‘Enigmatic, distant, but still touched by greatness’: Bob Dylan at Hull’s Bonus Arena - review
By Phil Ascough
The “Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour”? The intention was perhaps more along the lines of a “No Distractions” tour, but fans will be fans.
The title came from Bob Dylan’s most recent album, only now being taken on the road but released in 2020 to great acclaim for all its references to violence and hate, blood, gore and death.
And shortly before the start of the gig at the Bonus Arena, the daughter of a massive Dylan fan scattered her Dad’s ashes on the stage. Maybe not entirely inappropriate given some of the themes, but absolutely not part of the show!
Ashes apart, if you turned to technology you had a good idea of what to expect from the Bonus Arena gig, with recent set lists posted online showing nine songs from the Rough and Rowdy album and the rest from Dylan’s vast back catalogue.
You also knew that you wouldn’t be allowed to take your phones into the auditorium, with the tech you almost certainly used to book, pay for and present your ticket being locked inside another piece of new kit – the Yondr pouch.
The official line was that banning phones would allow people to focus on the show rather than sending huge chunks of it to their mates. Sceptics reckon it was to protect the official market for photos and video. Maybe both, but I like the idea of not being distracted by texts from people asking if it’s a good show or whether he’s played their favourite song yet.
It wasn’t an issue when I saw Dylan in 1987 at the NEC in Birmingham. We didn’t have mobile phones and it was just as well because the Dylan hit parade started even before the man himself took the stage.
Roger McGuinn opened the show and, backed by Tom Petty’s band, reeled off a few hits from The Byrds including Dylan composition Mr Tambourine Man.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers then delivered a delicious set of their own material before backing Dylan through a string of hits including Blowin’ in the Wind, Like a Rolling Stone, The Times They Are A-Changin’ and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.
Fast forward 35 years to the Bonus Arena and those crowd-pleasers had been canned, but with no noticeable sense of disappointment from the packed crowd. Other lesser-known tracks from those Birmingham gigs were given an airing. The show opened with Watching the River Flow, and Gotta Serve Somebody reinforced the capabilities of Dylan’s peerless tour band.
I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight is our family favourite, or at least Robert Palmer’s cover version with UB40, which was always guaranteed to set the kids dancing round the house waving spoons on a night of a big old moon.
Whether you knew the songs or not you couldn’t anticipate the mood of the man on the night, and whether he still has what it takes at 81 years old. There’s also Dylan’s habit of reworking old material to create something new but when it comes to live shows that’s not a bad thing. It’s why we have recordings, and why we have gigs.
The lights came up to reveal the five-piece backing band, with Dylan almost completely hidden, sitting behind his upright piano, set slightly stage left of centre, and then standing to play.
He ventured out twice during the set, tottering towards the front of the stage and then retreating as if not too sure he liked what he’d seen. Then back again for a little longer, edging slightly closer to the audience and giving ever such a slight nod as if to say: “So you’re Hull? OK, you’ll do for me”.
He spoke only to introduce the band just before closing the show with Every Grain of Sand. Bob Britt and Doug Lancio on guitars which were not so much duelling as teasing each other, Tony Garnier on string bass and bass guitar, Charley Drayton the subtlest of drummers with his brushes and beaters, and Donnie Herron playing steel guitar, violin and electric mandolin.
Dylan’s singing was soft yet staccato, whispering his poetry and growing into the performance, his trademark growl and drawl interpreted as evidence that he was having a good time. The voice is still there, just used more sparingly as Dylan adds durability to his versatility.
All six of them clad in black, they dovetailed as though born to play together, layer after layer of sauntering blues and gentle jazz washing gently over the audience, and building smoothly to the occasional crescendo as the band upped a gear, added new dimensions and raised the tempo almost effortlessly.
The backdrops were nothing more fancy than ceiling to floor drapes, all bathed in a gentle light – minimal kit and adornment and a mood which would be perfect for the intimacy of the Adelphi or Kardomah 94, but for the small matter of the thousands of people who clamoured for tickets.
Just once the serenity was shattered, by a woman, maybe 30-something, galloping to the front of the auditorium, long blonde hair threatening to take flight as she shouted and waved at her octogenarian idol. Dylan didn’t bat an eyelid.
Security rounded her up patiently and there appeared no harm done, although it’s entirely possible the pouch product development people were watching every move…
Picture by Brett Jordan
“Can we find somewhere to store her until the end of the show? We’re gonna need a bigger Yondr!”
When it came, the end was signalled by a few lights at the side of the auditorium, which then went off again, fuelling hopes of an encore. For those already heading to retrieve their phones a sudden distraction – but not for long. The house lights came up and we were done. An hour and half, 17 songs, same as everywhere else.
Still unanswered is the question on everybody’s lips when the tour was announced in July – why Hull?
Maybe there’s a clue with this lyric from I Contain Multitudes off the Rough and Rowdy Ways album:
“I rollick and I frolic with all the young dudes, I contain multitudes.”
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Or with Dylan’s collaborations with Mick Ronson on the Rolling Thunder Revue tours of 1975 and 76?
However it happened, booking Bob Dylan was a real coup for the Bonus Arena, which is developing a healthy habit of bringing in a cross-section of really big names.
You won’t find Bob Dylan embracing the audience in the style of Guy Garvey and Elbow, or venturing into the crowd to emulate Bastille’s Dan Smith. He’s cut from the same black suit cloth as Van Morrison, who opened this venue in 2018, and there’s nothing wrong with that.