There are not enough years or pandemics to tear Bob Dylan off the road, which this Wednesday has brought him to Madrid where tonight he will give the first of the 12 concerts in Spanish territory that he has scheduled as part of the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. Small spaces and a repertoire focused on the last stage will mark the performances that, after the two concerts in the Spanish capital within the Noches del Botánico festival, will take him through Seville, Alicante, Huesca, San Sebastián and Logroño before landing in Barcelona to sign two recitals at the Liceu on June 23 and 24.
Brilliant, maniacal and reluctant to human contact, the Nobel Prize for Literature did not surprise anyone when he announced that he would not allow the use of mobile phones during his recitals, it is just one more of the eccentricities of an artist who has no qualms about acting behind his back his audience or ignore the classic songs from his long career, as he has been doing in the concerts of this latest tour. They will not sound Like a Rolling Stone, Blowin’ in the Wind or Mr. Tambourine Man, instead the 82-year-old veteran artist will dedicate a good part of the concert to interpreting the ten songs from Rough and Rowdy Ways, his 39th album and the first with new themes since 2012.
In their recent performance in Lisbon, all the songs on the album played except for Murder most foul, the 17-minute song that revolves around the assassination of Kennedy. From this album released in the midst of a pandemic, in August 2020, songs like Watching the river flow, Most Likely you go your way (and I’ll go mine) or False Prophet will be played, where the musician says that “I am the first among equals , unmatched.” A wealth of references to contemporary culture that come together in songs like I contain multitudes, where references to Chopin and Poe intertwine with Anne Frank, the Cadillac, Indiana Jones or the Rolling Stones. Along with these recent songs, pieces from previous works will sound, snacks for the most seasoned followers such as Gotta serve somebody, from Slow train coming from 1979, I’ll be your baby tonight, by John Wesley Haling from 1967 or the harmonica from Every grain of sand, from Shot of love (1981) with which he closes the performance.
Robert Zimmerman’s umpteenth world tour kicked off on November 2, 2021 in Milwaukee (USA), after being suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic, and will conclude with a performance in Rome next July. Point and followed, without a doubt, for this unredeemed stage.
