GiGinJapan Artwork of Japanese CDs (mostly) Bob Dylan / Madrid 1995 / 2CDR / Uxbridge
Sala La Riviera, Madrid, Spain 19th July 1995
Play sample :
No, why is it so exciting? The Spanish audience tends to show passionate excitement at rock concerts, but even so, the excitement of the day is tremendous.
What is amazing is that Dylan is flying with a sharp tension from the opening in front of such enthusiasm. A shout that is fully open from “Crash On The Levee (Down In The Flood)” sung there.
Anyway, the audience on this day was enthusiastically reacting to Dylan’s every move, and it was natural that his tension had risen in the face of such excitement.
Of course, the band was also inspired by this intense excitement, and in songs such as “All Along The Watchtower” and “Silvio”, the Dylan band, which was at its peak at the time, burst into hyper-tensioned performances. Speaking of Dylan at that time, playing a heta-uma lead guitar was a trademark, but here I listen to it to my heart’s content.
I hope you’ve realized that it was an outstanding day on the 1995 Summer Europe Tour, but what’s amazing about this day is not only the electric songs but also the quiet songs. And even the acoustic corner is showing tremendous excitement.
The best example is “Simple Twist Of Fate”. Even though the performance itself was very calm, the audience was overjoyed when Dylan started singing. In this situation he played lead guitar and ended up with a hyper shout in the second half of the song. The audience was delighted with this as well.
And the best of the day was “Tangled Up In Blue”. The audience was once again enthusiastic while playing the acoustic and light start of this era. It is a masterpiece that the venue sings a big chorus every time the performance reaches the song title.
In this way, it was so exciting to listen to it, and Dylan’s live performance that responded to such high tension is a masterpiece that I would like you to listen to even if you are not a maniac. In the first place, the 1995 Summer Europe Tour was one of the times that was overlooked now because the number of items released in the rear tie was small.
It seems to be epoch-making just because the item is released from such a tour after a long time, but the sound quality is also wonderful. While recording an audience with a slightly deeper sound image, the enthusiasm of the performance does not block the performance or song (at all!), But rather listen to the excitement of the masterpiece and the high-tension performance in an ideal balance. It is in a recording state.
Then, the main part of the live was literally closed with the incandescent “Obviously Five Believers”, and the golden age number “It Ain’t Me, Babe” (again, it was really exciting!) Was sprinkled on the deadly “Like A Rolling Stone” by Angkor. set list. It is essential to be overwhelmed by “Is such a great live concert buried …”, and it is a piece that can be hot without any price!
いやはや、なんでこんなに盛り上がってるんでしょうか？とかくロックコンサートで情熱的な盛り上がりを見せがちなスペインの観客ですが、それにしてもこの日の盛り上がりは凄まじい。
何がすごいって、そんな熱狂を前にしたディランがオープニングからキレッキレのテンションで飛ばしまくっていること。そこで歌われている「Crash On The Levee (Down In The Flood)」からして全開のシャウト。
とにかくこの日の観客はディランの一挙一動に対して熱狂的に反応しており、そんな盛り上がりを前に彼のテンションが上がりまくったのも当然のことかと。
もちろんバンドもこの強烈な盛り上がりを前に感化されており、「All Along The Watchtower」や「Silvio」といった曲では当時絶頂にあったディラン・バンドがハイパーなテンションの演奏を炸裂。当時のディランと言えばヘタウマなリードギターを弾くことがトレードマークとなっていましたが、ここではそれも思う存分に聞きまくり。
ここまでだけでも1995年サマー・ヨーロッパ・ツアーの中で飛びぬけた一日であったことを痛感してもらえたかと思いますが、この日が凄まじいのは、エレクトリックな曲はもちろん、静かな曲やアコースティック・コーナーですら凄まじい盛り上がりを見せているのです。
その最たる例が「Simple Twist Of Fate」。演奏自体は非常に穏やかにもかかわらず、ディランが歌い始めると観客はそれだけで大喜び。この状況で彼はリードギターを弾きまくり、挙句の果てには曲の後半でハイパーなシャウト。これにも観客は大喜び。
そしてこの日の極めつけは「Tangled Up In Blue」。この時代のアコースティックで軽やかに始まる演奏ながら、観客はまたしても大熱狂。演奏が曲名に到達する度に会場が大合唱する様は圧巻。
こんな風に、聞いていて気持ちいいくらいに盛り上がりまくって、なおかつディランがここまでハイテンションに応えたライブというのはそれだけでマニアでなくとも聞いていただきたい名演中の名演だと断言いたします。そもそも95年のサマー・ヨーロッパ・ツアーはリアタイでもリリースされたアイテムの数が少なく、今となっては見過ごされてしまった時期の一つ。
そんなツアーから久々にアイテムがリリースされるというだけでも画期的だと思われますが、音質も素晴らしい。少し奥まった音像のオーディエンス録音ながら、かといって例の熱狂に演奏や歌がふさがれてしまうようなことは（まったく！）なく、むしろ圧巻の盛り上がりとハイテンションな演奏を理想的なバランスで聞きこめる録音状態なのです。
そしてライブ本編を文字通り白熱の「Obviously Five Believers」で締めくくり、アンコールが必殺の「Like A Rolling Stone」に「It Ain’t Me, Babe」（これまた凄い盛り上がり！）という黄金期ナンバーが程よく散りばめたセットリスト。「こんな凄いライブが埋もれていたのか…」と打ちのめされること必須、掛け値なしにアツくなれる一枚です！
Disc 1 (55:48)
1. Intro
2. Crash On The Levee (Down In The Flood)
3. Lay Lady Lay
4. All Along The Watchtower
5. Simple Twist Of Fate
6. Watching The River Flow
7. Silvio
8. Tangled Up In Blue
9. Boots Of Spanish Leather
Disc 2 (53:02)
1. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
2. Tombstone Blues
3. She Belongs To Me
4. Band Introductions
5. Obviously Five Believers
6. Like A Rolling Stone
7. It Ain’t Me, Babe
8. Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35
Bob Dylan – vocal & guitar
Bucky Baxter – pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar
John Jackson – guitar
Tony Garnier – bass
Winston Watson – drums & percussion
Uxbridge 1484
