Bob Dylan – Rothbury Music Festival 2009 Review

Opening any bootleg and seeing it runs for nearly two-and-a-half hours is incredible, though a tad misleading. Bob Dylan did not get away with a set that long, not least for a music festival. It simply cannot happen. Artists are rarely, if ever, given the chance to perform for that long during a festival. Rothbury Music Festival 2009 is an interesting appearance from Dylan, one when stock in his public image was at a peak. His Chrysler adverts and endorsements of products came as a surprise, but they were a talking point which bolstered his ability to sell out larger shows and perform Love and Theft songs to unsuspecting audiences. Only a hero would include Po’ Boy in his setlist. A generous collection of extra songs is attached to the end of this bootleg, hence the marathon-like length. From Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat to Blowin’ in the Wind is Rothbury Music Festival 2009, an outstanding performance. 

Rhythm is the crucial part of this set. It would be the case for many of Dylan’s shows in the twenty-first century. The breeziness from the band, that lighter touch to the heavier-hitting songs, keeps them alive and well on stage. It is not because they are stripped of their harshness, far from it, but because the looser feel is all part of the appeal. Early in the set is a highlight reel experience from Dylan. Beyond Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat is Señor (Tales of Yankee Power) and Tangled Up in Blue, a trio of excellent vocal works and drifting, inviting instrumental work. Similar delight can be heard on High Water (For Charley Patton) and ‘Til I Fell in Love With You, two classics, though the former has not quite earned that status yet. It will do, in time. One of the very best not just from Love and Theft, but from this century. Dylan has a selection of songs released over the last twenty-five years which could be considered his very best, rivalling that of his hits.  

Those hits are brought out in quick succession here, with a triple bill of Highway 61 Revisited, Ballad of a Thin Man, and Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again acting as a thank you for listening to Po’ Boy. A great song all the same, but one which kills the pacing a bit. A nice song, nonetheless, one of those tracks which feels more like a buffer between the crowd pleasers than a definitive moment. It serves a very important purpose, as does Blowin’ in the Wind as the set closer. Rothbury Music Festival 2009 has Dylan show off a performance as close to what the crowd thinks they want as possible. A run-through of the hits, a few breaks here or there to refill their beverages, and a sombre final note.  

But part of the charm of listening back to these sets, and attending the current Dylan tour too, is in hearing how he can pull new meaning from the most unlikely of places. That comes through the constant experimentation, the overhaul of instrumental structure, which is showcased well by Rollin’ and Tumblin’, that upbeat tempo for the Muddy Waters cover works as a contrast to the howling and crying heard in the lyrics. All Along the Watchtower has this too, a song which searches for a way out but comes up short in finding that opening. A brilliant instrumental flourish is all it needs, and that is what it gets. Rothbury Music Festival 2009 is one of many great Dylan shows, but the instrumental work here is beyond the pale, one of the most excitable sounds from his twenty-first-century touring.