Bob Dylan – Waterbury 2018 Review

Gone is the Columbia recording artist introduction, in comes an instrumental build instead. It sets a different tone for this Bob Dylan tour. A disembodied voice announcing the beginning of a soft-rock showcase is superior to wandering on and starting Things Have Changed, but the latter has its charms. Things are crazy, and times are strange, though. Dylan would share his thoughts on the world around him with a telling show in Waterbury. Live nuances can be heard throughout Waterbury 2018 which are absent even from his live albums. Those soundboard rips and audience recordings are magnificent occasions. A hits-heavy set from Dylan here brings on a new tone for the veteran performer. Spectacle brought on by songs rather than the man and band. They are in incredible form all the same, but the classics speak for themselves. Clear-cut vocal work from Dylan and a band featuring Charlie Sexton and Tony Garnier, these are what dedicated fans love to hear in bootleg performances.  

They are well catered to here. Waterbury 2018 features a run of exceptional work from Dylan. An opening run of Things Have Changed, It Ain’t Me, Babe, Highway 61 Revisited, and Simple Twist of Fate is nothing short of perfect. A four-track collection which hits on all the emotional concepts Dylan has laid bare on stage for decades. The slowed, piano-driven tone of It Ain’t Me, Babe, is staggering. That slower, gruff vocals as Dylan sings he’s “not the one you need” is a brilliant reinterpretation of the song. Such is the recurring beauty of these live shows, one of the main reasons people return to bootlegs. Instrumental tones, which would soon be used to form Rough and Rowdy Ways, can be heard throughout the Waterbury 2018 show. Those cool piano grooves would form a mainstay of the album, and the lighter, looser style of playing would stick around in the live shows. Such is the case for performers who have played together for decades.  

Crucial that longevity between performers may be, the true beauty lies in the reimagined structure of classic songs. Such is the case for most Dylan performances around this time, though there is a quality to the recording which elevates Waterbury 2018 above other shows from this year. Dylan manages to pull on new and touching narrative themes with When I Paint My Masterpiece and Love Sick. Those songs which are away from his first classic period are rapturously received, and rightly so. They offer a tremendous look into Dylan as a contemporary artist, as do the likes of Early Roman Kings and Scarlet Town do also. Gotta Serve Somebody is a welcome addition too, with Dylan having worked out the subtler details of his Slow Train Coming track. A reactive crowd makes all the difference here, whooping and clapping along to every little detail.  

Waterbury 2018 is a tremendous experience. Dylan and the band are keen to strip each song to the bare bones. A haunting harmonica inclusion on Simple Twist of Fate and a swaying Blowin’ in the Wind to close the set are two brilliant examples of this tone. Dylan was deep in the waters of cover songs around this time, with Triplicate released a year before this show. It would be a few years still until the release of Rough and Rowdy Ways, another year after that for the first performance of those materials. Staggering material throughout this live showcase, delicate workings of some of the best-ever Dylan songs. It’s a lovely listen, a lighter touch to all those classics hits well after a binge of Rolling Thunder Revue tapes. Those wanting a slower tone and style are served well here.