Bob Dylan – Scarlet Town: Volume Two Review

Echoing, daunting piano work brings an immediacy to Scarlet Town: Volume Two. The days of Bob Dylan on the stage through 2018 are brought to life with a clanging horror. Wonder Boys has left its mark on the discography of Dylan but his performances of Things Have Changed almost two decades after the release of the film which won him an Academy Award remains fascinating. His love for the track and the love received from the crowd should not be a big surprise. Perhaps it is the desire to hear his deep cuts which run through the audiences documented by this unofficial bootleg. What had changed for Dylan in this period was studio confidence. A skill for the mixing and recording process. Does it lend itself to his stage appearances? Most certainly. Just listen to the rearrangements made on Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.  

Swaggering new musical arrays are put together for these Dylan pieces. Settle into some ragtime-like instrumental displays on Duquesne Whistle which do much of the heavy lifting for Dylan. It is a perfect collection. Scarlet Town: Volume Two tracks the 2018 tour and makes it clear the balance between instrumental innovation and rewarding vocal focuses is perfect. The more these unofficial bootlegs from the pre-Rough and Rowdy Ways tour you get through, the more those usual suspects are present. Tangled Up in Blue and All Along the Watchtower make for nice breaches into the popular parts of Dylan’s discography. The latter is stripped back with an extraordinarily lush bit of guitar work, a jutting and varied response to the rocky vocal performance. Visions of Johanna is a neat addition too.  

The Blonde on Blonde track makes more than a few appearances in these recent recordings. Dylan continues to coax reactions from his audience with one of his most elusive songs to date. Constant shifts and a fascinating display of poetry without the specifics needed to give it that emotional push. Such is the quality of his writing and when it is given a go on stage, the intrigue and mystery are right there. His popular tracks returned to the fold and the likes of Like a Rolling Stone sound superb. They replaced the heavy cover days but by this stage, the post-Triplicate days, Dylan had all the practice he needed for the next, original step. You can hear it in the Slow Train Coming rips, particularly Gotta Serve Somebody. It has stood the test of time. 

A cover of James Brown closes this collection out and Scarlet Town serves as the fine balance Dylan would take to his tours after this. A Man’s World marks a constant sign of quality Dylan could now deal. His instrumental sway and the band backing him had hit their groove and did not lose it. It continued through the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. With the benefit of hindsight, we can hear the earliest fragments coming together, a neat reminder of how long a process it takes for art to fall into place. Dylan may not be as prolific as his earliest years, but he can still offer up those booming, insightful moments. He does so with covers of his favourite tracks and born-again-era adaptations of his lesser-loved pieces.