Bob Dylan and Keith Richards – Seville 1991 Review

Bob Dylan does not get enough credit for his guitar work. His writing has naturally overtaken any instrumental prowess he displays, but there are glimmers of his brilliance. Bashing around on a grand piano or guitar work on stage for the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour has been quite dependable. Pairing Dylan with Keith Richards is, on paper, an insane double bill. It happened in Seville 1991. This would not be the last time these two paired up for an impressive performance on stage, and this would not be the best of their efforts. They seem committed to strange songs on this one, opening with Shake, Rattle ‘n’ Roll yet displaying no sign of affection for the song. Rather, this is an exercise in two legends of the stage and studio playing around with one another, both men at fascinating lulls in their careers at this point.  

No better way to bounce back, then, than playing around with instrumental excess. It works for the best of them and for Richards and Dylan, their twenty-minute set is rather fun. It is freed of any expectation, there is just the hope they will do something, anything, worth our time. A guitar legends show where the pair is keen to play anything but the songs that got them this status. Their performance is what you would expect. Not the out-of-body experience their studio work or glory days live productions would provide but serviceable material from players who can do little wrong. They had both come through an unsteady period in their careers and they were now, by the point of Seville 1991, almost home-free. For Dylan, it was a break from a messy studio experience and for Richards, it was gearing up for his second solo album, Main Offender.  

These stresses are at other ends of the musical spectrum but they create a desire to move away from their well-known materials, to find some freedom and liberation by jamming out to an audience. Their shared love of the blues decides many of the choices here, including a Freddie King cover, Going Down. A playthrough of Something Else follows and what becomes clear is the thrill of collaboration for the sake of it. There is no expectation for Dylan and Richards to get their head into a pile of mixing tape afterwards, no sense of getting bogged down in the blizzard of instrumental satisfaction in some studio far off from the stage. No, this is just a chance for two of the greats to toy with some of their favourite works, and it is liberating to hear.  

Seville 1991 may be just a little footnote in the longer span of each man’s career, but what a riotous time they both have on stage here. Dylan is in apt form; Richards steals the show and the litany of other instrumentalists applying their craft in this all-star experience is rather tremendous. At just twenty minutes, it provides a brief but brilliant slice of what the greats can do together. Dylan would collaborate with many of those in his time, as would Richards. But the two together, however short a performance it may be, are in exceptional form and it provides a refreshing break for those who are digging deep into their sound around the times. Dylan, on the back of Oh Mercy, and Richards with the exceptionally understated Talk is Cheap, make for quite the on-stage partnership.