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Birmingham 2005
source: National Exhibition Centre
Tracks: 

Disc one
Intro
Maggie's Farm
Tell Me That It Isn't True
Watching The River Flow
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Ballad Of A Thin Man
Highway 61 Revisited
Mr. Tambourine Man
Stuck Inside Of Mobile
Chimes Of Freedom (a)
Til I Fell In Love With You
Visions Of Johanna (a)
Honest With Me
Disc two
Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll (a)
Summer Days
encore:
Like A Rolling Stone
All Along The Watchtower
bonus:
The Man In Me   (Bob was center stage with just his harp - no piano) (1)
Bye And Bye (2)
Absolutely Sweet Marie (3)
If You See Her, Say Hello (4)
I Shall Be Released (5)
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine (6)
Ballad Of Hollis Brown (7) (a)
Forever Young (8)
New Morning (9)
Review:
Birmingham is an outstanding show. Perhaps the best of the tour. It is well represented here in this very clean audience recording.  The vocals are crystal clear. Dylan's voice is simply huge on this night. It's melodic, it's teasing, it's full of gruff beauty. Many of these versions are truly incandescent, and are among the best performances of the decade. The entire show is a highlight, with too many individual gems to even mention. The bonus tracks include rarities performed on the minor league baseball stadium tour of the USA earlier in the year. As for the package, CC is usually at the top of the heap as far as recordings and packaging goes. The aesthetics on this set are not quite as pleasing as those past, however. In an effort to get Bob pictured with the eye logo, the band photo is superimposed over it. Problem is, it looks superimposed, and borders on the cheesy. The special "find the lines" effect used on the images of the discs doesn't work. The beautiful images on the liner are, inexplicably, from decades past. While this package would probably rate higher if issued by an upstart, we have come to expect a little more from the Cat.
© 2006  CD Pinkerton bobsboots.com
Boblinks Concert Reviews
© 2006  CD Pinkerton bobsboots.com
View enlarged images below

Front
CD1
CD2
Ins.(b)
Liner
Back
Information: 
Source / Venue:
NEC   - Birmingham, England  November 18, 2005
bonus:
1) Paramount Theatre Oakland, CA  March 14, 2005
2) Dodd Memorial Stadium Norwich, CT  June 21, 2005
3) Louisville Slugger Field Louisville, KY   June 29, 2005
4)
GMC Stadium,  Sauget, Illinois   July 8, 2005
5)
Amazon.com 10th Anniversary Event
Benaroya Hall   Seattle, Washington   July 16, 2005
6-8)
The Point Theatre  Dublin, Ireland  November 26, 2005
9) The Point Theatre  Dublin, Ireland  November 27, 2005


Notes
5) Featuring Norah Jones on vocals
6) Featuring Bob on harp
7) Acoustic version featuring Donnie Herron on banjo
(a) - acoustic


Manufacturer / Catalog No.

Crystal Cat Records   CC 785/86

 
Released:
2006

Quality:
9 stars

Other commercial releases of NEC:
Euro 2005 Birmingham


Bob's Boots ref  #

BB-b91



Performers:

Bob Dylan - keyboard, harp
Stu Kimball - lead guitar
Denny Freeman - guitar
Donnie Herron - violin, banjo, elect. mandolin, pedal & lap steel
Tony Garnier - bass
George Recile - drums

© 2006 CD Pinkerton bobsboots.com



Thanks to Keith Schweiger for scans
 
© 2006 CD Pinkerton / bobsboots.com