Don't Think Twice (It's Alright) - Cardiff 2000
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Cardiff. One of the best shows of the Fall 2000 tour in the UK. I was fortunate enough to see the Newcastle show when Dylan brought out Delia and Man of Peace.
But, this performance of Don't Think Twice (It's Alright) is sublime for a number of reasons. Dylan at his most gentle on both guitar and vocals among them. The performance is subtle, the dynamics during the harmonica solo, but most importantly, the crowd are lapping up the performance singing along with Bob. Tony Garnier's (Bass) grin says everything about this special performance, probably my favourite live version aside from the 1965 UK Tour versions.
Just Like A Woman - Barrowlands 2004
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Sadly I didn't catch the Barrowlands show, but I did see the SECC gig the day before with my father, a special one for us as it was our second Dylan gig together, previously we'd seen the Stirling Castle gig and the next time we'd catch Bob together was in 2011 again in Glasgow. The last time I saw Mr D sadly.
But this 2004 show from Jun 24th was notable for the great Glasgow crowd who really fired Dylan up.
As the song builds the audience get more and more involved, the beer circulating that night must have been enough to flood the river Clyde. Great, great audience.
A lot of Dylan fans hate the audience getting so involved and singing along to the masters songs, but I think the interaction when right really fires Dylan up, he likes his audiences standing and engaged, not sitting and taking mental notes of every syllable uttered in whatever inflection. I think we can make an exception for this gig, the crowd score 10 out of 10 and even Bob stops singing to let the Glaswegians take the lead.
Blowin' in the Wind (Barcelona 1984)
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This performance is a pretty famous one, thanks to Kemp Roedema for finding it and posting it to Facebook.
The great thing about this, as Bob reaches the chorus he hears the audience singing with him encouraging the audience with "Well..", "Yeah!", "Alright!"
A pretty transcendent guitar by Carlos Santana in a near channeling of Jerry Garcia pads out the gaps between verses.
It Ain't Me Babe (Newcastle, 1984)
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1984 seems to be the primarily available sing-a-long year for Bob Dylan fans on YouTube.
The versions of this song, Tangled Up In Blue and Girl From The North Country were pretty great, blistering harmonica solos and often the closest he got to really singing the songs.
I've never been much a fan of his voice in the 80s, ever since Street Legal his voice seemed to be approaching this tone but I still enjoy this.
Something (MSG 2002)
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I'm cheating a little placing this video in here, but it's a stunning cover of Something, poignant as it was Dylan's contribution as tribute to George given that he couldn't make the UK tribute concert. Equally, Dylan often saves an important moment for Madison Square Garden. The year before, right after 9/11 he sang "I'm going back to the New York City, I do believe I've had enough" to rapturous applause and cheering during Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues.
I've heard other audience recordings of Something and you can hear some of the audience singing along, but I'd say that this performance was pretty emotional and on that basis I think everyone in the room was feeling it, so its close enough to audience participation.
Also the person who caught this camera angle was a genius, Bob's flashing looks to the right during Charlie Sexton's guitar solos are enigmatic.
I Shall Be Released (Japan, 1994)
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Given that Bob is currently touring Japan I figured I'd stick this in here. It's certainly a sing-a-long, though how much of the audience were belting out the lyrics is unclear as all you can hear are the main acts.
Nice spot with the late George Martin early in the footage of rehearsals where you can hear a tiny bit of Dylan singing half a line before Jon Bon Jovi comes in full force.
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