His “most applauded concert” in history. A high bar for Bob Dylan to set, a bold claim for any fan to make. Such is the beauty of opinion. It is inevitably better than Stuttgart 1991, that much is a given. From a glance at the setlist, this is very much a praise-worthy performance. Berlin 1996 hears Dylan bounce back into the spotlight after an MTV Unplugged performance blurred the line between his iconic image and modern-day desire. A rocking tone for these hits, a live debut of a Brenda Evans track, and a few nods to Grateful Dead songs in the wake of Jerry Garcia’s death. Berlin 1996 is a show which is a culmination not of new instrumental movements but of moments in time which were affecting Dylan. Calling this a spotless performance is an understatement. Dylan kicks on with an unexplainable, next-level urgency to his work with this show in Germany.
Between Drifter’s Escape and Shake Sugaree, it sounds as though audience members are accepting of the new Dylan. This is not a hits-laden show, not initially, anyway. There are some of his finest works in there, but he keeps Mr. Tambourine Man, Like a Rolling Stone, and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door off the setlist. It makes sense to do so when All Along the Watchtower, Positively 4th Street, and Watching the River Flow are so well received. What a trilogy of songs to hear through this set, too, each with an instrumental elongation worth hearing out. Bucky Baxter and Tony Garnier and guitar and bass respectively, maintain one of the all-time great stage pairings. Their work in backing Dylan is monumental, and the roaring fire, the intensity of these performances, is felt even on a fan recording. Such is the quality of Dylan and the band which brought him closer to Time Out of Mind. Those performances in the post-MTV Unplugged revival, but before the near-death experience, are incredible.
Dylan hits on a momentum quite unlike anything he had provided on stage before this period. There is a slickness to this performance, a sense the crowd are onboard despite the vastly different versions. It is hard not to love those Grateful Dead covers, too. Silvio and Friend of the Devil both feature and provide Dylan with a chance to pay tribute to a band he had, just a decade before, been touring with regularly. At his rocking best, that is what Berlin 1996 provides. Some of the finest guitar work you can hear in a Dylan tour from the 1990s, and with a few covers sprinkled in there for good measure, the focus is not just on the songwriter, but on the band. Prepare for the encore, too, arguably one of the best Dylan and the band has given.
From a cover of Robert Hunter and Garcia’s Alabama Getaway to a stripped-back and charming My Back Pages performance, the last three songs of this set is a sign of the cup running over, the brilliance continuing. There is a satisfying, heartbreaking part of this My Back Pages performance where the protest core is lost, replaced by an aged, wiser musician returning to his roots. This is one of the few times Dylan would grab that acoustic guitar with purpose, with the focus of reinvention making sense in the context of the song, rather than with the desire to seek out a new arrangement for his entertainment. Berlin 1996 hears Dylan give back to his faithful crowds, and he sounds delighted to do so.
