Jack and Bobby

Bit of a change of tack for this post - this last weekend had little to speak of socially as it was pretty much exclusively a musical one. I had a knackering week what with travelling round and trying to deal with a nasty cold as well, so basically all I did of note was to go to two concerts; Bob Dylan supported by The Raconteurs, playing a 2 night stand at the Agganis Arena in Boston.


Jack White is one of my favourite "contemporary" performers, although I'm much less of a fan of The Raconteurs than The White Stripes. They're good fun and all, but the songs generally seem throwaway, and the whole thing just seems like a hobby that got a little out of hand. I didn't see much of their set on Saturday, but I watched the whole hour on Sunday from my 3rd row seat, and it was damn cool stuff. The highlight was probably a tense rendition of Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), the song made famous by Nancy Sinatra and the one that opens Kill Bill. Very brave of Dylan, if you ask me, to get these young whippersnappers to warm up the crowd for him. For starters, for the older half of the crowd it really wasn't their cup of tea - Jack and his boys were much louder and more squawky than Bob's band. The younger half (making up an ever larger proportion of Dylan gigs these days) lapped it up though. Dylan's cred-factor among the young and hip is most definitely at a high point, after the Scorcese documentary last year and his appearance in an iTunes ad to promote his new album, which has been getting pretty heavy rotation over here.

As far as Dylan himself was concerned, it was really a tale of two nights. On Saturday, the only real highlights for me were the 3 selections from his newest record, "Modern Times" - all of the older songs were rather uninspired and drab, not helped by the pub-rock-lite band he's currently employing (what I'd give to see him backed by the Raconteurs - they're a tight little band, they just need some decent songs...). He chose some great songs (Blind Willie McTell, Don't Think Twice, Tangled Up In Blue) but his heart just didn't seem to be into doing them justice, as seems invariably the case these days.

Last night was another matter though. Whether Bobby had just had a good day, or if I was just energised by being only 3 rows away I don't know, but Dylan was committed to pretty much everything. Passionate versions of great songs like Absolutely Sweet Marie, Senor and Every Grain Of Sand, and a killer rendition of the standout track from his new album, "Nettie Moore". Time was when I'd travel enormous distances to see Dylan, but the quality of his live shows has really dipped over the last couple of years. He's still doing very interesting things; writing good and occasionally great new songs, the autobiography and hosting his surreal weekly radio show, but his live shows are so dependent on his mood, and most of the time it seems he really can't be arsed.

I was hoping beyond hope for a Jack and Bob duet - they tried their collective hand at The White Stripes' "Ball and Biscuit" at a gig in Detroit a couple of years ago, which was awesome. Sadly, 'twas not to be...

Here's an mp3 of Sunday's performance of the strange and beautiful "Nettie Moore", for anyone interested.