It goes without saying by now that the latter-day Bob Dylan is something of an acquired taste, but for Sydneysiders who have acquired it, or were open to doing so, the recent run of theatre shows was a rare treat to be savoured.
Realising that the concrete barns like the Sydney Entertainment Centre aren’t built for his intimate blues sound, Dylan (or perhaps we have promoter Michael Chugg to thank for the change) has shifted to storied venues that enhance his musical and personal aura.
On previous tours, Dylan has changed his setlist nightly while (with the exception of the one-off Brisbane club show) each night on this tour has been the same, song for song. What this lacks in spontaneity it makes up for in polish, as the superb five-piece band gets the best out of every note.
While Charlie Sexton on lead guitar shines, this band is an ensemble in which each member and Dylan himself, at the centre mic or stabbing away on piano, is more integrated into the whole sound than many of his past groups. For an artist who has elevated unknowability to a living performance art and who may be (it’s one of various theories) even now using a bunch of superfluous mics to hide behind, his physical presentation on stage is very open. There’s a lot of feet wide apart pointed straight out, hands on cocked hips in a manner that can only be described as vamping. Bob is happy, smiling, lots of hand gestures accompanying the lyrics.
The setlist is heavy on the post-1997 albums; particularly the most recent, Tempest, and Dylan sang them with care, relishing every sardonic or poignant observation. The crowd loves it when he whips out the harmonica and his style is instantly familiar. Older songs get melody makeovers but they are not the unrecognisable puzzles of some previous tours, and “Simple Twist of Fate” gets a few enjoyably sly lyrical changes.
With a man in his mid 70s it’s natural to wonder if Australia has seen its final Dylan show. Betting on Dylan doing anything predictable has been a losing game for half a century but after the house lights came up on the final show at the Opera House, we could be content that we had seen one of our lifetime’s most important cultural figures as a still vital, ever-moving artistic force.
