A five-hour compilation made up of three months’ worth of touring would be impossible for many artists. Not for Bob Dylan bootleggers, though, who provide four albums worth of material from the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. A cacophony of instrumental noise and rapturous applause opens Same Old Witchcraft, a delightful compilation of songs performed by Dylan and the band across this tour. Is it the best-ever tour Dylan has delivered? The Rough and Rowdy Ways shows are coming close to the peak. Is it the contemporary sway which we receive? Or is it the fact that you can still attend those shows? Maybe both. We can only wade through the waters of bootleg copies when it comes to the past, which makes the present, those shows which are set to finish in September, even more appealing. Disc one, At the Worst Time, at the Worst Place, captures an excellent tour, giving those in attendance a chance to revisit.
For those who were not around for the Fall 2022 tour (known as Winter to the civilised world), this is an exceptional documentation of the tour. The “no electronics” rule appears to have been all too easy to get around. Cavemen discovered fire, Dylan fans discovered a workaround to Yondr pouches. Everywhere from Magdeburg to Hull, Nottingham to Berlin, can be found here. An exceptional compilation of predominantly Rough and Rowdy Ways performances. Skipping to the performances you attended, the glamorous city of Hull, rekindles the memories of being seated for a truly moving I Contain Multitudes. There are moments across this compilation which, attending or not, rekindle that first-time listen love for Rough and Rowdy Ways. What an intense album it is, and what an adaptation it is given on stage. A performance worth seeing again and again, with a False Prophet performance from Oslo offering another brilliant moment.
Dylan sounds crystal clear across these performances, the instrumentals soft but eventually swelling into grand arrangements, bold interpretations of songs old and new. When I Paint My Masterpiece is a delightful addition to the set, not just for the context it brings in, suggesting Dylan is still searching for that perfect song, but in the instrumental variations it is given. A slower tempo, a swaying momentum, it makes all the difference. A true highlight of At the Worst Time, at the Worst Place is the Oslo performance, but I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight in Amsterdam, Mother of Muses from Nottingham, and Every Grain of Sand in Gothenburg are also crucial performances. These moments are the best of the bunch when highlighting the overlap of classic tracks and contemporary, mood-setting songs.
At the Worst Time, at the Worst Place features a few performances which highlight how great Dylan sounds. His recent tours have offered the grizzled vocal work which fits the context of Rough and Rowdy Ways so well. A few moments throughout this compilation have Dylan sounding a little lighter, another chance to hear the vocal range as an active choice rather than something to be disappointed by. Lend an ear to Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine) to get a fuller picture of that. Some of the best performances from the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour to date can be found here, though many of them are the repositioning of classic tracks, rather than the excellent contemporary material. Still, Key West in Copenhagen and I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You in Cardiff are highlights of the Fall 2022 show, whatever Fall is, anyway.
