Bob Dylan at CasinoRama

Bob Dylan – CasinoRama
July 7,8th 2007

Here are my reflections from last weekend’s Bob Dylan shows at CasinoRama in Orillia, Ontario.

Saturday, July 7th

Bob’s voice was far more expressive than I have heard in years. The band picked up on this and repeatedly dropped low to let the vocals shine. At times they were playing more like a jazz combo than the blues bar band treatment they gave every song at their ACC show last November. Everything was getting the “Modern Times” treatment, and even songs I had heard many times before were interesting again.

I’m not going to say the crowd was old, but the largest cheer of Saturday night came for the lines:

“You think I'm over the hill / You think I'm past my prime / Let me see what you got / We can have a whoppin' time…”


Highlights:

Just Like a Woman: Amazing. When he hit the chorus and the word “Please” in “Please don’t let on/ that you knew me when” his voice had a vulnerability and desperation that I have never heard before.

Tangled up in Blue: Every verse was sung with a different melody, until he hit the last verse and sang it as if he was playing a harmonica solo.

Lowlights:

Blowing in the Wind: A schmaltzy pop arrangement sucked the remaining life force out of this once vital anthem.

Vocal Quality: A
Song Selection: B-
Band: A-


Sunday, July 8th

Maybe it was the back-to-back shows, but the croaky, hoarse voice was back. Disappointing, especially considering my raised expectations after the show the night before. Still, it was nice to see that the set list varied widely from the night before, and at times seeing Bob leaning back while playing guitar evoked footage from the Rolling Thunder Revue.

Highlights:

I Believe in You: where did this come from? It wasn’t Every Grain of Sand, but it would do.

Bob must have been feeling in a religious mood this Sunday. Not only did he play I Believe in You, but I picked up on crucifixion references in two other songs: “She took my crown of thorns” in Shelter from the Storm and “We all wear the same thorny crown” in When the Deal Goes Down.

Lowlights:

Shelter from the Storm: Never mind the fact that I was hoping for Simple Twist of Fate.

I’ve never been a fan of Bob reducing the melody of a song to the same note over and over again, except for the last word of a line, which is sung slightly higher. It’s something like: “Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Do-Fa,” over and over again. I’ve heard him do entire shows with every song like this, and while this wasn't that bad, I was left longing for the beauty of the original version.

Vocal Quality: B
Song Selection: B+
Band: B