By AL GONZÁLEZ
For BG Independent News
Bob Dylan and his band performed at the Stranahan Theater on April 17. Fresh off of the critically acclaimed biopic “A Complete Unknown” starring Timothée Chalamet and a film adaptation of the Broadway Musical, “Girl from the North Country” in the works, Dylan is still a formidable presence in popular culture. The audience was a mix from hardcore fans to first timers. Maybe it was the sudden warm Ohio weather or the chance to see an Oscar-Pulitzer-Grammy winning Nobel Laureate but the audience seemed in good spirits before the show. Dylan’s last Toledo show was at the Toledo Zoo Amphitheatre in 2011 that featured Leon Russell.
[RELATED: BGSU professor Alberto Gonzalez reflects on Dylan’s ‘Rough & Rowdy Ways’]
As the Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour name suggests, almost half of the songs performed are from Dylan’s 2020 studio recording “Rough and Rowdy Ways.” The show is a mix of 17 older and more recent songs beginning with “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” and ending with “Every Grain of Sand.” The older tunes are transformed into Dylan’s current musical style. Perhaps the most recognizable among the older songs is, “It Ain’t Me Babe.” The musical tone of the show is close to the somber “Time Out of Mind.” But the band kicks in with a jazzy approach to “When I Paint My Masterpiece” and “Desolation Row.”
Dylan’s piano is much more prominent on this tour than his keyboard playing on previous tours. He played extended harmonica solos on “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and “Every Grain of Sand.” Dylan’s voice can go from a wail to a whisper in a single line and he was especially clear tonight. The audience sat fully attuned to the stage with none of the listlessness of previous tours.
Dylan has had a consistent band since the Never Ending Tour days with Doug Lancio and Bob Britt on guitars, Tony Garnier on standup bass, and Anton Fig on drums. These remarkable musicians create Dylan’s distinctive sound which is blues-centered but has elements of country, swing, and jazz to lend an old-time feel to Dylan’s lyrical contemplations of mortality.
The motto for the tour is, “Things aren’t what they were . . .” If Dylan’s 1980s and 1990s tours were raucous celebrations of his expansive catalog, the approach now is sparse and intimate. “What are these dark days I see, in this world so badly bent?” Dylan asks in “Crossing the Rubicon.” In these newer songs, the world is fading—things aren’t what they were—and filled with tired resolve. In “False Prophet,” Dylan says, “I’m nothing like my ghostly appearance would suggest” deflecting for the 100th time attempts to “know” him and directing attention to the songs. It’s almost as if Dylan is finally confiding his most enduring truths in a voice that has sung the feelings of dozens of personas for over 60 years.
