By Robert Ford,
On the eve of Bob Dylan’s forthcoming tour of the United Kingdom it seems appropriate to have a quick look back at his performing history in this part of the world.
He first came to the UK in December 1962 after his first album had been released, and his second album was being recorded, and performed in the folk clubs in the London area. He appeared in the BBC play Madhouse On Castle Street. He also spent time with British singers, including Martin Carthy (and it was lovely to see the recent Dylan video tribute to Martin ).
During the next few years, the UK was to play a huge role in Dylan’s musical journey. Following a celebrated concert at the Royal Festival Hall in May 1964, Dylan made two historic tours of the UK in 1965 and 1966. The 1965 tour was extensively featured in the brilliant ‘Don’t Look Back ‘ film and captured his last solo tour.
The 1966 tour culminated in the infamous Judas incident at the Free Trade Hall concert in Manchester. It is worth repeating how exhilarating and chaotic this 1966 tour was and how the Judas shout was a perfect moment. On the other hand, it is also ludicrous because Dylan had ‘ gone electric’ almost a year earlier, had released ‘Like A Rolling Stone ‘ and the ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ album months before his 1966 UK tour.
Following the 1966 UK tour Dylan did not tour again for 8 years despite releasing some of his finest albums, such as ‘John Wesley Harding’, ‘Nashville Skyline’ and ‘Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Vol 2’, which featured newly recorded versions of a few great songs from the Basement Tapes. Some of the original versions of the Basement Tapes songs did find their way on the famous ‘Great White Wonder’ bootleg released a year earlier.
However, Dylan did perform one more historic concert in the UK in 1969 at the Isle of Wight Festival. It is interesting to note that it was his only major performance during his retirement from performing for 8 years. The performance with the Band was almost as controversial as the 1966 concerts because Dylan had ‘gone Country’ and people do not like change. It was a brilliant performance and again like nothing else he had done before. It would be 9 years before he came back to perform in the UK.
The 1978 world tour was remarkable. Dylan could have performed a solo acoustic tour if his primary purpose was money. However, he performed with an eleven-piece band and did not perform any solo acoustic songs at the London concerts. The Earls Court performances were for many people a life-changing event…I know many people whose Dylan journey began here. The Blackbush event, with an audience estimated at over 200,000 was another magical musical triumph.
Dylan performed in the UK on four tours in the 1980’s. The 1981 tour was again controversial, being the tail end of the religious period. The actual performances were magnificent. Has he ever sung better? Probably not. The 1984 tour had only 3 concerts in the UK, being in huge stadiums, etc. The Wembley Stadium concert was majestic and included some of his finest solo acoustic performances with a remarkable rewritten ‘Tangled Up in Blue’. The 1987 tour again divided people. Has he ever had a better band?
The last London concert was one of his greatest ever, with a terrific, spontaneous ‘Go Down Moses’ as the final song. The 1989 concerts had the NET arrive in the UK. The small combo Dylan formed for this period was probably invigorating for his live performance art and the concerts were very well received. ( Dylan had a peculiar impact on one fan at Wembley Arena as the fervent fan decided to play the harmonica during one song!)
The 1990’s continued the NET and had some landmark Dylan concerts, such as his wonderful London concerts in 1990, the Manchester concerts in 1995 and the 1998 concerts. The first two tours were an opportunity to see and hear Dylan up close in smaller venues with a standout ‘Crash On The Levee’ opening the 1995 concerts. He performed an intense, intimate concert at a Birmingham Leisure Centre in 1995. Surely, only Bob Dylan would do this.
Into the 2000’s, Dylan released the game-changing ‘Love & Theft’ album in 2001 and the sublime ‘Modern Times’ album in 2006, which led to some of his greatest concerts in the UK . Concerts in Stirling, Scotland in 2001, London in 2003 (he performed 4 concerts in 4 different venues in London and surprised even the most ardent Dylan admirer’s with his song choices…’Yea Heavy and A Bottle of Bread!) and Liverpool in 2009 with a heartfelt ‘Something’ which brought the house down, are for many fans must have concerts.
The 2010s saw Dylan embrace the Great American Songbook, which had a rather incredible impact on his work. The heavy workload of the NET had taken a toll on his voice, especially by the beginning of this decade. However, the recording of the first Songbook album in 2014 resulted in a surprising and dramatic improvement to his voice which continues to this day. Many people, including the great Tony Garnier feel that his 2019 USA concerts were some of the most remarkable of his performing history. There are many outstanding UK concerts since 2013 and , again, Bob Dylan chooses to play concerts in many places other so-called superstars would never dream of playing. So Blackpool in 2013 with a superb, harmonica-driven ‘Forgetful Heart’ and a rather splendid ‘Waiting For You’ was very special. For a concert post-2014, with impeccable performances of the Sinatra-inspired cover songs, then Nottingham in 2017 is hard to beat (despite an audience lost in time ).
Into the present decade and the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour has resulted in many priceless concerts, including several at one of his favourite venues the Royal Albert Hall. The London Palladium concerts in 2022 at which Jimmy Page was ecstatic were wonderful, made all the better because of the minimal backing and the respectful audience. The concerts last year in Wolverhampton, in the lovely Civic Hall , were a joy to see and hear, with the bonus of arguably his greatest ever drummer, Jim Keltner in the band.
It is astonishing that Dylan has been performing in the UK for over 60 years. It is also fair to say that other than the USA, he has performed more concerts in the UK than any other country (and therefore more concerts than any other performer). Since the beginning of the Never Ending Tour in 1988, he has only missed performing in the UK in 88,92,94,99,2008,2014 was Ireland only ,2016,2018,2023 and the two lockdown years. Some of his most celebrated tours have been performed in the UK. Dylan has also debuted songs in the UK and also performed many one-off songs in the UK such as the Travellin’ Wilbury’s song ‘Congratulations’, ‘ City of Gold’ and ‘Love Sick’.
So what can we expect this time round? The simple answer is music. I would never ever dream of wanting anything other than the songs Bob Dylan wants and needs to play. As Jerry Wexler said during the 1979 recording sessions ‘there are 3 geniuses in music Aretha, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan… he could sing the phone book for me and he would still be great’. Dylan has probably over 700 original songs to choose from plus the cover songs he makes his own. Expectations are high because he arrives in Europe on the back of a glorious Outlaw tour of the USA.
I prefer to hibernate when the European tour starts and avoid all the news, videos, setlists, reviews, etc,etc. It is hard to do in this digital age but I still prefer an element of surprise as I believe it enhances my concert experience.
My concern is if he is confronted with an audience stuck in time and wanting only studio-like renditions of ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ or other older songs. The other worry is if most of the audience are the type of audience common these days who enjoy the music (sport, etc ) but prefer not to clap, cheer, etc. Come on, he will not do encores if these fans cannot be bothered to clap or cheer for one… ” he does not do encores” was the response from one fan who passed by me last year. Crazy. Bob Dylan has been performing encores for over 70 years. I would also respectfully suggest that concert goers listen to the Rough and Rowdy Ways album, the Shadow Kingdom album and the beautiful ‘ Don’t Fence Me In’ soundtrack song. His most recent work, which he performs because he feels compelled to do so and, most importantly, delivered in his most recent voice.
Finally, does Bob Dylan deserve a standing ovation as he comes on stage?
Robert Ford
Cheshire,UK