Dylan makes it all new again

Despite three hit albums in a row in recent years, Bob Dylan chose to revisit some of his classic songs from the '60s Friday night at KeyArena. Only five of the two-hour set's 16 songs came from his recent releases, including three from "Modern Times," his latest, No. 1 album, one of the biggest hits of his nearly 45-year recording career.

But the old songs became new again as he altered the arrangements of every one. Dylan, playing an electric piano and wearing a black riverboat gambler outfit complete with bolero hat, and his outstanding five-man band, in matching gray suits and black hats, played blues, country, Western swing and rock, all of it with energy, passion and élan.

By altering the style of the music, Dylan made you listen anew to what makes him the greatest songwriter in rock history — his poetic, wry, mysterious and intriguing lyrics. Right from the unrecognizable opening notes of the first song, which turned out to be witty complaint of "Maggie's Farm," he let the big, adoring crowd know that he wasn't going to give them something they already knew well but something very different. It made you appreciate all over again the magic he can create with words.

He reached all the way back to 1963 for the beautiful, moving "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," about a father's love for his "blue-eyed son" and fear for the future the boy might have to live in — a song that sounded thoroughly contemporary.

Mostly he drew from the mid-60s, for songs such as "She Belongs to Me," "Positively 4th Street," "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)," "Just Like a Woman" and the most rocking tune of the night, "Highway 61 Revisited." One of the most well-received songs was a slowed-down version of "Tangled Up In Blue," from 1975's acclaimed "Blood on the Tracks" album.

A couple of the '60s classics he altered only slightly — "Like A Rolling Stone" (with the crowd loudly cheering the line "How does it feel?") and "All Along the Watchtower."

He played two songs from 2001's "Love and Theft" CD, "Lonesome Day Blues" and "Summer Days," the latter featuring a long, Western-swing jam, with pedal steel, stand-up bass and dual guitars.

He played three of the best songs from "Modern Times," the wise, questioning and spiritual "When the Deal Goes Down," "Workingman's Blues #2," about money, war and worries, and the mysterious "Thunder on the Mountain," which somehow captures modern life, name-checking singer Alicia Keys and creating a word-picture of hectic city living.

The show started with a great blast of young, blues-based rock, delivered by Kings of Leon, made up of three long-haired, talented Southern boys and their cousin.

Patrick MacDonald: 206-464-2312, pmacdonald@seattletimes.com