For a veteran like Joan Baez, continued success involves a delicate balance. Her name will forever be linked with that of Bob Dylan, and her revival of early Dylan songs, or the autobiographical Diamonds and Rust, which deals with their relationship, produced the most thunderous, if predictable, applause from a packed-out Barbican. But Baez is wise enough to know that nostalgia is not enough: though she kept her audience happy with the old favourites, the most intriguing moments came when she veered off into the unexpected.

Baez may be in her mid-60s, but she was still an elegant figure in her black trousers, red shirt and short grey hair, and she was still taking chances. In place of the expected band she was joined by just two musicians, who swapped between acoustic guitar, lapsteel guitar and bass. There were sections where she sang solo, either backed by her own guitar or unaccompanied, and the variety was impressive. She started with a safe opener, The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, followed by a brand new song, Elvis Costello and T-Bone Burnett's sturdy Scarlet Tide. Then came selections from her old folk repertoire, a fashionable tribute to Johnny Cash with Long Black Veil, a couple of strong songs by Steve Earle, and even a gently stomping version of Ben E King's Stand By Me, backed by acoustic bass.

There were times when she had problems with her voice (which presumably explains why the road crew kept bringing her mugs of tea), but Baez was clearly enjoying herself. A request from the crowd led to the unplanned inclusion of the personal Honest Lullaby, while the first of her Dylan tributes, With God on Our Side, sparked off a lecture on the relationship between God, Bush and Blair, in which she managed to be angry, scary and very funny. This was not revivalism, but Baez updating her 1960s stance.

· At Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, tonight. Box office: 0161-907 9000. Then touring.