Bob Dylan

Brisbane Convention Centre 26.08.2014

The bard himself performed in Brisbane on Monday night to around 2,500 paying customers. In the last quarter of a century Dylan has played Brisbane around half a dozen times. This show was among the best.

The lights went down a smidge before 8pm. The five-piece band spread out while Dylan stood centre stage. Wearing a black suit, highlighted with a lone white stripe and a long black coat, Dylan wore a wide brimmed fedora. Arms by his side, the musicians lurched into Things Have Changed. The song won him an Oscar when it was used in Wonder Boys and tonight it resonated with a renewed sense of purpose … “I used to care/but things have changed”.

Next came one of the songs that defined Dylan’s reputation in the 1960’s, She Belongs To Me. Dylan worked his way inside the lyrics: with a lyrical knack for re-invention. The melodies have been wrung out, restored and re-booted for tonight. The voice sounds a little ‘shot’, but it adds the weight of a man who sounds like he’s been around for at least one or two lifetimes.

Next Dylan took Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ on a south-American route and loaded it with swing. Workingman’s Blues #2 was an early highlight. Dylan, sans guitar, either played piano or stood before the three vintage microphones at the foot of the stage.

The first set closed with the one-two punch of an intense Love Sick and a mesmerising Tangled Up In Blue.

After a short interval, the band reconvened and launched into High Water (For Charley Patton). Simple Twist Of Fate was next. Forgetful Heart was arguably the stand out reading of the night.

As Long And Wasted Years faded away, Dylan was called back for a well-deserved encore. The players had been under brooding lights most of the night. A smile escaped from under the broad hat and the band powered into the introduction of All Along The Watchtower, before pulling back a gear and settling into a trademark groove. A reworking of Blowin’ In The Wind brought the night to a halt.

The band played with a deft touch throughout. Dylan remains at the top of his game: reworking a melody, altering a lyric and imbuing it all with the stuff of legend.

Sean Sennett