Reliant on the hits and somewhat bereft of confidence, Bob Dylan continued taking to the stage. Throughout the early 1990s, is a drifter without cause, an aimlessness in playing the hits to a still reciprocative crowd. Not until the MTV Unplugged session did Dylan find himself back in the good graces of critically relevant performance, not even with the release of solid covers album, Good As I Been to You. This show, taken from around the time of that cover album’s release, features Dylan doing what he does best, reinventing his classics on the fly. Those continued reimaginations, the flickers of change and the winds of a legacy in motion, are what become the major selling points of this show. Hollywood 1992 is by no means a bad show, either. It has the solid form Dylan would take at the turn of the century, stripping away the hokey rock style of Real Live and Dylan and the Dead.
This show, where the two drummers make little difference to early moments like the Black Muddy River cover or Just Like a Woman, feels like a remnant of the rocking past. Dylan was not quite ready to trade in those performances, and there is always, on the fringe, a suggestion he would hammer it back home. What he adopts on the Hollywood 1992 performance, though, is an easy-going set. This is still a sound with charm and plenty to love for those in attendance. For those listening now, it translates well. You can hear the grooves of a performer trying to reclaim his place at the top of the pile. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again is a pleasant surprise and is the first track of the set to truly capture the sound Dylan would use in his live shows for decades. Those softer touches from Dylan, but the instrumental freedom and risk that surrounds him, is the fine line he continues to walk.
Spillovers into instrumental jams are the best parts of Hollywood 1992. It happens a handful of times, and each moment is a grand summary of what Dylan still strives for. Those instrumental spots are the feeling of the show coming to life, the spontaneity from Bucky Baxter and Tony Garnier is a thrill. Dylan sounds looser because of this aimlessness, not in a sense of losing his way or interest, but in the desire to take more risks, to push these songs further. It certainly works for the likes of Mr. Tambourine Man and a stunning inclusion of Idiot Wind. There is an ever-changing presence to this set. Dylan and the band slow it down for those Blood on the Tracks moments, but two songs later are rocking like their tours of the late 1980s with Everything is Broken.
A welcome balance, then, of the old and, at the time, new. Oh Mercy fits in well with those classics of the show. It may surprise listeners to see Hollywood 1992 ends on a double bill of Ballad of a Thin Man and Blowin’ in the Wind. Those rocking last moments are a real treat. Dylan begins with a suggestion of nervousness, a sense that the shows are more out of instinct than the creative urge, but he proves this is not the case by the end. With riotous performances of Love Minus Zero/No Limit and She Belongs to Me heard within, there is a chance to hear Dylan deliver on what modern fans want. A playthrough of the so-called classics in about as straight a vocal performance as you can find from Dylan. An exceptional set, a strong voice making the most of a struggle in the studio, Hollywood 1992 is an excellent show by the end.
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