Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 17, 1993 TAG: 9304170369
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
DYLAN SHOULD HAVE STUCK TO WHAT WORKS
These days, you never know what to expect from Bob Dylan.Will he do his classics? Or will he change the songs around so much that it's hard to distinguish between "Blowing in the Wind" and "Like a Rolling Stone?"
Will his voice rise above a nasal mumble? Does he even have a voice left to speak of? These days, Bob Dylan - always the enigma anyway - is no less puzzling than ever.
He's still Dylan, though.
So, he gets some leniency there. Legends deserve at least that.
But why, Bob, why?
Friday night at Radford University's Dedmon Center, Dylan was in his experimental mode. An odd arrangement of "Positively 4th Street" set the tone early on. The words were the same, but Dylan and his four-member backing band changed it almost into an entirely different song - and not a better one.
A more traditional rendition of "All Along the Watchtower" followed, but it was one of the few songs Dylan included in his more than 90-minute set that he played somewhat straight.
More of his songs were like, "Tangled Up in Blue," which he funked up and gave a hard-driving back beat. Again, it was no improvement over the simple acoustic original.
A few others worked a little better, including a rockabilly-flavored "Watching the River Flow" and a long, fairly honest "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright."
However, stabs at a finger-picking "Mr. Tambourine Man" and a completely incomprehensible "Knocking On Heaven's Door" were dreadful.
Maybe, after 30 years, Dylan is just bored?
You can't blame him, really. The same songs done the same way night after night would get old. But what about bowing out gracefully? Looking back on a brilliant career?
Now, moving on to his voice.
Some would argue Dylan has never had one. The truth is - or at least it was Friday night - that Dylan does not seem to care anymore whether he can sing or not. His is the mumble of a man who lost interest years ago.
True, too, Dylan has clearly long since lost interest in connecting with, or pleasing, his audiences. A sizable number of the 2,400 people at Friday's show left early.
Dylan was playing for himself and barely acknowledged that anyone was even listening.
Maybe he knows they were hoping for a different Bob Dylan.
Opening was Rain Chorus from Kentucky, a pop-alternative four-piece band that was solid and listenable, but left no lasting impression during its 45-minute set.