Talkin' Bob Dylan Blues - a tribute concert

As part of the whirlwind of Dylan-related activity this week, centred around Scorcese's new documentary, the Barbican put on a tribute show, to be shown on BBC4 later this week (Friday I think...). They also cunningly scheduled the show for the night that the first part of the doc was going to air, so I'm going to have to wait until the DVD's out next week before I can comment on that... everyone seems to like it though!

The show was really well put together - each artist did 2 or 3 songs (generally including one of their own, which was sometimes illuminating and other times completely unneccessary) which were interspersed with readings from Dylan's memoirs, Chronicles. Billy Bragg began proceedings with a really good "When The Ship Comes In", and he compered throughout. Martin Carthy, Liam Clancy and Odetta provided some real historical gravitas, while Willy Mason and KT Tunstall did their bit for the youth. Highlights? Willy Mason's cracked "To Ramona" was lovely, and Martin Carthy's "Scarborough Fair" reminded me what a great old folk song that is. The showstopper was probably Odetta though, who hobbled onto the stage, only to deliver the most stately, regal "Mr. Tambourine Man" that seemed like it went on for half an hour, accompanied only by piano.

All performances were solo or nearly so, apart from KT Tunstall, who brought her whole band. I'm not overly keen on her music, but she belted through a terrific "Tangled Up In Blue" and "Simple Twist Of Fate" that made me think there's more to her than meets the eye. Dido she is most certainly not. The evening closed with the predictable collaborations; Odetta and Liam Clancy duetted on a quite moving rendition of "Blowin In The Wind" and then Bragg and Tunstall did a rowdy version of "This Wheel's On Fire" that everyone joined in with.

All in all, a most enjoyable evening - catch it on BBC4 if you can...

2 interesting reviews of this concert:
The Guardian
The Independent