Bob Dylan – The Maine Box Review

A three-night stay in Portland, Maine, gives way to a very nice title for an unofficial bootleg. Bob Dylan’s trilogy of performances featured extraordinarily different setlists each night. It means a near-four-hour compilation of those best moments is more than a best-of. It recontextualises the three supremely different shows. Each of the three is that fine, pre-Time Out of Mind blur, where hits are excuses to launch into some rising, roaring instrumental work. Dylan and his all-star band are in the best form of their lives here, a recurring theme across this tour. Highlighting that on The Maine Event is a treat to hear, because this tour is an extraordinary example of Dylan at his best. Those outstanding performances of hits like All Along the Watchtower come early but set a context from shows spliced into place afterwards. April 19 to April 21 offers three magnificent performances, and blurred together, it’s one of the very best bootleg experiences on offer. 

These sets simply started with the right energy. No long and winding introduction, just the promise of a Columbia Recording artist, his name, and a capitalisation on crowd response. Dylan and the band are playing long before the applause has died down, and it adds an extra but subtle layer to the song. An opener like Drifter’s Escape is a bold one but to be expected of shows digging deep into Dylan’s discography. The John Wesley Harding number is given a major overhaul, as expected of Dylan during a time when stock in his image was at an all-time high. Wearing a polka dot shirt and appearing on MTV Unplugged will do that to an artist. A bit of radio silence comes during Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You, an unfortunate reality of audience recordings. Skip on over through the first set, then, one which has the likes of Tangled Up in Blue and Visions of Johanna.  

Storming renditions for both, with the former is given such a grand acoustic overhaul, it is hard not to consider it as strong as the studio version. Blood on the Tracks songs are fluid that way, suitable for any instrumentation. This trio of sets do not feature all too many from that seminal album, though there are some monumental moments to be found elsewhere. Positively 4th Street and Desolation Row are brilliant efforts from the band, backing a strong-sounding Dylan. These all-time great tracks are just as fun as pieces like Under the Red Sky and When I Paint My Masterpiece. The second and third sets of The Maine Event certainly take on a hits-heavy journey, but there is a reason for that. Dylan is still riding the good fortune and return to form gifted to him by an unplugged set. What other reason is there to elongate Tangled Up in Blue with an acoustic guitar? 

It means including the likes of Masters of War and Mr. Tambourine Man, too. For those who want electrified versions of those songs, this set is not quite it. Live at Budokan is a solid choice for that experience, though here are the softer touches of guitar rock and what acoustic-led sounds can add. Maggie’s Farm is a great, rocked-out version of the song, though, and the third performance has some real treats in there, too. It’s an overwhelming collection of all-time greats performed in a way which shakes off the nuance of the topic and shines a light on the fun to be had with Dylan’s music. The Maine Box makes up for what it loses in subtle lyricism by providing a truly brilliant rock and roll showcase.