The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert in Bloomington, MN

The title of
The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert
is a nod to the fact that the famous bootleg known as
The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert
was actually recorded at the Manchester Free Trade Hall on May 17, 1966. The historical record was corrected when the concert was released as the second installment in
Bob Dylan
's
Bootleg Series
in 1998 (it's labeled the fourth volume, but the first three editions were all rounded up in a 1991 box), so when it came to release a sampler album from the mammoth 36-disc set
The 1966 Live Recordings
, the only option was to release
, a show given on May 26, 1966. This double-disc set follows the same contours of the Manchester Free Trade Hall show, offering the acoustic set on the first disc and the electric on the second. Furthermore, the set lists are identical, so
feels a bit like a mirror image of the Manchester Free Trade Hall. Like on Manchester, the acoustic set is quite good, but it's overshadowed by an electric set that feels wild and alive. Perhaps the performance isn't as epochal as
, but it offers similar thrills and pleasures, and that's enough for any
Dylan
fan who wants to hear more music from this rich period. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine