Bob Dylan live at the Brixton Academy :: Wessex Scene Online

Bob Dylan live at the Brixton Academy

26th December 2005
Ryan Bailey

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On the train to Brixton, I fear not only for my personal safety, but the dissolution of a hero. Bob Dylan is a twentieth-century icon, inspiration of my creativity and subject of my dissertation. Could he live up to the pedestal I have placed him on? I arrived for the unusually early 7.30 start to see a dingy stage set out like the band were preparing for a casual jam. Without warning, the lights dropped and the man was plainly introduced: ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, Columbia Records present Bob Dylan’.

If he was aiming to defy all my expectations, Dylan certainly did a good job. He did not go near a guitar all night, and left a lonely microphone in the centre of the stage, opting to stand in relative darkness and obscurity behind his keyboard. He spoke just once all night, in order to introduce his band, who gave a distinct country/rock and roll feel to Dylan’s timeless tunes. Plush layered steel guitar, violin and even an appearance of a banjo lent a distinct flair of Americana highly reminiscent to Dylan’s son’s band, The Wallflowers. The alt-country approach was no bad thing, but I fell in love with the Freewheelin’ protest-poet Dylan, who performed simple acoustic folk songs. This performance gave no hint of a political and passionate Dylan who had a message.

The no-frills presentation made it abundantly clear that the night was about nothing but the music. The band heavily improvised solo parts and Dylan heavily improvised lyrical melodies, often transforming his well-known hits out of all recognition. My personal favourite ‘Girl from the North Country’ almost went by unnoticed, until I deciphered the final verse lyrics through Dylan’s increasingly husky delivery. The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the encore, which included an excellent and recognisable cover of ‘London Calling’, which seamlessly flowed into the anthemic ‘Like a Rolling Stone’.

Dylan has since been criticised for butchering his own classics on this tour, and upon first glance I would be inclined to agree. On the surprisingly early 9.45 train home, however, I felt a need to defend my hero. Yes, he may have lost an edge of folk radicalism, but it was at the expense of a thoroughly good and innovative musical performance. To keep his live show fresh after forty-something years is highly commendable, therefore Bob Dylan will not be leaving his pedestal anytime soon.