Fragments and Stolen Moments from Prague

Bob Dylan in Prague | A review, of sorts

I wrote quite a long and in-depth review of the opening night of the latest leg of Bob Dylan’s Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour, which you can find below or over at the excellent Flagging Down the Double E’s newsletter:

Tonight in Prague (by Matthew Ingate)

Despite having told myself all week that I was only going to go once, I had such a good time on Night #1 that I found myself back in the crowd again for Night #2. This is not so much a long-form review as on the first night, but rather a collection of fragments and stolen moments.

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Here are some words that I’d use to describe Bob Dylan’s show in Prague tonight: Magical. Captivating. Rocking. Fun. Entrancing. Beguiling. Beautiful. Incredible. Moving. Spiritual. Scintillating.

Here are some other words I would use: Special. Spectral. Overwhelming. Frightening. Exceptional. Did I already say magical?  

Here are some moments from the night that I loved: 

The buzz of the crowd when the drums kicked in for Desolation Row. The holler that erupted when Dylan sang the opening line. The sheer joy on every face that I could see as he sang it. Almost every person in the sixth row of section 001 on the floor who were drumming on their legs in time with Jim Keltner; looking like a murmuration of people. The man who leaped up and chanted the title line at one point and the other man who was holding his head in his hands in disbelief.  

The harmonica tone that Bob got on Every Grain of Sand, which sounded identical to the one on the album and which made it feel like we were being transported to the studio and watching the recording, which took place long ago and far away. 

The woman who was overwhelmed with joy during the note-perfect When I Paint My Masterpiece and never seemed to know what to do with her hands as she alternatively played the air piano along with Bob, held them to the top of her head with disbelief or threw them into the air with a transfixed smile on her face.

The whole version of Masterpiece, with Bob having fun playing around with his vocals and playing and the whole band really leaning into that Constantinople swing.  

The whole of Key West. Such a long, strange song, but one that is still never long enough. I didn’t want it to stop. I didn’t want it to ever stop. 

The moment when Bob turned around to Jim Keltner - for what felt like the fiftieth time in the night - to give an instruction and then, with real dramatic effect, did some air-drumming of his own to demonstrate what he wanted.

Bumping into Sue and Sergi and Graham and Ian and all the rest. 

Crossing the Rubicon.

The couple who took turns putting their arms around each other through Key West and I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You, as I so often do with my girlfriend at these shows.

The best version of It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue that I’ve ever heard - either in person or on tape.

Bob’s high notes in It Ain’t Me, Babe. 

The dramatic swing of the arm that Tony Garnier used to count the band in for Dignity, and then the committed, spirited and powerful vocal performance that Dylan gave throughout the song.

Seeing the huge statue dinosaur on the roof of the building next to the venue.

The moment when somebody gasped nearby in response to the first long, gorgeous sustained note that Dylan held in I’ve Made Up My Mind To Give Myself to You. The long last note of that song, and also of Black Rider.

When Bob sat back in his piano stool and leaned over to Doug Lancio, shouting “play something!” and letting Lancio fire off a great guitar solo. 

Another, even greater, guitar solo from Doug Lancio at the end of Goodbye Jimmy Reed; probably the single best guitar solo I’ve heard at a Dylan show ever and easily the most room I’ve ever heard one of his guitarists given to really open up his instrument. 

The fact that the concert even happened at all, and the fact that I was lucky enough to be there to see it.