I saw him in the mid-80s and he totally blew (and I own just about all of his albums up through Desire); we walked out halfway into his show and I became a non-believer right then, right there!
Thats too bad. He was excellent each time I've seen him, including in Oct. His voice is a croak, but it still works.
Bob was really bad live for a lot of 1985-1989 so I don't blame you. He really has improved since 1991 and really got it together since 1998.