Perhaps it is because he never fit the rock-star mold, never was a golden god or rebel sex symbol, that he still performs as though he has something to prove.

Mr. Dylan hit the stage at the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center with a crackerjack band on Feb. 15. Wearing a snappy white suit and playing for 2 1/2 hours, he was ready to convert a surprisingly full arena to his musical cause.

Previous dates on Mr. Dylan's current tour have been hit-heavy affairs, long on crowd pleasers and light on obscure numbers and cuts from his new album, Love and Theft. In Augusta, Mr. Dylan took a different approach. Although there was still a more-than-modest helping of singalong hits, including a pedal steel-enhanced Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 and a fire-and-brimstone version of Tombstone Blues, the set was more of a slow simmer than a quick burn. It took risks, making the rewards that much sweeter.

There is something magnificent about watching an artist open with a high, lonesome reading of a traditional folk tune such as Duncan and Brady, then follow it with a version of his own Mr. Tambourine Man so drastically rearranged that many in the audience didn't recognize it until its trademark chorus.

Instead of merely providing a litany of campfire-ready songs from his collection of singles, a sort of Bob Dylan revue, Mr. Dylan seemed intent on creating a living, breathing work of art. His delicately constructed set was an assemblage of songs with a real sense of flow and purpose, music selected not because it would sell records or set lighters burning (though they did), but because these were the songs that would sound best together.

The payoff came at the heart of Mr. Dylan's five-song encore with an emotional version of the relatively obscure Forever Young. Reinvented as a meditation on things lost, gained and remembered, it could easily be considered the theme song for Mr. Dylan's career at 60. He remembers and appreciates his past without losing forward momentum. And, for a few short hours, he let an Augusta audience accompany him on the trip.

Reach Steven Uhles at (706) 823-3626 or steven.uhles@augustachronicle.com