A week or two ago I mentioned a review of Dylan’s show in Vancouver that said the fans wanted to hear more “classics” — that Dylan’s more recent material, from the past decade, just didn’t measure up.

Today, a review of last night’s show in Denver, in the Rocky Mountain News, confidently asserts precisely the opposite.

Despite the acclaim for Modern Times – and the crowd going nuts for those songs Tuesday night – he limited his erratic set-list to just three tunes of the 10 on that disc.

The fact that those three were highlights for the rabid crowd and, seemingly, for the musicians onstage, made you shake your head. Most musicians would kill for that kind of reception of their new work.

Maybe, after over forty-five years as a public performer (and a successful one, so I hear), reviewers might give Dylan a little credit for knowing what he’s doing. Many of the hardcore fans are most interested in hearing the new songs, to be sure — and certainly Dylan and the band probably enjoy tackling the fresh material. Yet, a set consisting of mostly brand new material would leave those who came wanting to hear “the classics” feeling cheated. As an entertainer, with the goal of entertaining, a balance has to be struck. It seems like Dylan is probably getting it right.

The Colorado reviewer also says:

The show included many left turns, some of them welcome (a gorgeous reading of Shooting Star), some not so much. (I can guarantee you no one walked in the show thinking “Man, I hope he sings the song Joey tonight.” Yet there it was anyway.)

Who wouldn’t want to hear Joey?

I guess there really is just no accounting for taste.

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