The UK caravan starts here. Two years ago, almost exactly to the day,
Loraine and I, with long-time friend and Dylan devotee Paul were at 
the spacious BIC for Bob's visit on the RARW tour. We'd all been at 
the Palladium a few days earlier, and although there was no such 
precedent for us both this year, Paul had squeezed in a visit to 
Paris for the first show at la Seine Musicale. And tonight, we made 
the short journey along the coast to the same venue, now joined by 
Tom, another long-time friend of Paul's, and the four of us spoke 
in unison at the end of tonight's concert praising this first show 
of the UK 2024 tour in one word, stunning.

Knowing the setlist before the band set foot onstage (7:30 sharp this 
evening) and before a note is played actually works now, so different 
from the days when Bob could be relied on to pull any number of 
musical treats out of his hat. Tonight the hat was gone, we knew what 
to expect, and we could thus focus tightly on each and every song.

The sound was as perfect as it comes, so Bob's drawn out vocals in 
some of the songs, the interplay between Bob Britt and Doug Lancio, 
the crystal-clear piano playing, Jim Keltner's fine restrained 
drumming and Tony's ever dependent bass lines, all came across the 
auditorium wonderfully. Bob's voice, which many once suggested was 
shot away and raspy, was tonight beautifully clear and melodic, 
lyrics enunciated with such passion, and complemented by so much 
more harp than we have been used to latterly. And that harp 
accompaniment was completely right where it was used, adding 
familiar texture to the songs old and newer. From his most recent 
album, Key West shone, and for me I've Made Up My Mind was as 
beautiful, if not more so, as the versions we heard two years ago. 
Of the older tunes, I loved the arrangement of Masterpiece, and 
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue had the same tender desperation as it 
did all those years ago (as well as some lovely jangly guitar that 
reminded me of Starry Eyed and Laughing).

But in the same year as that song, 1965, Bob released Desolation Row.
Now tonight on this tour 59 years on from its release, we had the 
glory of that masterpiece, delivered once more, at a fevered, urgent 
pace, all those astonishing lyrics in their place, and tears in my 
eyes.

We were treated to the seventeen familiar songs tonight and it may
be invidious to pick out the best, but the lyrical power of 
Desolation Row is undiminished, and alongside It Ain't Me, Babe and 
I've Made Up My Mind, it was my stellar choice in an extraordinarily 
starry kingdom.

Paul, enjoy your two RAH shows, and if, as some fear, this turns out 
to be the last time we get to see Bob touring here - It's All Over 
Now, Baby Blue - tonight's show in Bournemouth will live as an 
exquisite memory of the beauty of Bob Dylan and his music.

Graham Cole