#CocoLive: Bob Dylan – Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth

The word legend is often overused and when it comes to folk-rock’s finest Bob Dylan, his career-spanning back catalogue and iconic performances speaks for itself. Having sold his songwriting catalogue in 2021 which includes classic albums such as ‘Blonde On Blonde’ and ‘Blood on The Tracks’ through to his most recent release, 2020’s ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways’ for a record-breaking $200m (£149m), the revered musician’s setlist was largely focused on his more contemporary works.

The clue was in the name of the tour, the ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways trail’ which began in Wisconsin, USA in November 2021 has finally reached the other side of the pond for the second time in two years where it will conclude at the Royal Albert Hall in London this week.

There’s no doubt that Bob has the material to fill endless hours of performance, but the sold-out audience at Bournemouth had almost two hours of Bob time to contend with. He’s always marched to the beat of his own drum and despite not hearing many of the fan favourites, the esteemed singer-songwriter did not disappoint.

‘All Along the Watchtower’ as an opener is as thrilling as it gets and was one of the few ‘old school’ Bob Dylan classics. After venturing (in rather an understated way) on stage with his band, Bob showed his indomitable boldness and creative instincts in how he reimagines many of his tracks. For some of the tracks, a new lease of life is given, but for others the deconstruction of such seminal tracks left some tracks somewhat unrecognisable.

Of course, this isn’t Bob Dylan’s first rodeo and mixing things up, it’s something he has become synonymous for. However, the arrangements, albeit at times a smidge offbeat, have the texture and depth that makes Bob one of the best songwriters of the last 60 odd years.

It’s prudent to remember that Bob Dylan is 83 years old, his contemporaries like Mick Jagger (81), Paul McCartney (82) and Elton John (a whipper snapper at the tender age of 77 years old) are all still performing world tours with differing degrees of sprightliness.

His wisdom and longevity speak for itself and whilst Bob has never been renowned for his in-depth chats with the audience, he still furnished the audience with the odd endearing soundbite. It seemed that he was very happy to be performing in Bournemouth and playing live in the UK once again.

Predominantly performing behind his piano, Bob occasionally got up and slowly manoeuvred himself to stand to the left of the piano where he animatedly swung his arms and commanded the stage. Despite being behind the piano for the majority of the set, Bob still maintained his usual commanding and masterful presence which could be felt throughout the auditorium. At times, the band and Bob seemed slightly out of synch, but his piano and harmonica playing were artfully executed and his vocals were deliciously raspy and sung with gusto.

An entirely phone-free event (attendees were required to lock their phones away) the ambience was very intimate and hypnotic. He had the audience in the palm of his hands and it demonstrated that exuberance and high-octane jinks are not necessary, especially when it comes to Bob Dylan.

This was an enthralling romp around some of the much-loved classics, the aforementioned ‘Watchtower’, and an intoxicating rendition of ‘It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue’ to the gospel-infused ‘Mother of Muses‘ and the dusky yet rousing ‘Goodbye Jimmy Reed’, both from his latest incarnation of hits. Bob played all but one track from his latest album, apart from ‘Murder Most Foul’ which comes in just shy of 17 minutes long.

‘Desolation Row’ at 11 minutes long was a triumph as was ‘Black Rider’, the bluesy ‘Crossing the Rubicon’ and the underrated ‘When I Paint My Masterpiece’ with its groove-laden guitars. Throughout the set, there were several moments of brilliance which attracted the crowd’s rapt attention and despite some of the reworked tracks being slightly tricky to recognise for some at times, they still were performed with heart and soul.

It’s clear that Bob has implemented this strategy to keep a classic catalogue from becoming stale and to pique his own interest in continuing to perform said tracks.

Feasibly, this might have been one of the last times I see Bob Dylan perform and it was not only an honour and a pleasure to witness. It didn’t really matter if we didn’t hear ‘Tangled up in Blue’, ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ or the brilliant ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’, it was enough just to be in his presence, the presence of one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all time and his set was a magical experience that I won’t forget in a hurry.