Bob Dylan 69: Shadow Kingdom

Recent years had seen a flurry of Bootleg Series and other archival collections, but Bob Dylan only halted his constant, consistent touring when Covid happened. Still, pushing 80, he didn’t want to stop.

Shadow Kingdom was a hyped online event at the height of the pandemic that turned out to be a film of an alleged live performance with masked musicians supposedly backing him, captured in smoky monochrome. Accordion was the main instrument, along with subtle acoustic and electric guitars, and the setlist came predominantly from the thin, wild mercury period of the mid-‘60s. Two years later, it was made available again for streaming, with a “soundtrack” to match, and no credits for who was actually in the band.

He’s in good voice, playing with the words of “When I Paint My Masterpiece” and enjoying the sentiment of “Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)”. “Queen Jane Approximately” gets a reading as good as the one with the Dead, with a nice harmonica solo too, but “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” is nearly rocked-up and doesn’t work, especially lacking a rhythm section. The accordion gives a distinctly south-of-the-border tinge to “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues”, while “Tombstone Blues” is given a subdued treatment along the lines of everything on Rough And Rowdy Ways. “To Be Alone With You” shares the structure of the original, but mostly new (to these ears) lyrics that skew towards the twisted.

It's a good setup for the mild menace of “What Was It You Wanted?”, which is in stark contrast to the near-chamber pop of “Forever Young” with what sounds like a harpsichord. “Pledging My Time” is a welcome surprise—interesting that he uses the published lyrics for the “hobo” verse rather than what he sang on the original track—as is “The Wicked Messenger”, which has a more fleshed-out arrangement. “Watching The River Flow” also gets a few alterations but still upbeat, but while “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” is also stripped down like the last album, it’s also goes by so quickly we had to go back to hear if he skipped a verse. (He didn’t.) The final four minutes are given over to “Sierra’s Theme”, a two-chord minor key instrumental others have compared to “All Along The Watchtower”.

Any Dylan concert is a crapshoot, since one never knows what kind of mood or voice he’ll be in. Shadow Kingdom is an intimate evening with Bob, equal parts greatest hits and new interpretations, flowing neatly from song to song with nary a break. Besides being his first new live album since 1995, it’s a nice reminder that when he’s good, he’s very, very good.

Bob Dylan Shadow Kingdom (2023)—3½