Yet, naturally, all the members of the band very clearly worked for Dylan and followed his lead with serious attentiveness. Instrumentally, the show was incredibly accomplished the band had some of the most technically astonishing musicians going. His band members surrounded the piano like satellites, watching Dylan for subtleties in his key playing and adjusting accordingly. Landmark events cause you to evaluate and reflect, and it became immediately apparent that this was one of those moments. I’m not ashamed to say that I was visibly moved by the experience Dylan’s aged and wise voice still carried his past and permitted you to connect your own memories and periods in your life to his illustrious career. The trademark rising intonation was immediately recognisable, prompting nostalgia-fuelled rapture from the audience. Opening with a loose, piano-led rendition of ‘Watching the River Flow’, Dylan took the restlessness of the original recorded vocal and improvised upon it. Two thirds along sat an upright piano, behind which an obscured Dylan, in a grey blazer, struck up the first notes of his masterclass. The black-clad band assumed their positions across the stage. The lights came down, and the curtains were lit to echo an old blues club or wine bar. With the time being but a rumour given the absence of phones, Bob Dylan arrived on stage in a world unconcerned by the clock. There was palpable excitement but also reverence, and a real sense of occasion. Strangers talked to each other, with seasoned fans trading stories of where and when they saw him last and what it meant to them. We concurrently existed in the present moment, and wherever Dylan wanted to situate us. Aged yellow curtains framed the stage, blending with the gold detail of the Apollo roof. A prerequisite was for every audience member to put their phones in a locked bag, catapulting the Apollo back to pre-smartphone times. Bob Dylan makes a one-off tour show feel like a residency.Įvery element of the stage show worked towards timelessness. Like any generational talent in any discipline, not only are you in awe of who you’re witnessing, you’re in awe of the atmosphere of control that one person possesses. As the Manchester date coincides with the first anniversary of the first date of the tour, it’s staggering to process Dylan’s relentless desire to showcase his latest direction. This is the genius of Bob Dylan at work.ĭylan, now 81, has taken the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour to the UK, his first shows here in 5 years. 56 years on, fans again congregate in this city to see the same individual, yet nearly everything about the show has changed. The scene where we find ourselves, the Manchester Apollo, is less than two miles away from the Free Trade Hall, the sight of the infamous 1966 “Judas” accusation squared at Bob Dylan that shook the very core of rock n’ roll discourses. A feast that makes me feel like my ancestors are beside me.įollow us on Facebook and Instagram for more stories.In Manchester, you’re never far away from music history. To greet this ceremonial fishing trip every day with the rising sun is a magical journey. Even if it’s the long stick I use to hit the water making the fish easier targets for the birds by the fish’s responding erratic movements, I think it’s my abundance song to the Li River that has a larger impact. As this may be a sign to start fishing for them, for me it’s my cry to the Li River for an abundant catch. Then I start singing by imitating their shrieks. This is the “get ready, fishing is about to start” command to the birds. Upon arrival at the chosen fishing site, I dance (at least I think it’s like dancing) by gently jumping on my feet. I tie a thread to the throats of my six birds who have landed on the sticks of the raft, so that they don’t swallow the fish that they catch. I’m fishing the same way my grandfathers used to fish back in the day.Īs the day rises, we go out on the river with our bamboo rafts and cormorants. In China, dynasties have come and gone, regimes and rulers changed, but our fishing method has never changed. Here, we fish using the rafts we built by connecting five bamboo trees together for each and the cormorant birds we trained at an early age. For hundreds of years, the Li Jiang River has been our income source, our river of life. My father, grandfather, and my great-grandfather were also fishermen.
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