Comrades From The North

Comrades From The North

Welcome to the final edition of The Bridge for 2025. Although it seems like a lifetime ago it was only at this time last year that everyone was speculating whether Dylan might have played his last gig in the UK and Europe following his final concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 14th November 2024. Well, Dylan has spent his lifetime confounding everyone and has made so many left-field choices that such speculation seems entirely foolish. What were we thinking? So here he is back on the European stages for twenty-six dates including ten dates in the UK, taking in some cities he has hitherto not visited. As we write this he is bound for Coventry. Mind you this is no Outlaw Music Festival tour, it is back to the Rough and Rowdy Ways very familiar setlist. Throughout the shows Dylan has been in good voice but the song offerings have become so predictable that some of the performances sound like routine run-throughs, some lacking that spontaneity that is such a hallmark of Dylan’s work. Not everyone will agree with that, of course, and the shows have been very well received by the press and many fans. However, some of the reports by some fans that these are the best ever shows must class as hyperbole. And, dare we ask - could this be the last time? Ha, Ha!! The new Dylan boxset Through The Open Window: The Bootleg Series Vol. 18 1956-1963 is now in circulation and what a splendid set it is. It clearly has been released this way for two purposes the first of which is to tell the compelling story of Dylan’s rise from juvenile rock’n’roller, to folkie/Guthrie clone to his arrival in Greenwich Village and his blossoming as a performer and foremost songwriter of his day. In this it succeeds perfectly and it is a joy to follow him on this journey through the chronological presentation of his songs. The second purpose, of course, is to shift units, which has been the case, and the way the set has been assembled has certainly made it attractive to many. However, superb as the set is, there has been regret amongst completists that is does not contain some of the early, unreleased sessions in full and that it duplicates many tracks that have already been released on, albeit hard to obtain, previous discs e.g. the Copyright Collection. The critics' reactions have been overwhelmingly supportive, gushing even. The review of the set by Allan Jones in Uncut (December 2025) is extensive and it distils the reactions that this box has been generating across the music and general press:

'The first time we hear Bob Dylan on this fabulous 8CD, 168-track boxset, it’s Christmas Eve 1956….The last time we hear him, it’s October 1963, at the end of his first headlining show at a sold-out Carnegie Hall, Dylan in full command of 3,000 hip New Yorkers who’ve just been profoundly wowed by a set full of era-defining songs, all of them written in two-and-a-bit years since Dylan blew into Greenwich Village from Minneapolis in January 1961.Dylan’s remarkable transformation from cocky young Woody Guthrie disciple into a seemingly unstoppable songwriting force, moving at speed without caution or brakes, is the stuff of legend.'

Commenting on the Carnegie Hall concert that closes the set, Jones gets it spot-on:

'This is the sound of Dylan not so much capturing or seizing the moment as becoming the moment itself. Almost unbelievably, he was still only 22 years old'.

As we leave you we'd like to give a shout-out for the great British double-bass virtuoso, Danny Thompson, who died on 23 September. As a member of folk pioneers Pentangle and a partner on many Richard Thompson concerts he left an indelible imprint on music.

As the sun sets on another year we hope that you are able to enjoy the festive season and we wish you a happy and peaceful New Year.

May you climb on every rung ..........

Mike & John

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