Lowell, MA -- Nov 19, 2019

Dylan once said in an interview that songs are better in concert than on a record and he went into a long explanation to prove his point, but all I remember is that I was thinking to myself this is coming from the guy who released HW61R and BLONDE ON BLONDE... no matter what he says he's already disproved his own point... but last night Dylan finally proved it... some one here posted a review of the Lowell Mass concert and said the rendition performed of "Not Dark Yet" was not as good as the album version... now granted the album version is spectacular and the signature atmospherics of producer Danny Lanois perfectly illustrates the mood of the song... but reading that review I couldn't help but wonder if I were at the same concert... maybe there was a matinee that I didn't know about... because for me as great as the TOOM version is the performance last night blew it out of the water... talk about atmospherics! the group creates this cavernous spacious effect... there's even an echo on Dylan's vocal... and the arrangement is dramatic and powerful... powerful is too tame a word... awesome is too lame a word... put it this way: experiencing this live performance must have been what it was like for Athenians to experience an Aeschylus play for the first time... it was transporting and transforming... I will never be same after that... and Dylan was only getting warmed up... the band then launched into "Thunder On The Mountain..." better than the MODERN TIMES version? destroyed it... then came "Soon After Midnight..." better than on TEMPEST? forgetaboutit... "Gotta Serve Somebody?" sorry, SLOW TRAIN COMING... the two encores were Dylan's Quod Erat Demonstrandum... better than HW61R... slam dunk... "Ballad Of A Thin Man" and "It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry..." I was laughing and crying... transported... transformed... Dylan's Q.E.D....