REVIEW: Bob Dylan at the SEC Armadillo, Glasgow, Sunday, November 16
Bob Dylan has no interest in being a crowd-pleaser.
He's the antithesis of an audience-friendly performer, at least most of the time.
At the SEC Armadillo on Sunday night the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature winner was hardly visible, embedded at his piano in semi-darkness with a strict no-phones policy in place to avoid distractions from bootleggers or prying lenses.
No attempt was made to placate more casual fans with performances of revered songs from his mighty and unparalleled 63-year back catalogue.
There was no 'Rolling Stone', 'Tambourine Man', 'Blowin' in the Wind', 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' or - thank the Lord - 'Make You Feel My Lurve' (sic).
The bulk of Dylan's 17-song set was made up of selections from his last studio album, 2020's Rough and Rowdy Ways (RARW), which he's now been touring relentlessly for four years.
That's no surprise. It's a fine piece of work, bettered only in his 21st century output by 2001's masterful 'Love & Theft'.
The Glasgow audience was treated to a slowed-to-a crawl version of 'Key West (Philosopher Pirate)', delivered poem-like; a jauntier-than-on-record 'I Contain Multitudes' and an echo-ridden 'Black Rider', spareness personified.
His often criticised vocals were clear, nuanced and tender, especially on the always moving 'I've Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You', before switching easily to a blues growl on 'False Prophet' and 'Crossing the Rubicon', during both of which he spat out the doom-laden lyrics with relish.
A few years back the now 84-year-old Dylan admitted he'd "milked dry" a previous album, Modern Times, after touring it for way too many years.
That same conclusion could be drawn again with his seemingly never-ending RARW tour - now set to continue into 2026.
Yet Dylan's devotion to the album suggests otherwise. It's apparent he's very proud of the work and continues to re-imagine the songs as they evolve in differing musical forms, supported in no small part by his specialist side-men.
Long-time loyalist Tony Garnier on bass, new-boy Anton Fig on drums and guitarists Doug Lancio and Bob Britt (who added pedal steel on 'Mother of Muses') provide Dylan with the perfect platform to explore and expand the RARW canvas.
The attentive audience was rewarded with a handful of oldies but goldies, with a touchingly slow and softly-delivered staccato rendition of 1965's 'It's All Over Now Baby Blue' attracting particularly sustained applause.
The evening ended, as it almost always does, with his Gospel-era musical prayer, 'Every Grain of Sand', Dylan even cracking a smile before launching into a lonesome harp solo that punctuated the Glasgow night air.
Without an encore, a hat-less Dylan stood with his band-mates to momentarily take in the applause before shuffling off stage, choosing not to look back, wave goodbye or blow a farewell kiss.
Bob Dylan, no crowd pleaser.
PAUL KELLY