Royal Albert Hall, night one

Another great night with Dylan and the boys reaching the same peak of the 2019 fall tour with the best guitar slayers since Larry and Charlie.

Audio from the show, better version forthcoming.

The view from the galleries is an interesting one to say the least. I was stage right above and slightly behind the band and Dylan. The stage looked like the set of the moon landing with those big classic Hollywood lights encircling the players in an extra-terrestrial grey glow. From where I was the grand piano took the shape of a black heart. There was a rumour that Johnny Depp was backstage and also that the air conditioning was turned off in room 1 because of Mr Dylan’s arthritis.

An hour before the concert I saw Tony Garnier in the long looping corridor, in a blue denim shirt talking on the phone. I said Hey T, patted him on the arm and wished him well for the gig. I feel like Tony Garnier doesn’t get enough credit for how great he’s been after all these many years, gently easing each incarnation of Dylan’s band through all of their peaks and valleys. Another thing that occurred to me during the tour is how lucky we are to be witnessing the core rhythm section of the Time out of Mind band playing these songs (Jim Keltner, Bob Dylan, Bob Britt and Tony Garnier).

Bob came on and ran through the two hits upfront in the set as usual, with some nice guitar on It Ain’t Me Babe. The sound was spacey up there in the gallery, but it was an epic view.

Doug Lancio is probably the new hero of the band for me, he sways and steps and rides to the music always delivering driving guitar lines whether it’s acoustic or electric. Bob Britt is cooler than cool. Solid, statuesque, understated and tasteful and for me these two guys are my favourite guitar duo since the Larry and Charlie days some 20 years or more ago. I still can’t believe it’s been that long. Keltner of course shone bright all evening.

The centre piece of the night was Mother of Muses, followed by It’s All Over Now Baby Blue. He reached something on Baby Blue and took it all the way to the end. Both were pin-drop spine-tingling show-stoppers. Key West lost some of its edge from previous nights as the band were playing with Bob a little more than usual. Maybe our restless troubadour feels it’s time to change it.

The one that doesn’t change but continues to deliver night after night is Every Grain of Sand. It’s so gratifying to hear it the way it should have always been played, which is exactly like the Shot of Love version.

Masterpiece continues to be one of the great highlights of the night with its jumpy 1920s sway. I spent a lot of this evening dancing in the galleries and felt sorry for those in the stalls stuck sitting down when the music was so powerfully moving that I just could not stand still, swaying and rocking to the groove coming from the stage.

Another great and magical evening.