A timely reminder that, fifty years to this day, Bob Dylan recorded one of the greatest live performances in history. This is not just a peak experience for Dylan fans who want to hear how the Mr. Tambourine Man hitmaker adapted to the rocked-out, mid-1970s, but for those who want an example of how great songs remain that way because they change over time. Context is added, meaning is removed, but how an artist buys time with their wordplay in adapting their work to the stage is crucial. Dylan performs songs here that, in later years, sounded wildly different again. They never sounded better than The Rolling Thunder Revue, particularly this Fort Collins Colorado performance, where a few songs were lifted for the Hard Rain live album. What a live album it is. To hear Dylan choke and charm his way through a two-hour set with vicious intent from his lyrics pounding through the speakers is one of life’s great joys. A scrubbed-up set with new mastering is a sincere delight.
You can hear a bit of the tape degradation at the start of this Mr. Tambourine Man version, but it passes and serves as an exceptional entry point for the vocal changes Dylan made in the eleven years since that song’s release. Reinvention can only occur when an audience is given familiarity as a distraction. It Ain’t Me, Babe here, as amazing as it sounds, is brought out as a sacrificial lamb to the rock and roll slaughter. It’s the song featured on Fort Collins Colorado that’s closest to its studio version, and it sounds phenomenal. It’s a moment to remember the old style of Dylan, which he would then strip away from Maggie’s Farm onwards. Considering the point of the tour, to bring Dylan closer to his audience without having to take note of them (as is the case for his Lights of Autumn tour in smaller venues for London), it seems odd that his best performance comes at a stadium. But you can never tire of listening to this One Too Many Mornings, a staggering experience thanks to those violin additions from Scarlet Rivera.
Dylan and the wider band sound a touch fatigued here but the spillover of such an emotional tour, Blood on the Tracks and Desire dominating the setlist as the veteran songwriter looks for new meaning in old work, affects their playing tremendously. Long, drawn-out notes and this sense that each instrumentalist is hammering away at their kit, particularly the guitar work heard throughout. At-the-time new tracks like Mozambique and Isis are built around those instrumental thrills, a little different already from how they sounded in the studio. Dylan was, around the time of Hard Rain and this Fort Collins, Colorado performance, burnt out. You can hear it a little, but he digs deep and guides the rest of the band to a sensational performance. Two hours of staggering updates to his greatest hits is quite the experience. Dylan has always offered a new variation on his songs, that’s what makes them timeless. Whether you like or dislike a certain performance is irrelevant.
Fact is, the momentum, mood, and instrumental variations Dylan provides his at-the-time new material, destined future hits like Tangled Up in Blue and Idiot Wind, is marvellous. Fort Collins Colorado is a performance where Dylan suffused his personal rage into songs written as ballads for a decade long gone. What Fort Collins Colorado offers is what made Hard Rain such a thrilling experience. Adaptations of songs like I Pity the Poor Immigrant and One Too Many Mornings give them an instrumental depth they were always meant to have but never quite had. It doesn’t work for all the songs involved, but Dylan is one of those rare sparks, willing to gamble on the strength of his material. He is very well placed to do so across this fantastic, two-hour live show. Keep an ear out for a gutsy Shelter from the Storm, a truly special version of Oh, Sister, and the best performance of Idiot Wind you’ll ever hear, officially released or otherwise. His contemporary material gets a healthy showing, but those interpretations of past glories are a charmed way to breathe new life into timeless material. He did it before this show, and long after too. But this is a career highlight.
Discover more from Cult Following
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
