The name calling doesn't bother me. I've read and heard far worse. At least Dylan's not Sideshow Bob. Maybe we should call the tour The Itchy and Scratchy Show. Which is which, I wonder?
The newspaper reviews of concerts don't bother me, either. I've attended shows where the reviews have been good but I've not enjoyed the performance personally; conversely, I've been to shows where the reviews have been ghastly and come away elated myself. Dylan is perverse - you get good shows and you get less good shows. Even within one show, you get great performances and perfunctory performances. At least, he's not a machine ["The man in me will hide sometimes to keep from being seen / But that's just because he doesn't want to turn into some machine"].
I note that some of reviews mention that both "mumble" their lyrics, Dylan less clearly than Mark. When you read this sort of remark, you know that the reviewer is an "average joe" and likely not judging the show by the standards that you and I would apply. They're not right or wrong; they just have a different perspective. Reviewers comment that Dylan barely speaks and that Mark does; fine, they just go about their work in different ways. Reviewers also mention that Mark "showcases" his band members and Dylan doesn't; as it happens, I sometimes wish Dylan would do this but it really doesn't bother me.
Additionally, I've read uniformly positive, and even excessively laudatory, reviews of a Dylan album that is clearly nowehere near as good as the reviewer says. Sometimes, I think reviewers, having tossed off a less good review of the previous album which they have come to like and admire in time, fear they may get it wrong this time round and/or may wish to make amends for the previous review. I just read the reviews, put them into the file (mental or actual) and get on with things.
I grudge no one their views, even when I don't agree with them. It would be awful (dangerous possibly) if we all liked the same thing. What is indisputable, in my view, is that, had Dylan not have written the songs he has written, then Mark would never have written the songs he's written. He may have written other songs (who knows?) and they may have been good songs or less good songs (again, who knows?) but they wouldn't have been the songs we know and love today. [And the same applies to many other songwriters, too]
And, like Dylan, Mark goes on and on writing songs, as he gets older and .... what shall I say ... matures. And I for one hope that they both go on writing new songs for years to come. It gives me a lot of pleasure and fun.
