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Bob Dylan Does Karlstad Oct 25, 2003 Karlstad is a relatively small town in the middle of Sweden, and is not known for its huge array of big name concerts, although the Beatles did play here in 1963. But this October, something special happened. Bob Dylan and his band gave a one night only concert in the Löfbergs Lila Arena in Karlstad. Yes, that’s the same venue where the local ice hockey team plays it’s home games. We were lucky enough to get hold of a couple of tickets and so we could join the six and a half thousand other fans on a cold, frosty October Sunday evening for what turned out to be a very special concert. The lights were dim as the band moved onstage. Then the lights were on and Bob, dressed in black with silver stars down the seams of the arms and legs of his suit kicked off the evening with “To Be Alone With You”. Backed by a more than competent band of two guitars, bass and drums, with Bob playing keyboards, the arena started to rock. We could forgive the croakiness in his voice, the tousled hair and the lack of song introductions. This was the Man that over half the audience had grown up with from the sixties. The whole concert was described by my favourite newspaper, the Nya Wermlands Tidningen, as a mixture of blues and rock and roll, with overtones of boogie woogie and gospel, and a touch of country. The arrangements on the old favourites such as It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue and It’s All Right Ma, I’m Only Bleeding were so different to the original recordings that they could have been different songs – but the lyrics were there and the voice, croaky or not, was so distinctive. Midway through the concert, Bob moved from his position behind the keyboards and took centre stage with a sunburst Fender Stratocaster. There was a sudden rush of the audience to the edge of the stage to get a closer view of the action. Even Bob seemed to begin to enjoy himself more from this point on and began to move his feet to the rhythm. From our seats I’m sure that I could see a slow smile spread across his face at the enjoyment that he was giving to the audience. All too soon the main part of the concert was over, but by then the whole audience was on its feet, clapping and cheering and demanding more. Sure enough, the band re-appeared for a further four songs, climaxing with remarkable versions of Like a Rolling Stone, Forever Young and All Along The Watchtower, before taking their final bows and disappearing ofr Oslo, the next stop on the tour. But for six and a half thousand fans in a small Swedish town, the special memories will remain for a long time of the night that Bob Dylan and his Band came to town. Hälsningar till nästa vecka, ------------ About the author: Robin Alan Bell is an Englishman by birth, but migrated to Australia back in '72. Married and divorced there. Spent the last 3 years living by myself on a remote farm in rural New South Wales with no mains electricity, water etc. All power, heating was from natural resources (solar, wind, wood). "Met" a Swedish girl on the internet, came to Sweden for a holiday, loved the place (and the girl), moved to Sweden permanently Christmas 2001 and married the girl in Easter 2002. Living happily ever after... Email Robin Alan Bell: sosoft@ozemail.com.au Comment on this column in the forum. Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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