Bob Dylan

Granted that Bob Dylan is a great artist to whom much can be forgiven, and reiterating that concert ticket prices are becoming ever more absurd…, let's try to figure out whether those who stayed home should have any regrets.

The evening was the last of three Italian dates, the ninth show overall for Milanese fans since 1984. After the gates opened more than an hour late, and despite the favourable reviews of the Bolzano and Rome shows, more than a few of the roughly 10,000 people in attendance were probably left puzzled.

The line-up featured new guitarist Koella, bringing a more electric, "driving" edge compared to the more recent 2000 and 2002 shows (which I personally remember with greater pleasure), backed by an acoustic sound less harsh than the Forum's usual standards.

As expected, 17 songs including 3 encores (the same encores for every Italian date), opening with the usual "To be alone with you" and "It's all over now, baby blue", played by a band that diligently put itself at the service of "him", a living legend who nonetheless never once picked up a guitar.

He stayed tucked away on the left side of the stage the whole time, standing in front of the electric piano (bad back or arthritis?), only occasionally taking a few steps towards centre stage with a gait somewhere between drunk and limping, further reducing the already scant communication between minstrel and audience: a bit like watching Del Piero play without ever touching the ball, brilliant nonetheless...

The die-hards down at the front stayed engaged regardless, right up to a finale that won everyone over, lifting a concert that wasn't exactly thrilling with an excellent "Like a rolling stone" and an even more electrifying "All along the watchtower". Then everyone filed off home.

So, a slightly underwhelming concert compared to the expectations of those who had already seen Dylan multiple times, or of those who had never seen him and wanted to preserve a different image of him; for many young fans, though, it represented an "event" that, in just under two hours, still offered flashes of poetry and a few artistically strong closing moments.

As always, no guarantees and no unanimous verdicts when it comes to Dylan: some (myself included) turned up their noses, ending up giving a kind of "respect vote", not on a par with the man seen at the Arena in 1987 with Tom Petty, or even in 1984 with Mick Taylor and his band at San Siro, and this isn't just down to the "good old days" effect.

But even back then Dylan was being written off as finished, only to gift us more little gems in the years that followed; so let's pay our respects to a poet who "also" makes music, one firmly anchored in the roots of American folk and rock.

Perhaps it's precisely the ongoing revisiting of a story that began more than 40 years ago, right up to the current "Never Ending Tour", that confirms him, in any case, as Guthrie's heir and the adoptive father of all true rock minstrels, down to the last true American hero, Bruce Springsteen, who brought him on stage at New York's Shea Stadium last October 4th, for the final date of "The Rising Tour"

These are the things we remember about you, Dylan, thanks all the same, and keep making us dream (next time remember to bring your guitar).

Ride the wave of great music

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