Bob Dylan – Roadhouse Blues Review

For the seasoned bootleg listener, a few hallmarks of quality are worth looking out for. How does the guitar sound? Are the vocals front and centre or overwhelmed by the percussion? Will the harmonica spots burst your eardrums? Very real questions to take into consideration, not just because a rule of three proves useful as an introduction to any article, but because Roadhouse Blues checks off all three requirements. A 2003 performance from Zurich, Switzerland, may not turn many heads at first, but the setlist is the reason to listen in. A time when Bob Dylan was riding the post-Time Out of Mind and Academy Awards win high, when the songwriter was accepted no matter what he released. His performances at the time are tremendous showcases of a new fire burning through his work. This is a live stage presence which was simply not possible a decade before. 

You can hear that rekindled love for the classics throughout Roadhouse Blues, an interest which began with the MTV Unplugged session and has continued ever since. Crucial to this is finding a new instrumental purpose for classic tracks. There is a breeziness to Roadhouse Blues, the Zurich performance, which has Dylan tackle the likes of Cry A While and Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues. Early doors for those songs and neat interpretations, slowed tempo, and a country-blues blur. It has served him well for two decades after this performance. Here, it sounds as though the band has found a considerably solid groove, a momentum which they can change as and when Dylan wishes. Those moments can be heard on Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues, where the instrumentals take over, almost out of the blue, with Dylan opting for a brief spell of harmonica work.  

Latter parts of the set are equally as impressive. Dylan and the band find a brilliant instrumental groove which lasts for much of the show. It sounds as though Dylan is keen to let the guitar take precedent, though there are a few moments of showiness from the songwriter. Cold Iron Bounds is a nice surprise and has Dylan lead the charge of a roaring, rocking rendition. Those contemporary bits are still a strong draw for his setlist, with the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour showcasing the strength of his recent writings. The same was true for the Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft material, the former still featuring in his setlist. Rightly so. They are some of the strongest works the songwriter has offered and hearing them matched up with Highway 61 Revisited and Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine) is a treat.  

Not the whole concert, unfortunately, but what this near fifty-minute segment provides is an example of on-stage brilliance. Dylan was in fine form for this period of his career, and you can hear new life breathed into these songs. Roadhouse Blues is a tremendous experience – a taste of what many bootleggers have since captured when recording these performances. Some very best moments from Dylan here, and a lot of this is thanks to the instrumental overhaul he continually gives his greatest hits. Just one of many examples of that creativity in motion, a very entertaining experience and a must-listen for those who are hunting down Dylan bootlegs. This is live album release levels of quality for this recording. You cannot go wrong with that high bar. Roadhouse Blues is an exceptional time, even without half of the set.