayall
Looking sprightly for a guy who celebrated his 70th birthday in 2003, John Mayall commenced his set with a solo performance of the Sonny Boy Williamson influenced Another Man. He then introduced the band: Greg Rzab – bass; Jay Davenport – drums and Rocky Athas – guitar.
They tore into All Your Love, one of several songs played on the night from 1966’s ‘Beano’ album and followed up with J B Lenoir’s Talk To Your Daughter which featured John on one of his custom guitars. The standards Have You Heard and Parchman Farm were joined by Albert King’s Oh Pretty Woman from 1967’s Crusade album, which featured some interesting musical duelling between organ and guitar.
Two new songs followed: the first featuring ‘scat’ singing and the last a lament to present woes called Tough Times Ahead. Then it was heads down for the finale Room To Move, an extended workout featuring a harmonica tour de force from John and lengthy bass and drum solos.
The nearly full Sage audience brought back the band for an encore and were treated to an excellent Hideaway featuring Oli Brown on 2nd guitar. It seemed to this reviewer that there was a little reticence on the part of Rocky Athas who watched Oli like a hawk throughout and tried unsuccessfully to outplay him. Such is the magic of live music.
IR
IR
Seaton Delaval Hall
Rowan Moore
The Observer
Sunday 6 November 2011
Seaton Delaval Hall, built between 1719 and 1732, is the last of Sir John Vanbrugh's houses and the most satisfying. Recently acquired by the National Trust, it is a punchy, pithy work, less verbose than Blenheim Palace, more daring than Castle Howard, the architect's most famous works. It is stony both inside and out, stands on an exposed spot, designed so that its owner, an admiral, could look out to sea. In theory it's classical, but the former playwright Vanbrugh gave it a drama of advancing and receding forms that can best be called romantic, long before the romantic movement had been invented. Both admiral and architect died before it was completed and it was later damaged by fire. It was never completely restored, leaving it partly blackened and with some of the aspect of a ruin. The ceiling in the hall never returned, leaving a view into the rafters, and some statues are limbless – in keeping with the brooding, elemental atmosphere of the original design.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/nov/06/panoramic-image-seaton-delaval
360 degree panoramic view of the hall: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/interactive/2011/nov/06/360-degree-image-seaton-delaval-hall
Sunday, 6 November 2011
The Beach Boys - SMiLE review by Terry Kelly
Junked back in 1967, as too avant-garde for Beach Boys fans, Smile was composer Brian Wilson's highly ambitious sonic love letter to the American landscape.
Widely bootlegged over the last 20 years, this album at last allows fans to legally purchase some of the most experimental sounds in the rock canon.
But in all honesty, the best bits in Smile are the most musically structured, from the choirlike opener, Our Prayer, to Heroes and Villains, and from the lovely rural hymn Cabin Essence to the classic Good Vibrations and the peerless Surf's Up, the latter being one of the greatest moments in pop music.
This two-CD set, which includes working tracks for the 1966-67 sessions, has been worth the long wait.
10/10.
Terry Kelly
Saturday, 5 November 2011
Friday, 4 November 2011
Last night's set list
At the Big Jug, Durham: -
Falling
Happy Birthday
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Mind Your Own Business
The very last set list from the Big Jug, as this was the last ever 'Buskers' Night' or so we were told. Amazingly the place was packed with punters and players, so who knows. It was someone's birthday hence song 2, not the Stevie Wonder thing.
Hostilities will be resumed at TJ Doyle's, Sunderland next week.
Falling
Happy Birthday
Only Love Can Break Your Heart
Mind Your Own Business
The very last set list from the Big Jug, as this was the last ever 'Buskers' Night' or so we were told. Amazingly the place was packed with punters and players, so who knows. It was someone's birthday hence song 2, not the Stevie Wonder thing.
Hostilities will be resumed at TJ Doyle's, Sunderland next week.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Tom and Terry on the Telly...
...talking to Diane Abbot about 'Red' Ellen Wilkinson and the Jarrow March on BBC iPlayer. Paul was busy with his selfless charity work for the orphans of Cleadon Village that day, otherwise he would've made his contribution too. You'll have to wade through pieces on a heart surgeon and the increase in people converting to Islam before you get to it. You only have until Monday to watch it; after that, it self-destructs: http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b017b3vv/
Last night's set lists
At The Habit, York: -
Set 1: a duo with Ron doing Phil & Don (mostly): -
All I Have To Do Is Dream
Love Hurts
Rhythm of the Rain (Ok it's by The Cascades but who cares)
Let It Be Me
Set 2: final turn of the night (thanks Mark): -
Heart Of Gold
Everybody's Talkin'
I Don't Want To Talk About It
A magical night; some low down stonkin' blues and great vocals from Chris Helme. A winner.
Set 1: a duo with Ron doing Phil & Don (mostly): -
All I Have To Do Is Dream
Love Hurts
Rhythm of the Rain (Ok it's by The Cascades but who cares)
Let It Be Me
Set 2: final turn of the night (thanks Mark): -
Heart Of Gold
Everybody's Talkin'
I Don't Want To Talk About It
A magical night; some low down stonkin' blues and great vocals from Chris Helme. A winner.
Wednesday, 2 November 2011
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Glen Campbell at Newcastle City Hall - review by Terry Kelly
City Hall,
Newcastle
SINGING legend Glen Campbell gave a brilliant farewell performance before an adoring Tyneside audience.
Diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease earlier this year, the enduring 75-year-old country and pop star has decided to make his 2011 tour his last.
But while he was greeted with a standing ovation as soon as he walked on to the stage of the City Hall, the son of poor share-cropping parents from Arkansas ensured the concert was no mere sentimental exercise.
Without any signs of nervousness or confusion, he delivered a peerless performance, with all his prodigious singing and playing powers intact.
There were several 'goose-bump' moments, including Galveston, Where's the Playground Susie and a truly haunting version of Jimmy Webb's The Moon's a Harsh Mistress, Campbell washed by a single spotlight.
Songwriter Webb has played a big part in Campbell's career and his timeless Wichita Lineman was similarly greeted with rapturous applause.
Backed by the highly talented Instant People, which includes two of Campbell's sons and a daughter, the man from Arkansas also showcased songs from his new Ghost On the Canvas album, including A Better Place, which closed the show on an emotional, lump-in-the-throat high.
Glen Campbell left the stage for the last time in the North East to a deserved long standing ovation and loud applause ringing in his ears.
Terry Kelly
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