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Hourly Update

Dylan's genius, magic not lost on AVA crowd

By Kevin W. Smith
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.25.2007
If Bob Dylan isn't a deity, he's at least friends with one.
So vast are his mystical powers that when a cool breeze appeared during his final song, "Blowin' In The Wind," at his nearly sold-out show Tuesday night at Casino del Sol's AVA, you question the coincidence.
In front of a crowd of about 4,000 fans, Dylan was in fine form from the start — there was no opening act — kicking off with a lively version of "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" off 1966's "Blonde On Blonde."
Accompanied by five black-suited musicians, Dylan was front and center on electric guitar for the first three songs, peering from under the wide brim of a rounded black hat.  
The majority of baby boomer fans in attendance had likely fallen in love with a young, defiant Dylan.
Tuesday, when yellow stage lights hit the face of the 66-year-old, the shadows told the story of the grandfather of modern rebellion.
Witness a rare Dylan smile and you also see the confidence of a seasoned vet who last year released an album, "Modern Times," that topped both the Billboard chart and many critics' year-end lists.  
This ain't no nostalgia act.
Dylan's new material shined live, like the rollicking "Thunder On The Mountain," "Workingman's Blues #2" and a particularly tender version of "When The Deal Goes Down."
It was when Dylan delved into his extensive catalogue that some heads were scratched.
Rather than the iconic image of Dylan and an acoustic guitar, nowadays his full band reworks a minimalist song like "Simple Twist of Fate" into a jazzy blues number.
For most of the show, Dylan favored a keyboard, hunching over to sing "Simple Twist" into the microphone like he was leaning over the wooden counter of a bar, spinning a lovelorn tale with gravitas over a tall glass of Dewar's.
The alternate takes on songs live might alienate the casual Dylan fan, but his strength is lyrical anyway.
Dylan doesn't always make following his speech easy, either, be it not enunciating his now gravelly voice or playfully changing the chorus delivery on "Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again."
Yet it didn't matter that the first-set ending, "Masters Of War," from 1963, failed to conjure Dylan of old.
The brooding, searing take on "Masters" at AVA captivated with an intense relevancy that any "New Dylan," your Conor Obersts for instance, would gladly hawk one wholesale-priced soul to claim today.
This is why Dylan can get away with toying with the structure of his famous songs and simply nodding to acknowledge his audience.
That the word "Dylan" has become synonymous with someone or something that expresses the attitude and ideals of a generation, didn't happen by accident.
And it won't soon happen again.
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