| Reviews Leeds, England First Direct Arena November 14, 2025 |
Review by Adam Selzer
I remember it rained all day the day that Elvis Presley died. And only
a legend can make it do that." -Tom Waits
"But they don't have to die to do it; they can just finally roll into
town after 63 years." -me
It happens every time: I go to a city that people in England rip on, and I
love it. My knowledge of Leeds consisted mainly of TV characters being
aghast at the idea of living there, and the live album by The Who. I only
just learned that Dylan had never been "Live at Leeds" himself; it was
the largest UK city he'd never played.
It may be that saying you've seen Leeds when you spent your whole time
in the city centre is like going to Times Square and saying you've seen
New York, but the city centre was great. It was like a mall, mostly, only
with great old architecture and arcades everywhere, and besides just the
regular mall shops (which it had all of), there are also numerous pubs,
vintage shops, record stores, and the occasional graveyard, which our
malls never seem to have. It was the biggest, and by far the best, mall
I've ever been to, and as a child of 80s and 90s American mall culture
that's a big admission.
But it was one of those outdoor malls, and it was raining the entire day
and all of the night. My shoes were taking in water within a few blocks of
the train, and I had to pick up some new rain boots from Doctor Marten,
which seemed just the sort of place to shop in Leeds. I had two meat pies
at Pieminster, the official pie maker of Leeds United, and became a
supporter of that team at once simply because they have an official pie
maker. Also I see they're just above last place at the moment, which
makes them just my kind of squad.
Pre-show I met up with Dr Nathan and fellow chemist Yuliya, plus Dr
Nathan's dylan-skeptical uni roommate, who was fortifying himself for
the show with a great deal of Leeds' finest alcohol. We talked about the
situation in the states, and they joked that when Nathan made a planned
move to New Mexico he could probably just walk into a shop and say "One
gun, please." They laughed, but it was almost certainly true.
The arena was a large one, with sparkling clean toilets that still smelled
abominable, and echoey acoustics that would make the drums sound out of
time now and then. Dylan came on for an extended guitar jam (not bad,
really) on "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" with strong vocals. The
vocals would be strong all night, and "False Prophet" was supported by
particularly wicked lead guitar. It brought the night's first standing
ovation.
There was a spooky "Black Rider" with the new steel guitar used to
great effect (but still pretty low in the mix), and a remarkably
non-threatening "My Own Version of You." Tonight it called to mind a
traveling huckster making his pitch, rolling into town and convincing a
room full of people to fund his creation. They'd listen with great
interest at first as he built himself up, then begin to suspect he was
mad, then be certain he was, then give him the money anyway. A relaxed
"To Be Alone With You" seemed breezy, like the huckster had gotten the
money and was safely on the train out of town before they could realize
they'd been swindled.
"Alone With You" was the fourth guitar song of the night, and the
guitar was all above average tonight. The bridge was different again:
Baby the night time is the right time
To hold it in your arms
Right down in the (border line?)
A world in your charms
The show had been, to my ears, somewhere between Swansea and Coventry in
terms of quality, but "Crossing the Rubicon" marked something of a
turning point; it was a killer tonight. "Desolation Row" seemed a bit
experimental tonight; Bob Britt was working out a steel guitar part, and
Dylan seemed to be causally experimenting with the delivery, looking for a
new melody without veering too far from how he's been doing it. I feel
like we're about two shows from a radical, awesome new version - the
kind of prediction I make now and then, never successfully.
"Watching the River Flow," with Dylan on guitar for the intro and Bob
Britt adding some steel, merits notice for its stronger-than-average
vocals and great harp and guitar interplay in the end.
"It's All Over Now Baby Blue" was stunning tonight, with an achingly
gorgeous harp solo. I never wanted it to end. Afterwards I even shouted
out "Again!" which I'm not sure I've ever shouted. Of course,
rather than honoring my request to play it again, he played an equally
captivating "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself To You."
"Mother of Muses" had some of the martial drums back towards the end,
and kept up the run of absolutely magnificent ballads. Really, I can't
think of many times I saw three straight songs put me through such an
emotional ringer. I might rank the show a bit below Coventry overall, but
this three song block was beyond compare.
"Jimmy Reed" was once again danceable, with the nightly variable line
coming in as "I'm fooling you, but what's the use?"
"Every Grain of Sand" isn't one where he normally gets too
inventive, but the third verse got downright interesting, nearly spoken,
with alternating syllables emphasized like someone demonstrating iambic
pentameter using something that wasn't quite written in it: "In the
BITter DANCE of LONEliness FAding into space, in the BROken MIRror or
INNocence...". This kept up for the whole verse, Tony was clearly
delighted by it, grinning from ear to ear at his bass as the show drew to
close.
Is Bob as good as he ever was? Well, not on guitar, perhaps. But he's as
daring, as inventive, as bold, and as uncompromising as he ever was, which
is what made him such a compelling performer all along.
It was still raining when Nathan, Yuliya, Marielle and I made it to Grind
House, a bar that blasted music while projecting Robocop movies on the
screen. The bartender cheerfully put on Dylan's greatest hits and we
sang along so loudly that my throat is sore on the train to Scotland this
morning. Like all the best nights, it ended after closing time with us
forming a band and eating Wendy's jacket potatoes in the hotel. I like
Leeds. Go United!
Thanks,
Adam
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www.adamchicago.com
Story and Review by Trevor Townson
Blood On The Tracks
This review really starts in 2002, when on the 4th day of May in that
year, as in this present year, Bob was kicking off the UK leg of his tour
in Brighton.
At that time I was between marriages and seeing a lady called Dorcas.
Similar to Bob's experience, I found myself courting a lady having a
name that I had never heard of before but I was told by her that it was
Biblical so there I stood, fully educated. I was further told in which
part of the Bible Dorcas actually figures but I have since forgotten, a
bit like at one time being fully educated in Algebra.
By that time I had already been into the music of Bob Dylan for many years
but for Dorcas it was all pretty much new, of course she had heard of his
name and some of his songs, but the fascinating maze that was Bob Dylan
even at that time was I think mainly a mystery. We listened to a lot of
Bob together and she was pretty much instantly hooked in that way that
someone once said, in words to the effect, "If Bob clicks he goes
deep".
At that time I had the full set of all of the available albums that Bob
had officially released on CD. Actually no doubt like a lot of people at
that time having also already owned most of them previously on both vinyl
and then as cassette tapes. In the case of tape probably many times as the
cassette players at that time, especially those fitted in the car, would
eat them up with an insatiable appetite. It must have been a bad day for
the music industry when cassette tapes became obsolete as multiple
replacement purchases by multiple people must have been a fantastic money
spinner for the business back in the day.
I had however become lax in 2002 and was not fully up to date album wise
as my collection was missing the latest gem which had been released
towards the latter end of 2001, "Love and Theft". I was not a mad
follower of all things Dylan at the time, no mad follower of all things
Dylan at any time really and certainly no Dylanologist or expert in any
way, I was more of an interested amateur dabbler taking an occasional
opportunist peek in. As such with not having had a recent peek in, I was
not aware that the album had even been released. On a day trip together to
Blackpool whilst browsing in the HMV store, we came across the album in
the Bob Dylan section and bought a copy. We gave it a first playing in
the car on the way back home and really enjoyed listening to this latest
offering from Bob. "Love and Theft" did however get played to death by
us many times after that, and so for me at least it will always be
"our" album.
Dorcas was originally from London and was invited back down one weekend to
meet up with her brother and some friends so we made arrangements to
travel down arriving Friday evening. I must have had a peek in and saw
that Bob was in concert on the Saturday night in Brighton. It was a fairly
long way down to London from Leeds so by the time we were down in London
we were pretty much already in Brighton! Anyway how hard can it be to get
from London to Brighton in a modern saloon car when some people can do it
in an open topped veteran car whilst travelling all the way at less than
20 mph.
The Brighton concert in 2002 was mainly General Admission with standing on
the floor. Having arrived in Brighton in a saloon car rather than in a
veteran car we had arrived in good time, so having got to our
accommodation we decided to locate the venue, mainly to check out the lie
of the land and to find out where the Brighton Centre actually was. As
some of you reading this may recall, things were not so easy to sort out
pre Google, well you would have had to have been a real technology geek to
have known how to Google at that time, the smart phone was still far more
science fiction than fact and even Google at the time would not have been
the mighty machine that it has grown into today.
On finding and arriving at the front entrance to the venue we saw a few
people queuing, well dossing on the floor would be a more accurate
description. We took a bemused look at them as we walked on by along the
front. After walking maybe a few hundred yards we stopped short, where
were we walking to, we had no interest in Brighton specifically. We were
only there for one purpose and that was to see Bob Dylan. I think at that
point Dorcas said to me, "You want to queue don't you?". Enough
said, we about turned seemingly in unison to go back to join the people
queuing and soon found ourselves dossing on the pavement alongside them.
This was a first Bob Dylan concert for Dorcas but I had already seen him
six times previously but this was the first time that I had experienced
the pressure of the queue caused by the anticipation of the doors opening
and the uncertainty of the dash inside to be at the front. We soon found
that there was a skill to this and we were obviously amongst
professionals, as once in position inside we find ourselves from being
about tenth in line from the door on the outside of the building, to being
about three rows depth back from the stage on the inside of the building
with probably a hundred or more people having got ahead of us. There was
however rather a lot of queue jumping and dare I say, blatant pushing in
at the entry point, so in view of this and despite our hours of queuing we
had not exactly landed on the rail as we had probably hoped to do. At
least we were centrally placed, so not a particularly bad result under the
circumstances having now realised that we were actually two amateur
runners finding ourselves competing in the Olympic Games, but at least we
both had a clear conscience having competed fairly and in a sporting
fashion.
We both really enjoyed the Brighton show, so much so in fact that we
subsequently decided to do the MEN Arena in Manchester on the 9th of May
which it has to be said was a little bit closer to home to get to. But
then shortly after that we go further afield by returning back down to
London for our third show of the tour at Docklands Arena on the 12th of
May, which was coincidentally Dorcas's Birthday which was probably our
excuse for doing that particular one, not that either of us needed an
excuse for attending another Bob concert by that time as our courting days
evolved With Bob On Our Side.
That reminds me, whilst queuing in Brighton we make acquaintance with Mark
Sutcliffe, a Bob Dylan performer and front man in the tribute band called
"With Bob On Our Side". This comes out in conversation and we are
advised that they are performing in Crewe later in the year and we should
check them out. Crewe was far nearer to home to get to than Brighton had
been so we decided to go to the gig when the time came. It was once said
"nobody plays Dylan like Dylan", but they actually did a pretty good
job of it as I recall. We still reflect on the version of Jokerman they
did which was one of our favourite Bob tracks at the time, but their
version was half way through before I got what it was, and probably
nearing the end before Dorcas did, now that is what you could call
impersonating Dylan correctly.
Lots of loving, lots of debating, lots of Dylan, lots of partying, lots of
music, lots of grooving, lots of travelling, lots of "Love and Theft".
We had a falling-out, like lovers sometimes do...
Well quite a few fallings out actually during our courting days, all my
fault of course I was told.
On that foundation we decide it a good idea to get married.
Not much of a review so far you may say, and I would tend to agree and
also say thank you to anyone having read this far, but if you have I would
advise you further by quoting that lyric, Stick with me baby, stick with
me anyhow Things should start to get interesting right about now...
Getting married takes a lot of planning so I left it to Dorcas to get on
with it. Not that I am bad at planning, I am actually rather good at it,
just weddings seemed more like women's work, much more her remit than
mine, I think the man is best left to just turn up on the day. I did
however have one major contribution to make when Dorcas asks "Where
shall we go on honeymoon?", I quickly replied back "Where will Bob
be?".
Neither of us had a clue so it was time for a peek in, what, where, New
Zealand, I do not believe it, you cannot be serious, Leeds to Brighton was
far enough, Leeds to Crewe was pretty daunting as a round trip at night in
winter time, but Leeds to New Zealand, well that is foolish, think of the
expense - Dorcas was however more than able to afford the cost so my plea
of personal poverty fell on deaf ears.
Having decided to keep out of any wedding arrangements I had now glibly
and inadvertently jumped in whilst not taking stock of the consequences of
my action, I was asked, I replied, job done. I had finally made a
contribution and it was accepted unconditionally and with immediate effect
as Dorcas decides to visit Trail Finders the following week for planning
the tour, I mean honeymoon. Remember this is still only early 2003 so
again pretty much pre Google when using the services of travel agents was
probably still essential.
With having done all the hard work by making the important decision on
where to go, I then left everything with Dorcas in order to complete all
of the final outstanding details (and payments).
As it turned out my suggestion was not a bad one even if I say so my self,
concerts on both Islands, starting on the North Island in Auckland, then
driving South to Wellington, then over to the South Island by ferry before
then driving down to Christchurch all on a musical road trip journey
following Bob, now that has just got to be a five star tour, I mean
honeymoon.
Well New Zealand was much further to get to than it had been to get to
either London or Brighton so needed a calendar rather than a clock to
check out the travel time, but eventually we arrive in Auckland on the
first leg of our Bob tour, I mean honeymoon.
We both had the feeling that New Zealand in comparison to most places Bob
visits and tours was more of a quiet backwater, more relaxed, smaller,
less stress, less pressure, more intimate if that makes sense. We both had
a feeling that we could actually bump into Bob!
Dorcas especially has a sense for such things, but to be fair we both had
the same feeling that something was going to happen, the whole timing and
everything was a bit spooky somehow. First day we browsed around Auckland
and came across a music store, not exactly HMV Blackpool but as said
everything was much more intimate in New Zealand even the shops, even in a
city. A really pleasant chap chatted to us, just the one assistant running
the place, but he was a music enthusiast and most interested to hear that
Bob Dylan was in town, him not knowing that fact it looked like he had not
recently had a peek in either. As Bob Dylan is akin to some form of
universal language amongst followers we all got on well by being connected
together by our common interest in Bob Dylan and his music so we spent
some time having a bit of a chat.
What if we did actually bump into Bob, what would we do? Not being very
imaginative I guess the conventional thing for me to do would be to ask
for an autograph. But what would he sign, we don't have a book. But we
were in a music store so why not get an album. After not much browsing we
come across "Love and Theft", well what else could it be, and not just
the standard CD but a limited two CD edition in cardboard digipack with
bonus disc and having a pull out section of CD box size photos from the
promoting and recording sessions for the album.
Shrugging off any feelings of delusion we start planning further and we
think, great, we have something for Bob to sign, but now what does he sign
with, we are bound to end up having a pen that fails to work on the day.
Leaving the record store the next port of call was to the stationary shop
for a pen. Not just any pen, it had to be correct in all respects so we
headed to the specialist Sharpie marker pen section to try out all the
various tips for size. This took rather more time to sort out than
selecting the CD as we scribble away with the assortment of pens on a
paper tester board to eventually select what we both believe to be the
perfect autograph signing pen. But should we get a second back up pen,
what if this one fails on the day. Feelings of delusion briefly rose as
the thought "it was not really going to happen anyway" came to mind.
In any case two pens would probably be taking things a little bit too far,
and it had already cost Dorcas extra money just for the one pen on top of
the initial expense of the CD.
Off we set to the first Auckland concert, look, how intimate is that, Bob
Dylan plays in a Scout Hut, our thoughts were correct, New Zealand was
going to be far more intimate than anything else we had up to that time
been to in which to see Bob perform. No obvious security, no anticipation
of any threats, Bob could just come strolling around the corner at any
moment so best get the CD and pen ready.
Well, Bob did not come strolling round the corner but once inside we did
get rather closer standing on the floor than we had in Brighton. Bob was
closer to us too so was slightly larger to look at, the crowd was smaller,
the whole thing much more intimate, but not so relaxed that you could walk
onto the stage and ask for an autograph.
Travelling on via a tourist attraction or two we arrive in Wellington.
What the heck, where is the Scout Hut, this venue is far too big, far too
commercial, far too rest of world. Bob is going to be well and truly
locked in at this venue, no chance of him strolling out around here. My
thoughts became somewhat deflated at that point and my sympathy for Dorcas
rose as I hoped that she had not wasted her money on a superfluous album
plus pen. The album did however have a couple of bonus tracks so not a
total waste of money. Well at least we both had another Bob concert to add
to our list, so onwards with the tour, I mean honeymoon.
This tour, I mean honeymoon had everything, and now it was time for a
cruise, well a Car Ferry trip actually between the two Islands so a kind
of poor mans cruise really which suited me fine, not that it mattered that
much as Dorcas had paid for it.
"Dorcas", "What", "Look Whats Happened", "What", "Here"",
"Wait A Minute", "Hurry Up", "I'm Busy", "What Are You
Doing", "Sorting Out The Paperwork You Left Me With", "Well Hurry
Up", "It's Complicated", "Have You Done It Yet", "Nearly",
"Well Hurry Up", "What Is It", "Come Here", "What For",
"See Here", "What Is It", "The Car Has Changed Colour",
"What Do You Mean", "It Was Red When I Drove In", "So", "So
It's White Now".
Seems like hire cars are not allowed to travel between Islands as the
tendency is for them never to get back, so of course the hire company had
arranged for another car to be collected on the South Island in order for
us to continue on our journey. Think they would have provided a car that
would have been in some way different, a different model or something, not
an exactly matching identical vehicle in all but colour.
The NET progresses as we continue to head down South to Christchurch.
There may have been a tourist stop on the way but I cannot recall that.
Stopping off overnight en route we end up talking to the hotel owner
during dinner. Remember this is New Zealand so very un-rushed and not
overly busy so most establishments only required the one person to do
everything, be it a record store, stationery shop or hotel, as such this
guy was able to talk to the guests as well as serve them. I tell him that
we are on honeymoon but mainly here to see Bob Dylan. Dorcas corrects me
by saying that we are not really mainly here to see Bob Dylan, it is
actually our honeymoon. Anyway turns out that the hotel owner was also a
Bob Dylan fan, again another Bob Dylan fan who had not had a peek in for a
bit. He was totally unaware that Bob was going to be performing in
Christchurch the following evening but was quick to say he would be
getting himself a ticket and going down to the show. This being New
Zealand we would probably bump into him again down there anyway, may be
bump into Bob too and perhaps ask him for a bit of commission on the extra
ticket sale that I had made for him.
Now this really is beyond a joke, look at that, the size of it, that looks
nearly as big as the MEN Arena in Manchester that we went to back home, do
they not have a Scout Hut here, is the only Scout Hut in the whole of New
Zealand in Auckland. Absolutely no chance whatsoever of Bob Dylan just
strolling on by down here, we won't even get to see the tour bus. This
was however still New Zealand so we did actually see the hotel owner
strolling by, so he had made it down after all as he said he would do so
he had proved true to his word.
The Westpactrust Arena on the inside seemed even larger than on the
outside, intimate it was not and even less so as we had ended up in the
upper tier looking down onto the specs that were Bob and Band on the
stage. OK and fine if you were there just for the music but if you wanted
to be in anyway in the presence of, that was not going to happen at this
venue, well may be not unless you had somehow been lucky enough or rich
enough to land front row. Finally we had found something in New Zealand to
remind us of home, a more cavernous music venue.
Well what a trip it had been, but now almost over with the last New
Zealand concert of this leg of the tour now already added to our lists of
shows attended. I cannot really remember but I think we were due to fly
back up to Auckland the following day, roundabout lunchtime if memory
serves. Any thoughts we may have had for having an encounter with Bob were
no longer in our minds, certainly not in mine, it was more now thoughts of
the challenge of getting back home, so it was more the time to check the
calendar again to see how many days from now that would be.
The thought of an encounter had however rather added to the overall
experience and provided an extra touch of excitement to the trip, but now
it was back to reality and wedded bliss which would hopefully survive the
long journey back home as we arrive at the airport in Christchurch in
order to start that journey.
Not everything in Christchurch is as out of character with New Zealand as
the Westpactrust Arena had turned out to be. In fact the airport was
fairly small with a much more quiet back water feel to it and much more in
character with the New Zealand norm. Leaving Dorcas to attend to the
important and complicated travel documentation at the desk I have a gaze
around and see these trollies loaded with some large black boxes with a
very cheerful smily faced chap sitting on top of one of them. When Dorcas
returned back to me from the desk I point to all the boxes and say to her,
"Looks Like Bobs Here".
Actually I had not initially twigged but then I realise that it was
probably packaged music kit. The tour really was already so far from my
mind and point of focus, really it literally still did not register even
now at that point that it was in any way related to Bob. Even Dorcas
commented later that she did not twig either at the time, I think we had
both put an end to that matter and full concentration was on getting back
home. But surely they will not get that lot through hand luggage? Actually
it looked like due to the smaller size of the airport that may be all
luggage even the large stuff for going into the hold probably all went
through the same area and process.
Then I recognise Larry Campbell as he walks in through the entrance door
to the check in area, and the guy sitting on top of the box jumps off down
to the floor to join him for them to go together to the check in counter.
Only then do I realise that it was George Recile sitting up on the box, no
wonder he had smiled at my reference to mentioning Bob. Perhaps Larry was
to George in handling the paperwork, like Dorcas was to me in handling the
paperwork, well Larry was a multi instrumentalist and Dorcas was a multi
tasker. George had appeared to have been hanging around waiting on Larry
to arrive. May be George had been sitting on the box containing some of his
drum kit, Larry certainly seemed to be protective of one of his
instruments as he is carrying a strange shaped box like you would carry a
violin in but this was more chunky and bulbous looking, perhaps containing
some strange medieval instrument of the kind only someone like Larry
Campbell could play, may be a small lute?
To get to the departure area you needed to ascend some stairs to an upper
level then walk along a corridor to a walk through security body scanner.
Larry and George must have followed not far behind us. I do not actually
remember there being too many other people around, well nothing obvious
and I believe just the one security guy manning the scanner, well this is
New Zealand so such a task was not going to require two people like it
would need to have back home.
Larry and George had been right behind us going up the stairs but they
must have hung back whilst we got through the scanner. They did right to
do that as we hit a snag preventing us progressing through the scanner,
well a bra actually as it turned out. The body scanner seemed to be
picking up the under wiring in the bra that Dorcas was wearing so she
could not get through without further scrutiny from the security guy!
Following the minor commotion this created as Dorcas hammed it up with the
security guy we are eventually allowed through no doubt to the amusement
of Larry and George who must have held back until we had stopped messing
about and got through the security check.
Finally having got through Security we take a seat in the lounge area
around the corner on the other side. We start talking about encountering
Larry and George and what a coincidence that was. Should we get their
autographs? Dorcas digs out the “Love and Theft” CD from her bag and
starts looking through the pull out insert of photos and finds one of Bob
and band standing in the studio. Lucky she had been left in charge and so
still had the CD with her. I had given up after the last show and would
probably have put it in a bin outside the Westpactrust Centre rather than
have taken the trouble to carry it any further.
May be Larry and George also had a problem with security as it was some
time before they rounded the corner after us, may be with them it was that
lute case or whatever it was that Larry was carrying that caused them an
issue.
Before they turned the corner we start discussing what to do, Should we?
Shouldn't we? Dare we? Do we? You do it, No you do it, You, No you. I
don't recall too much how the decision was made but I know it was Dorcas
in the end who got up and approached them. Still the place was quiet with
few if any other people about, may be just the one or two sitting around
or passing through. There was some conversation but I do not recall any
detail of it, well apart from George at one stage giving the cheeky
comment to Dorcas by saying "Any woman who can set off an alarm with her
bra can certainly have my autograph", or words to that effect. I think
Dorcas just took the initiative otherwise they would have gone past whilst
we were procrastinating over it. I think for me my reluctance to take the
lead and jump up was due to the fact that whilst in a way I suppose it was
great in itself, it was only a minor consolation as it wasn't Bob Dylan.
We returned to the seating area and Larry and George both walked on
together towards boarding. We examine the photo and see that Larry and
George had both signed above their image, in the photo they were standing
in the studio with Bob pretty much central. We were both most pleased to
see that the pen we had so painstakingly selected had proved excellent in
action and had provided two good autograph signatures.
As we set back in our seats to reflect on such an unexpected end to the
tour, I mean honeymoon, whilst still looking at and talking over the
autographs I say, "It's Bob", "Where", "Over There". I point
across to the other passage way leading to the security scanner, the
corridor was only separated by a partition which was not full height to
ceiling so there was a gap and walking along the top of the partition
there was the vision of the top of a hat, a black hat, even at distance an
expensive looking black hat, the kind of black hat that I only know of the
one man to wear. "It's Bob", "It can't be", "It's Bob" I say
for what must be at least the third time.
We start up a similar discussion of what to do and who to do it. We did
not have much time as the black hat had gone, no longer visible above the
top of the partition, probably removed to go through the security scanner.
If it was Bob, and it had to be Bob, it was Bob, I was certain it was Bob,
he will be coming around that corner and into our sight any second. I
remember Dorcas saying "I CAN'T" almost at the same moment that Bob
appears from around the corner as he walks through with black hat on head.
It was automatic, the words almost came out themselves, somehow forced out
of me as I speak out from where we are sitting "Bob, any chance of an
autograph?". The reply back from Bob was short but positive,
"Sure".
At that point Bob alters his direction and starts walking towards us, we
both get up from our seats and start to walk towards Bob to meet up with
him in the walkway leading towards the boarding area. No one else around,
no security, no entourage of staff, not even a PA, just Bob strolling
along by himself. I am at that point holding the CD with the photo to be
signed, detail at this point is sketchy but somehow Bob ends up with the
pen in his hand and between us we are somehow forming a small desk pretty
much in mid air by using the disc box with the photo on top ready to be
signed. I remember looking down and seeing the side of my hand touching
his as somehow between us we held the CD in place with some form of
rigidity in order to enable signing.
Bob then puts pen to paper just above the image of himself in the photo
then makes a small mark with the black marker pen to form a small upward
stroke to the start to the top of the vertical side to the B.
Bob then stops, pauses slightly, then turns his head, looks right at me
and says "Can I Have One Just For Me?".
On starting to sign, Bob had obviously noticed the other two signatures on
the same photo, I cannot remember whether I replied or not, so few words
were spoken by either of us, so if I had said anything at that point it
would probably only have been "Yes". In contrast to Bob and myself,
Dorcas at this point was talking enough for both of us but in a fashion
more to provide background noise than meaningful conversation, as she
recounts to him her first concert in Brighton and subsequent shows and
songs in some kind of verbal review delivered in machine gun fashion. All
the while Bob just takes his time and opens out the photo insert to look
through the contents, all images that it seemed like he had probably never
seen before as he examined them with interest before finally selecting the
ideal photo of himself which he signet.
I cannot recall if anything else was said, but hopefully at least a
"Thank You" from me was said, and may be something similarly short
from Bob, another two words tops may be. Got me thinking as to what the
shortest conversation will be that anyone has had with Bob Dylan, mine was
likely to have been under ten words.
Turns out that we are actually all on the same flight back from
Christchurch to Auckland as we end up sitting on the seats right behind
Bob who was at the front of the plane with a curtain between us. Bob
seemed to have an assistant now seated beside him and they were both
seated in what would have been Business Class on such a smallish internal
flight, not total privacy but the best available I guess. Due to his
obvious notoriety Bob did however seem to have special consideration in
the means for both entry and exit on and off the plane. Larry and George
also walked passed and noticed us as they made their way further towards
the rear of the plane, Larry still carrying his musical instrument case
as hand luggage.
On landing at Auckland Bob had probably gone through a separate VIP route
as having come through arrivals I notice Bob descending an escalator in
the distance with what I assume is his assistant at his side, and then he
was gone.
Talking later in the day Dorcas mentions her trip to Trail Finders to plan
the tour, I mean honeymoon. She remembers clearly the point of selecting
the flight back. She said that there were lots of departure times to
choose from, being a domestic flight it was probably more resembling of a
bus service timetable. She said that when she had been shown the options
on the screen in Trail Finders, her finger immediately pointed to
"that" flight, she said she knew it had to be that flight. Well, I did
mention earlier that for both of us the whole thing had somehow had a bit
of a spooky feeling to it.
After the New Zealand tour, I mean honeymoon, Dorcas and I went to a
further 14 Bob Dylan Shows during our time together.
We had a falling-out, like lovers sometimes do.
Well quite a few fallings out actually during our married days, all my
fault of course I was told.
On that foundation we decide it a good idea to get divorced.
Being single again I now needed to both plan and pay for my own tours, but
as previously said, I am good at planning so I set off alone on many
subsequent tours and world travels to see Bob, during that period Dorcas
also did a couple of additional concerts in the UK.
I got back in touch with Dorcas a few years ago and we are now back
meeting up occasionally as friends, my last visit to see Bob with Dorcas
was in 2004, my last time to see Bob alone was in 2019, which in Bob terms
is an absolute lifetime ago. As such seeing Bob in Leeds in 2025 was
probably going to be as mysterious as it had been seeing Bob in Brighton
in 2002, well apart from this time round knowing who Tony Garnier is.
Not having had a peek in I could have missed Bob doing a venue as close to
home for me as it was ever going to get. Fortunately I am still on the
mailing list from the good people at ISIS magazine so rather than a peek
in from me, I got a poke from them as email updates landed from them
announcing the tour and the upcoming UK dates.
I noticed Brighton. I noticed Leeds. I mentioned them to Dorcas. Should
we. Could we, We must. But perhaps just Leeds. I considered doing it in
style by getting VIP front of house premium tickets so made a note of the
on sale dates. Schoolboy error, talk about being out of touch and rusty, I
had forgotten they did that pre sale thing, so by the time I go on at the
"appointed time" I am greeted by SOLD OUT for all but perhaps one or
two of the Ireland and Swansea shows. Even for those shows where some
tickets still allegedly remained up for sale, there were no longer any
tickets for front row seats.
Confessing my failing to Dorcas later I try to console the situation by
saying that front row and front block seats are not necessarily worth the
money anymore as you still risk not necessarily actually even getting to
see Bob if you manage to land one. Think of the expense just for the
privilege of being up close to only listen, and depending on how well the
sound technicians have set things up even that is not guaranteed to be
great from close up front.
I kept having the occasional peek in on the ticket sites but nothing
really inspired, not much available at all and still expensive at what I
took to be face value prices, and for what I would consider pretty poor
seats. May be we give it a miss. Had I been going it alone I would have
chanced turning up and trying to pick up a ticket on the street. With
Dorcas in tow that could have had disaster written all over it, and as it
turned out the weather on the night was not conducive to being on the
street at all so even going alone would not have been a particularly
pleasant experience.
As the Leeds concert day loomed I decided on a final peek in, and hey, the
venue was offering some kind of cheap VIP tickets, well I say cheap, what
I mean is some pretty expensive cheap VIP tickets. I guess we had to go,
it had to be done, not really knowing what the package was about I buy a
couple of these so called VIP tickets and spring it on Dorcas that she
shall go to the Ball.
But this time Bob is resident in Leeds, like Dorcas, so no need for Trail
Finders this time round, no need for a calendar for the journey time, this
is the first Bob Dylan concert that I can put "walking" into the route
planner and find the distance do able. Not that Dorcas would do that much
walking on this night, as it is Bob she would probably want to dress nice
and put her heels on, even if we could hardly see the stage let alone see
Bob, or Bob see us.
The pretty expensive cheap VIP tickets did provide one benefit on the
night by having a kind of exclusive fast track entrance door which was
handy on the night to get you in fairly quickly which had the advantage of
keeping you out of the cold and rain as best as possible, and to get you
in fairly quickly having passed through the security scanner which I
passed through with ease.
Dorcas follows me through the security scanner and deja vu, the scanner Dorcas follows me through the security scanner and deja vu, the scanner
screams out its alarm and lights up around the periphery in the darkness
like Blackpool illuminations. The VIP entry security check area was still
pretty exposed to the weather and the crowd just wanted to get in the
building out of the cold and wet. This was England not New Zealand, so
even though there were two security guards in use here, there was no time
for any further scrutiny, so this time we were allowed to just walk on.
Pretty much playing the complete Rough and Rowdy Ways album, an album that
I do not have a copy of, OK, so I did some on line research and listened
to the album. Then I hear, no point, the live versions are not sounding
like the album versions, some saying that the live versions are better, as
Bob would probably do them now if he recorded the album again today
someone comments. But how would I know, I don't really know in detail
what they sound like in the first place on the official album having not
listened to them too many times. Then even on the released album they are
probably not as they sounded like in the first place, we may have to wait
for The Bootleg Series Vol. 26 to hear those.
OK, so in having done at least some listening pre concert I may recognise
some words, may be a bit of a tune if I am lucky, no, not a tune even if I
am lucky or not. Even on the Never Ending Rough and Rowdy Ways tour I am
coming in late, the songs have evolved, have history, can be scrutinised,
compared and analysed. Some say the Brighton show was the one to do, heck
I have missed out again, it was always an omen with Brighton being first
again in 2025, I always had that feeling that I should have put in those
extra miles again, made a bit more of an effort
Hey but Bob is playing guitar, but only to the ear, not to the eye, so
with me having blind ears that was not going to work. Hey but nothing
beats seeing Bob up close, but not getting a close up ticket, I was not
going to see Bob so that aspect was not going to work either. But as said
even from a front row seat you do not necessarily get to see him unless he
decides to stand up, and even then probably also only if deciding to stand
up and also step forward a bit as well. Unless you know and understand
that Bob does his own thing you could come away somewhat disappointed.
I am not sure that it is possible to come away from a Bob show without
having gotten something to take away with you, it may be just a moment or
two, more if you get lucky, a lot more if you get really lucky. But can we
now justify the price tag, well the price of our favourite chocolate bars
have risen to a ridiculous level lately but most of us are still buying
them, I guess we all need to make our own minds up. The place looked
pretty full so it looks like most people are still indulging.
How many years now have people been saying this will be the last
opportunity to see him. I remember a work colleague writing him off in the
1980's, many have since written him off every decade since then. I guess
some of these naysayers will get it right one day if they keep saying it
long enough. I do not know if I will see Bob again, but that very much
depends on Bob, and of course on my own ability to remain alive and well
enough to do so should the opportunity arise. One thing may be more
certain, it may have been my last opportunity to catch the Rough and Rowdy
Ways tour, even the songs could disappear from the set list for another
decade at least after this tour, but who knows.
Seems that even when the set list remains unchanged the songs can be like
hire cars in New Zealand predominantly the same but significantly
different.
We had a falling-out, like lovers sometimes do...
But no more, it seems our Rough and Rowdy Ways may be behind us now in
more ways than one, hopefully we can leave them in the past. We still have
"Love and Theft" and that song we agree to disagree on liking, for me
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum is a really good song, for Dorcas not so,
despite it probably suiting us as a couple in some ways, and it is on
"our" album.
May be "I've Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You", or may be
"I've Made Up My Mind To Write Myself To You". I guess that in order
to write you need something to inspire you to write, so no prizes for
guessing where my particular inspiration for writing this comes from.
Apologies for the length of this, not that many of you will have reached
this point to accept the apology, this review did rather turn into my Sad
Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands, "It started out as a little thing but I just
got carried away somewhere along the line".
Brilliant!
Review by Dave Longley
Last night the Leeds Arena was fine and fair.
I took my grandson there.
This was Henry BOB's second Dylan outing, Bobtized in 2015 aged eight at
Londons Royal Albert Hall, he gets the whole Dylan thing! I won't do a
song by song review, its been said many times before. My personal
standouts tonight were Key West, Jimmy Reed and the final hymn EGOS. This
was my sixth R&RW's show and Bob Dylan is clearly proud of these songs.
The stage setup makes for an intimate atmosphere, creating a traditional
musical experience without any distraction. To quote Bob Johnston. "Hell,
Dylans a genius, you can see he's been touched by the Holy Spirit" Thanks
for visiting Leeds Bob, you have no apologies to make. Safe journey to you
and band.
Dave Longley
Leeds
Review by David
Just Dick and I this time and we set off for Leeds in appalling weather
which just got worse as we approached the big city. Rain and wind. Most
of you will know of Dick's tendency to park "some distance" from the
venue, so we spent an enjoyable 20 minutes slogging through the worst
that Leeds could throw at us. And finally found the Arena apparently down
a side street. Then there was all the messing about surrendering your
phone to a locked wallet after proving we had tickets for section 211.
However Dick had a letter for Bob (!) which he was determined to deliver.
He approached a lady on the information desk who asked him "Are you a fan
?" (as if the other 12000 people milling about were just random strangers
on a night out ). Dick confessed that was the case to which the lady then
asked "would you like an upgrade?" Would we ever! Which was how we
found ourselves in the middle of the 2nd row of tiered seats just about
20 yards from the stage, little realising how crucial this was to be. No
piped music from 7.30 to 8pm and the stage was in darkness. At 8pm the
lights went down and the stage was lit by half a dozen household bulbs.
No screens or spotlights. 4 musicians plus Bob shuffled onto stage. No
acknowledgement of the 13,000 cheering spectators. We could now see there
was a baby grand piano at 45 degrees across the stage. Central. 2
guitarists one either side, Tony on bass and a drummer. All in dark
clothing. Bob sat at the piano, hatless, then swivelled round to face the
drummer, back to the audience, picked up a guitar and began "I'll be your
baby tonight". Instrumental. After a couple of minutes he swung back
round and began playing the piano and singing..."shut your eyes, shut the
door" etc. And the pattern for the evening was set. Bob's voice was
loud and strong. No harmonies from the other 4. The sound in the arena
was perfect and the four guys were excellent. Just guitars, pedal steel,
Bob's piano (and he's no Jools Holland) and harp occasionally. Bob
remained seated at the piano all night, swivelling round to play guitar
half a dozen times. It was a bit like watching a sound check. The
crucial aspect was that our upgrade gave us a perfect line of sight on
Bob. We could see his every move. So a 17 song set. All 9 tracks from
Rough and Rowdy ways plus 8 older songs including Des. Row, Baby blue, It
Aint me Babe, Every grain of Sand. All were performed really well. Strong
voice and committed performances. However in an interview a few years
ago Dylan claimed " whatever you say its never enough" But is that
justification for saying nothing ? The 1st time he's played Leeds in 60
years. Does he know where he is anymore ? He claims you're there to
listen to the music. And thats the 2nd issue. A 2 hour set of which half
are all 9 tracks from a recent, in my opiniion, minor album. He has been
touring this album for 4 years now. Is it warranted ? Is it a tad self
indulgent ? Clearly the audience react more strongly to the older songs.
We're not talking about greatest hits, LARS and watchtower, this is a guy
with a 60 year back catalgue to cherry pick from. If he was going to play
all the songs from one album I'd rather have BOTT. And this is the
paradox really. This guy has spent his whole life on stage. He was 24
when I first saw him. And after all this time this is how he chooses to
"entertain", yes entertain, 13000 people, by not acknowledging their
presence or playing the songs they would probably prefer to hear.He's an
enigma. Did I enjoy it ? Yes very very much thanks to the upgrade. But if
I was offered a free ticket to do the whole thing again tonight? Errr...
probably not.
David
Review by Michael Ballstav
Before the flood! Visiting Leeds in pouring rain is a challenge, but we
have to say that Bob did a very nice concert tonight. Definitely better
than the last time we saw him in Stockholm a few weeks ago. Several songs
were performed with new arrangements as always and his voice sounded
really good. Even his guitar playing sounded good for once! Unfortunately,
a few songs ended up in that plink-plonking manner again and people either
went for a piss or as the younger ones did, they went home. Highlights
tonight for me were False Prophet, It Ain't Me Babe, It's All Over Now
Baby Blue, When I Paint My Masterpiece and Cross The Rubicon. No
"thankseverybody", and no band introduction tonight either. This seems to
be the new thing. Security was lousy so it was easy to get a mobile phone
indoors but the arena was nice. Great mixing sound too.
Michael Ballstav
Sweden
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