BOB DYLAN
More shows tomorrow, Friday and Saturday at the Beacon.
CHALK it up to fingers stiffened over more years than Bob Dylan wants to remember, but rather than play his trusty guitar at the Beacon Theatre Monday night, the legendary songwriter clumsily pawed the keys of his electric piano.
Yet this nod to geezerdom during the first of his five-night series didn’t hurt Dylan’s set. The 63-year-old star kept his keyboards miked low, his vocals in front of the five-man band while he delivered 90 minutes of time-tested tunes.
But the buzz at this show didn’t concern guitars, pianos or why the Oscar he won two years was placed on a table behind his keyboard. New York fans zeroed in on the song selection.
The fact is, no two Dylan sets are the same, so the devoted use the set list as the show’s Bob-o-meter.
From the get-go, this gig – which opened with a Nashville nod on “To Be Alone With You” and took its final bow with the take-no-prisoners rocker “All Along the Watch Tower” – was upbeat and plainly spoke Dylan’s passion for his return to Skyscraper Park.
There was no patter to that effect. But during his 14-song performance, the waif-like singer repeatedly returned to tunes either about the city or written while he lived here at the height of his career.
The rarity “Visions of Johanna” launched the night’s New York theme, and throughout the show Dylan reinforced his empire state of mind with “Desolation Row” “Highway 61 Revisited,” “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again” and the first encore number – “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues.”
Unlike most classic rock acts, Dylan doesn’t resurrect past hits with written-in-stone versions. Instead, he views his songbook as a living, moldable entity that evolves.
Take “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding).” If you didn’t pay attention, you might not have recognized it.
The well-known song was twisted into a dark blues boogie with a slinking beat that felt evil. Dylan wasn’t so much singing as he was erupting words.
During “Desolation Row,” his unique, oft-mimicked phrasing could have been mistaken as rap when his vocal rhythms synchronized with his percussionist.
It was a disappointment that he didn’t play guitar, simply because he’s such a good guitarist.
His acoustic six-string was never more than an arm’s-length away, but he never reached for it – it was just a tease.
For those keeping count, the last time he played guitar in a New York concert was when he joined Bruce Springsteen to reprise “Highway 61” at the final night of the E Street Band’s Shea gig two years ago.
As for his singing, Dylan still yelps like a wounded dog. His piano work was kept at such a low volume it wasn’t a factor, but his blues harp was terrific.
It was a towering, memorable performance, where the music proved to have more resistance to time than the man.