Bob Dylan/The Frames
Entertainment Centre
Tues 21 August


The term legendary is overused but in the case of multi-generational poet laureate and court jester, Bob Dylan continues to evolve as a great artist. And whilst those other great 'sixties survivors - the Stones - are content to fill arenas and beaches with audiences bent on nostalgia, his Bobness has continued to move on and change. In fact his most recent album, the understandably praised 'Modern Times', has presented him with his first Australian number one album since 1975's 'Desire'. I have witnessed three out of four of his last Australian tours (1998 with Patti Smith and the much feted Centennial Park outdoor gig a couple of years later) but this show, most ably supported by the Irish band The Frames, is the best I've heard him and it was the more recent material - particularly the generous selection from 'Modern Times' - that consolidated his current conviction and enjoyment with live performance and all at the tender age of 66.

It is with the most recent trilogy of fine albums that Dylan has come full circle as an artist - reclaiming his rightful position as a true master of the Chicago talking blues style. Whilst his tentative melodic range now reduced the likes of Lay, Lady Lay and the 'Basement Tapes' You Ain't Going Nowhere to something bordering on Sprechstimme, the power of this more limited growl - ably supported by generous harmonica solos - had the capacity audience convinced very early on in the concert. The generous selection from the album (The Levee's Gonna Break, Beyond The Horizon, Workingman's Blues #2, Cry A While, Summer Days and the minor inflected blues of Ain't Talking), as well as the Oscar winning Things Have Changed proved to be true highlights with the guitar based band lending admirable support throughout. Whilst Dylan chose to concentrate on harp and keyboards, guitarists Denny Freeman and Stu Kimball provided stinging blues licks that easily withstood comparison with Bob's finest collaborators from the past including Mike Bloomfield, Mark Knopfler, Robbie Robertson and Mick Taylor. Plaudits should go to the flawless rhythm section and multi-instrumentalist Donnie Herron who provided a myriad of instrumental colours with his panorama of stringed instruments (pedal steel, fiddle and mandolin amongst them).

Gone from this concert was Dylan's recent habit of singing every line as a question - rising on the final syllable of each line. It's now replaced by a strong if husky blues holler that led to convincing updates on the magisterial Highway 61 Revisited, whilst It's Alright Ma and the more melodic choices suffered more. It should also be noted that Dylan chose to include two of his more potent anti-war anthems (Masters Of War and the far rarer John Brown) and yes they do remain as cautionary as ever. Whilst infamous for his preference to let the music do the talking, it was more than obvious from his body language and signing off with "Thank you friends!" as he and the band took a post-encore bow that the diminutive dandy is currently having the time of his life on live dates.

Brett Allen-Bayes