Making it to the end of Trouble No More feels like the final steps of a pilgrimage. What we can learn about Bob Dylan from this Bootleg Series entry is plentiful. His remarkable shift in interest would derail his writing style and hear him focus on the divine and truly believed in higher powers. Part of it is admirable, another part is fatal. The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More has no luck in reinventing this period for Dylan as an artistically moved time but Live in London, as with the Live in Toronto pack before it, does well to understand the stage presence of Dylan was an ever-evolving part. It was a time of disinterest in his popular works and an overwhelming desire to play contemporary material, which still stands on the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour, takes the stage.
Nothing is special about London beyond it being a capital city. It is just as worried and underwhelming as the rest of the country but the grandeur certainly swirls around it as a cultural explosion. Dylan being a part of that is a rewarding listen and by this point in the collection, hearing Gotta Serve Somebody is mandatory. And yet through all of this desire to hold onto these new moments, the best bits of Live in London are the performances of his better-known tracks. Like a Rolling Stone comes out of nowhere and is a nice break before Man Gave Names to All the Animals, one of the more puzzling and on-the-nose examples of this religious period. Maggie’s Farm and Dead Man, Dead Man sound exceptional here. It is from a period of live work where Dylan was not quite at the top of his game. But even then, there is much to love about this performance.
Ballad of a Thin Man may be the best bit of this. It benefits greatly from the backing singers Dylan relied on during this time and the confident guitar work heard underneath his vocal lead is divine. Therein lies the great success of this religious period in a longer-term sense. Dylan is still moved by the same faith as this in his modern times but has found a way to meet in the middle between cool, contemporary grooves and praise for the almighty. He manages to blur the line in his Rough and Rowdy Ways performances in a similar fashion to this Ballad of a Thin Man performance. If you were to take one song from this massive collection, take this. A performance of Lenny Bruce is a shock to those partially listening. One of those songs you can stay fond of despite the fascinating origins.
Ultimately, Live in London feels like neat stock for those craving a slice of live Dylan performances. Officially releases ones, that is. There is no short supply of his performances across the globe but few of these official releases have much quality to them. Flickers of playfulness can be heard on this Mr Tambourine Man performance; Dylan’s band wait for the cheers to fade before punching in an instrumental layer. It is all fun and games for a man moved by a divine thought. A far stronger collection of officially released live performances than the standalone releases. At least they found the light of day eventually. Live in London is a grand piece of work, albeit one which suffers the weight of looser, Saved-era material.
