Bob Dylan – Oh Mercy Live Review

A startling, sudden return to form for Bob Dylan is solely thanks to Oh Mercy. His decade of indifference ended, and his re-energised sound, which hit out at everything from politics to personal growth, was a new wave of quality. It stands among his very best works. Oh Mercy Live offers a fresh perspective on those songs with live interpretations. Those dedicated Dylan listeners will know how frequent changes are to his material when taken on stage. Picked apart, rebuilt from the ground up, all of it is undone, redone, and yet keeps that punchy message. There are reflections on his material which can only be experienced live. Love Sick and Things Have Changed are two from the decade after Oh Mercy, which, thanks to the passage of time, hold new meaning. Live shows are a chance to hear that. The years to follow Oh Mercy offered occasional performances of this material, and some of the songs featured on Oh Mercy Live are nothing short of incredible.  

Opener Political World is Dylan at his harshest. He has found his edge for the first time since the Rolling Thunder Revue. His statements on life and its struggles became abstract, guided by a divine light or synth pop desire. Whatever the case, it was still there. Not as present as it is on Oh Mercy and a song like Political World, but listen that little bit deeper and you can pick it out. Crashing guitars, a knock at the political world, no matter the side, is what makes this Oh Mercy opener a treat. It may sound abstract, but that is not the case for follow-up song Everything is Broken. A decade of the trickle-down tyrant, and Dylan has noted the impact. That constant “broken” inclusion is a heartbreaker, and even a decade on from Oh Mercy’s release, Everything is Broken sounds incredible. A rip from Portsmouth 2000 is found on the Oh Mercy Live bootleg, and it’s as good as the studio version. That swampy guitar survives, louder than anything else, and it’s a real beauty still.  

What follows are softer tones, contemplative moments from Dylan trying to solve those problems heard on Everything is Broken. Acoustic charms on Ring Them Bells is a nice counter to the harsher, harder sound of that rocked-out rager. Oh Mercy Live is not a complete lift of the tracklist, but a slight remodelling. It works well. There’s a slight tonal shift, but nothing to upset the purists wanting to hear the album’s live counterparts in order. Oh Mercy Live is worth hearing because the care in extracting these particulars, the uniqueness of the performance, is different to the studio version. Dylan’s voice warbling and near breaking on Most of the Time is a shot of sincerity. That much is not rare, but what is unique is hearing it break through so obviously. Dylan has managed to build an image of himself as untouchable, unbreakable. That much has been pushed further by dedicated fans.  

He rarely lets that image falter, but there are moments throughout Oh Mercy Live which hears him reckon with the material at hand. It was a sudden spark of brilliance in a decade which was otherwise weak. What Good Am I? and Disease of Conceit are similar, the former from a 2014 performance in London, which has the benefit of being decades removed. It’s the constant question that Things Have Changed and Tangled Up in Blue still offer modern-day listeners. Dylan may not showcase his true feelings, as it would detract from the momentum of the song. What he does offer, and what can be heard so clearly on Oh Mercy Live, is the desire to resolve the big questions. He does not, nobody can, but to hear him try is a truly touching experience.