Live Nation presents… Bob Dylan with special guest Mark Knopfler at the MTS Centre, Winnipeg MB.
Who would have thought when I started working for Music Tour Reviews I would get the opportunity to be reviewing one of the all time great musicians. I have seen my fair share of shows. Some in basements others in huge stadiums so being able to see Bob Dylan in a semi large arena was what could be called a dream come true.
Opening up for Dylan on this tour was Ex-Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler. What an a start to what I thought was going to be a great evening. Knopfler who has been touted as being one of the top guitar players in the world did not disappoint. Mixed in with some of Dire Straits songs were songs from his solo career as well. Mark’s sound could be described as country meets bluegrass with just a bit of edge.
Now Bob Dylan. He took the stage around 9:30 to perform for a crowd of around 5,500 people at the MTS Centre. What I first noticed about this crowd was the eclectic mix of both young and old fans alike. Some who had been around from the beginning others who well for a better term of the word are hipsters. Now with such an interesting mix of people it was intriguing to see how Dylan would be received….As soon as you saw his trade mark hat the crowd stood to their collective feet and cheered him on stage. From there on he continued to weave his magical sound and entrance the audience. I do have to say though that I was more then disappointed (along with more then afew other fans) in how Dylan sounded. Granted he has never had a voice like a song bird but this performance was that of a man singing with more than a mouthful of marbles in his mouth. I never expect a perfect performance when I go see someone live but this performance was just disappointing. That being said I would say this show was imperfectly perfect. It was nice to see a living legend do his thing live.
