Bob Dylan – BOSTON GARDEN 1974 (2LP) Vinyl Double Album

While Bob Dylan and the Band’s 1974 tour was just another highlight in a series of highlights in their respective long and storied careers, this stellar night on their celebrated comeback tour really is something special. Bob Dylan had largely been off the road since 1966, but upon the release of ‘Planet Waves’ in January of ’74, he and the Band reunited for a full-scale tour to promote the album and to roll tape on a forthcoming live release. Naturally, expectations were high for Dylan and the Band across the board and rightfully so – it had been a while since they’d first made their mark together on ’65 and ’66 tours, and then recording what would come to be known as ‘The Basement Tapes’ in Dylan’s Woodstock outpost. Though, in the breach, the Band had grown artistically and could now claim an identity independent of their relationship to Dylan. All told, this was primetime for all involved, and after 40 concerts in 43 days, the tour culminated with three shows at the Forum in Inglewood, California (where the bulk of the tour’s ultimate live document, ‘Before The Flood’, was recorded). Along the trail The 1974 Tour blazed, and it’s safe to say that at any given show these guys were capable of igniting some real fires; they even changed the set list nightly to ensure they stayed charged up. But on a night like this at Boston Garden, while the running order is positively inspired, Dylan and the Band are also four-alarm blazing, and the elements combust into a demonstration of why, when it comes to epic American roots rock, Dylan and the Band are like a fire-breathing, rock ‘n’ roll hydra and unbeatable combination.