Gig review: Bob Dylan at Hull Bonus Arena

"We love you, Bobby!" shrieks the over-excited fan who rushes towards the stage, arms flailing, about halfway through tonight's 100-minute performance, before being unceremoniously escorted out by security.
Bob Dylan. Picture: Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG)/PA WireBob Dylan. Picture: Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG)/PA Wire
Bob Dylan. Picture: Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG)/PA Wire

Some long-suffering Bob Dylan fans can possibly think back to past performances where such disruptions would have provided light relief from the legendary American songwriter’s habit of messing with the arrangements and melodies of his tunes with all the care of a woodcutter chopping down a pile of logs. Dylan attracts the kind of fanatical followers who tend to treat each tune-dodging experiment as a blessed gift from the Master – and who might well be compelled to make a spectacle of themselves in public in order to demonstrate their dedication.

The frequently hushed and stripped-back music emerging from the stage tonight is potent enough to render any additional elements an unwelcome distraction. The solo attempt at rushing the stage aside, there are none: apart from an occasional trip centre-stage to soak in the applause from the enthusiastic capacity crowd, Dylan is partially hidden away behind his piano. Positioned in a half-circle around Dylan’s piano on a low-lit, shadowy stage, the remarkable five-piece band perform their duties with stoic, unshowy concentration: with not a firework or video screen in sight, this show is all about the music.

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And what music it is: tonight's quietly powerful, focused and deeply atmospheric performance certainly helps explain why Dylan attracts such a devoted following. Most veteran acts would be faced with a livid queue for refunds if they dared to centre their live show on their most album. Dylan has never been one for crowd-pleasing greatest hits rundowns, but this current tour is unusual even for him for its uncompromising focus on 2020's Rough And Rowdy Ways, almost all of which is aired tonight.

Dylan is right to have faith in the pulling power of his recent material: the beautifully nuanced and alluringly deep album might be the crowning glory of Dylan's creative regeneration since 1997's Time Out of Mind. The biggest surprise is Dylan's renewed ability to navigate melodies. In stark contrast to the kind of hoarse growl that makes Tom Waits resemble a choir boy that Dylan has often opted for in the last 20 years or so, the songwriter – his vocals front and the centre in the crystal-clear mix – is in very fine voice, reaching successfully for the delicate high notes of I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You and savouring the at turns heartfelt and mischievous lyrics of I Contain Multitudes for maximum impact, both highlights of a set that is consistently impressive.

When vintage material does emerge, it comprises of judiciously selected deep cuts which are radically rearranged. This time around, however, Dylan has realigned the classics with great care. 1969’s country smoocher I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight starts off as a near-acapella torch song, before blooming into a spirited gallop around the riff of Roy Head’s 1965 hit Treat Her Right. Gotta Serve Somebody (from Dylan’s late-70s gospel phase) is now a deliciously swaggering slice of sweaty juke joint blues that provides the band – who follow Dylan’s every move like a hawk for musical clues – a rare chance to let off some steam in a performance that is characterised by subdued and contemplative moods.

From the slinky and sinister blues of Crossing The Rubicon to a superb lounge-rock reinvention of the epic Key West, it is the new material that impresses the most: you can’t say that for many artists in the seventh decade of their musical career.

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Living legends often get extra credit for simply showing up, for still being around for fans keen to tick off another name off their musical bucket list. There is no need for that tonight.

The standing ovation that follows a deeply moving Every Grain of Sand (an overlooked gem delivered with the most care and affection since it was first performed in the early 80s) is in recognition of what Bob Dylan is creating right now.

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