Bob Dylan first performed live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1965 aged 23. Sixty years on, the now 83-year-old legend returns to the iconic venue for a three-night residency.
Notoriously private, there’s an attractive air of intrigue around Dylan, whose unconventional (some say never-ending) touring ways only add to his mystery.
If anything, he has the godlike status of an old-skool Hollywood star who might do one interview and TV appearance before releasing a new movie—except Dylan doesn’t even do that.
Refreshingly uncompromising to the modern world, fans couldn’t get into the sold-out concert without locking their phones away in specially provided pouches, while no photographers were on standby to capture the star either. Everything was totally in the moment.
The interior of the Royal Albert Hall had the lights lowered over a dimly lit stage before five figures walked out in near darkness. It wasn’t clear at first which one was the Bard himself until the fixtures were raised to a warm glow that fans would bask in for the next couple of hours. A fuzz of dyed black hair soon became apparent as Dylan opened with 1967’s All Along the Watchtower on guitar but facing the back of the stage. For a moment, we wondered if he’d be like this for the whole concert, but it wasn’t long before he turned around in his glitter-laden black shirt to croak through the rest of the setlist on the piano.
Still sprightly at 83, he was regularly on his feet with a mic rasping through his tracks. Although difficult at times to make out the lyrics (he performs different versions of his hits almost as a matter of course), the audience didn’t seem to mind. If anything, the live appeal of Dylan, who Paul McCartney says is the one artist he wishes he could duet with, is to sit in the presence of a living legend, cryptically reworking older tracks and playing around with new ones. It seems like an almost religious experience for some, although others don’t really get it, with the Telegraph reporting someone behind them a couple of weeks ago at another show shouting, “Boring!” Then, last night, a woman a few rows back had to be removed after repeatedly screaming, “I hate you!” However, the exact context of the latter and whether it was aimed at the artist or not was as clear as the meaning of some of Dylan’s ballads.
The most dedicated fans already know this, but don’t expect greatest hits like “The Times They Are A-Changin’” and “Mr Tambourine Man.” Dylan refuses to be a jukebox artist and takes a more creative, ever-changing approach to his live performances based on how he feels today.
Alongside songs from his 2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways, which this latest tour supports, almost every decade since the Sixties was represented, from It Ain’t Me Babe and Desolation Row to Every Grain of Sand and Black Rider. After two hours, Dylan, who improvised with his harmonica and never spoke a single word throughout, left the stage with a smile but without an encore. Does anyone mind? Not really. A Dylan concert is about being invited in to watch one of our greatest living artists at work, and what a privilege it was.
