Thanks additionally to our friend Russ for these snaps of the current Bob Dylan tour program, which I offer in tiny cropped versions for the benefit of people who don’t have the opportunity to see it, or who may be wondering if they want to fork over the money to buy it. Below is the cover:

The major surprise to me — versus the last tour program that I actually bought — was that it actually contains an article relevant to Bob Dylan’s live performances! It’s a spirited review of a gig Dylan played in Glasgow (Scotland) in 2004. (Below.)

Imagine my relief, however, to see that the tour program still contains that wonderful interview with Bob regarding the disastrous 1980s film “Hearts of Fire.”

That used to be all the tour program contained, in terms of text, which amounted to a hilariously perverse statement.

Naturally the program also contains lots of photos, including the one pictured in part below, of Dylan and the late Mike Bloomfield sharing a musical moment in the studio.

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Meanwhile, the Washington Post has a review of the gig the other night in Fairfax, Virginia: Bob Dylan, at 68 still a robust road warrior.

For the past 20 years, the road has been constant too. Dylan tours endlessly, turning up at a half-full arena or a minor league ballpark near you again and again, as if to prove he’s no sage, just an itinerant song-and-dance-man. Though late-period albums like “Time Out of Mind” and “Love and Theft” have evinced a creative renewal, he’s often been erratic, even indifferent onstage. Still, there’s something noble in his doggedness, singing on even though thousands of shows have curdled his voice into a viscous, gut-shot croak. On a good night, he can still remind you why people worshiped him in the first place.

Wednesday was a good night.

At the Patriot Center, Dylan seemed interested, even invigorated, as his crackerjack five-piece band tore through a set that emphasized the brilliant extremities of his ocean-deep discography. He kept mum save to utter a single “thank you” and to introduce the players at an auctioneer’s tempo. But his singing was clear and direct — and his manner determined.

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And also see the piece on the gig by our friend Mary at BabyBlueOnline:

Bob Dylan returned to Fairfax tonight, bringing with him a mosh pit (but no giant claw) and a much younger crowd. How many guys can pack in 20-somethings into an arena at the age of 68? But he didn’t seem to be anywhere near to pushing 70 – it does seem he’s so much younger than that now.

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And thanks to reader Chuck S. for these musings on Dylan in concert:

A follow up to your recent postings from suburban Detroit here.

I caught the Bob Dylan Show November 6th at Fox Theater and loved it. It was my first Bob Dylan show and reminded me of seeing Van Morrison with opening act, Mose Allison, there 25 years ago. Kind of a niche performer, but one that continues to draw you in deeper year after year.

Your Fairfax, Virginia review is very similar to what I was thinking about the Detroit show, and it is also consistent with the reviews of the Detroit Show on Bob Links. He was energetic and played a lively show mixing in the old and new in equal measures. Charlie Sexton was a great addition and positioned himself perfectly, not upstaging Bob, but keeping the audience engaged with our favorite licks. The whole band is great.

But what is different about the Dylan show, and what his fans understand, is that he doesn’t play the radio songs or hits. But he plays Desolation Row and occasionally It’s All Right Ma I’, Only Bleeding, those longer songs that you rarely hear, except from your collection. He mixes in the songs he thinks are important, like HW61 & Ballad of a Thin Man. It was not until the encore that he played LARS & Watchtower (or as the woman next to me called it ‘The Hendrix Song’).

Bob has at least 20 songs that are ‘Hits’ that he could milk for entertainment and adulation.

‘Blowing in the Wind’ ‘Mr. Tambourine Man’ ‘Positively 4th Street’ ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’

‘My Back Pages’ ‘It Ain’t Me Babe’ ‘The Times they are a Changing’ ‘Lay Lady Lay’, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door

‘Tangled Up in Blue’ Gotta Serve Somebody ‘I Want You’ ‘Rainy Day Women 12 & 35’

‘Just Like a Woman’ ‘Quinn The Eskimo’ ‘Hurricane’ ‘Like a Rolling Stone’

‘All Along the Watchtower’ ‘Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall’ ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right’ ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’

These are songs most people have heard many times and could be anthems at the shows. Half of these songs are stories in and of themselves, closers. But Bob doesn’t play to the crowd.

This is confusing to most people who want to hear the songs they know and can’t understand that Dylan might want to introduce them to songs they might not already know. I think this is where some of the misplaced anger comes from like the Weekly Standard review. Andrew Ferguson is befuddled that we don’t require the parade of hits. Because Dylan was an Album Artist, those 2nd tier songs are special to us, and the busy critic can’t understand this. Any of Dylan’s first 6 albums have special touchstones for us beyond the hits.

I think the song that really separates the Dylan fans from the posers is ‘Boots of Spanish Leather’. It’s such wonderful song, you can almost hear him singing to Suzie Rotolo, and being packed in on ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ album you rarely heard this one. But the folks that are newer to Dylan suffer through this waiting for the good songs.

I think that’s very valid in terms of how some critics and concert attendees react to Bob’s live shows, although I’m not sure to what extent that was an axe that the Weekly Standard writer in particular was grinding.

Clearly to be able to keep up the intensity of touring that Bob Dylan has for the past twenty years and more, he is doing something right. He can revisit much the same places year after year — in some cases twice in a year — and continue to get enough fannies in the seats to justify the whole endeavor and make it profitable for all concerned. You don’t do that by making rotten music, even if what you’re doing isn’t appreciated by everyone all the time. I don’t give Dylan a complete pass on his live shows — sometimes he just doesn’t seem very engaged with his performance and doesn’t seem to be trying. That figures when he does so many gigs, but with the price of the tickets everyone naturally feels entitled to see a great show. And then his voice is just what it is, and it is not capable of transcending the bad acoustics of some of these venues. So you might catch him on what for him is a great night and yet, because of lousy sound where you happen to be sitting, not be able to make out a thing.

But this much is clear: If Bob were just delivering shows where he performed his “hits” in very much the manner in which they were recorded, he would not have been able to keep up all these years of consistent touring. How many times would anyone really want to see that show? As it is, the fannies keep returning to those seats year after year because their owners never know exactly what they’re going to hear.

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