DYLAN IN CHINA
News from channelnewsasia.com (c/o Desolation Row Newsletter this morning):
SHANGHAI - American music legend Bob Dylan will play in China for the first time in his illustrious career in two April concerts timed to mark his 50 years as a performer, Beijing-based promoters said Friday. The news comes a year after a Taiwan promoter said its bid to take Dylan to China was scuttled after the Beijing government refused to approve shows by the writer of some of rock's most iconic and politically charged songs. Dylan, who will be 70 in May, will play in Beijing at the Workers' Gymnasium on April 6 and then hold a concert at the Shanghai Grand Stage in that city on April 8, promoters Gehua-LiveNation said in a statement.
"These Bob Dylan concerts are destined to be one of the year's major tours and a musical event of depth, grace and greatness," the promoters said. Tickets go on sale [this] week. Prices start at 280 yuan (US$42) and reach 1,961.411 yuan for VIP tickets. The amount represents the date of Dylan's first official New York gig, on April 11, 1961.
I love the idea of Dylan in the Workers' Gymnasium.
posted by Michael Gray | 4:19 pm
2 Comments:
Funny that they banned him last year because of his "politically charged songs." I never hear Bob as being politically charged, even in the sixties. He sounds too subjective for that.
It's good they're letting him in. Will he tailor his set to shock them? Or will they be covering their ears and wondering if they'd booked the "right" Bob Dylan?
I came across a fine performance on you/tube of 'If You Ever Go to Huston' from the 19.6.10 which somehow sent me back in time to his performances with The Band.
I feel performances such as this will be fine in China...I am really worried if his voice is as bad as it was at The Grammies.
The last time I felt as concerned about his voice was in 1988 when we watched audience footage of the first Never Ending Tour shows at Sachas Convention and the disbelief at his shout- singing.
Still...he would not be Bob Dylan without such concerns would he ?
Paul
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