Bob Dylan - Rock Of Ages: Spring 2000 Tour (2001)

In 1997 Bob Dylan nearly died, and it seems like ever since, he's been out on the road trying to gather as many souls as possible, converting the world one by one with the fervor of a man who's been returned to his path by God himself.

For the die-hard, the zealous, the purist, there are "field recordings" of virtually every show the man has done in the past several years … you could commit considerable time and energy sorting through them all, trying to find the best performances, the best setlists, the best sound.

But for those of us who value time over money and trust the experts to handle the situation on behalf of everyone concerned, there is Rock of Ages, perhaps the most lovingly assembled and beautifully-packaged bootleg ever made.

Though I'd count myself as a pretty huge Dylan fan, I find that I get deeply into and then utterly sick of his music at regular intervals … I can go years without listening to him, but at some point, I always begin listening again, in a brief but glorious binge, until my Dylan dormancy creeps back in.

I've never even seen the guy live, though I love many of his live recordings, bootlegs especially. He's probably the artist who's been served best by the boot world … his regular catalog is a mess, but his "alternate" catalog is just astounding.

Rock of Ages contains five discs, each in its own tasteful matte-cardboard sleeve, housed in a slim but substantial box that makes Columbia's own impressive offerings look positively lazy. Each disc is a "gold disc," with on-disc imagery evocative of the old Ultradisc releases. Nice touch. I love how deluded bootleggers can be, and these guys have gone way beyond the call of duty.

The packaging alone makes this an irresistible purchase. When I first discovered it, I was so transfixed that I had to keep reminding myself: "Hey, keep in mind … this is 2000-era live Dylan. Don't get so excited."

Yet, listening to the set confirms everything I wanted to believe about it. Fifty years from now, 2000-era live Dylan will be held up as perhaps the best Dylan of all. Touring incessantly, with a constantly surprising rotation of songs in the set, he has done nothing less than reinvent his entire career, recasting familiar old songs in new ways and presenting a whole new way to hear his music.

The set compiles virtually all the songs performed in that stretch of his ongoing tour, eliminating the need to wade through three dozen boots to collect all your favorite songs. I couldn't believe the number of my "pet" favorite Dylan songs that were on here: "Country Pie," "Boots of Spanish Leather," "Ring Them Bells," Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat," "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again," "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," "If You See Her Say Hello," "Blind Willie McTell," "The Man in Me," "Tell Me It Isn't True" … shee-it!

My next thought was: "Sure, but do you really want to sit through shit like "Like a Rolling Stone" or ""Highway 61?" Yet that turns out to be the most surprising thing about these performances – many of those songs have become totally different, and are fascinating for the transformation. "Positively 4th Street" has lost its brashness and sting, now sounding more sorrowful and wise … "Mr. Tambourine Man" has slowed down, giving it an almost depressive, world-weary irony … "It Ain't Me Babe" now sounds like it's aimed at the world instead of a girl. And yeah, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" sounds like he means it.

Another interesting twist: Dylan seems to be having a shitload of fun presenting some of his own favorite "pet" songs in his sets these days … gospel, bluegrass, blues, and country covers pepper the set, and these are almost uniformly delightful: "Duncan & Brady" (Leadbelly), "Searching For a Soldier's Grave" (the Louvin Brothers), "Not Fade Away" (Buddy Holly by way of the Dead) plus the gospel tunes "Somebody Touched Me" and "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour." It's like his religious struggle has finally resolved itself – he's finally found God in music instead of trying to cram God into music.

The band plays with appropriate spunk, matching Dylan's renewed sense of purpose. Occasionally stuff wanders frighteningly into Dick's Picks territory, but that's not such a bad thing, really … in fact, it's pretty cool that he's even been able to fuse the Dylan & the Dead period into this mighty revision of his totality.

He's letting all of the corners of his career shine simultaneously, Down in the Groove alongside The Times They Are a' Changin', Under the Red Sky alongside Shot of Love! It's like he's laying his entire career on the table and saying, "You've all been wrong about me, all along. So here's your chance to get me now."

A couple of songs are presented twice – "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" is wonderful both times; "Tangled Up in Blue" is a revelation once, and a trainwreck the other time. But that's kind of cool – had Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount every night for several years, there would be off nights, certainly.

The then-new stuff (from Time Out of Mind) stands as some of the best material of all, especially "Love Sick," Things Have Changed," and the infrequently-performed, 11-minute "Highlands" … absolutely great, and he attacks the songs deliriously.

Sure, there are songs I wish were here … "Jokerman," "Most of the Time," "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," "Shelter From the Storm," "Tight Connection to My Heart" – how about a Wilburys tune? – but that's just getting greedy.

The set is out of print, but is probably easily enough obtained from cdr swappers. But maybe you'll be in a sly little record store someday, and stumble across an "official" copy … and like me, you'll be transfixed. You'll stare at the box, you'll stare at the tracklist, you'll stare at the price, and ask yourself, "Jesus, can I justify spending that much money on 2000-era live Dylan? It's a leap of faith, like standing on an Olympic diving board or committing to God.

You don't get through this world without taking risks, and opportunities must be seized. You're only here for a short time … you have to grab the gospel when it's handed to you.