Comrades From The North

Comrades From The North

Welcome to the first issue of 2026. It has been a long and wet Winter here in the UK but, at last, the first shoots of Spring are emerging, ushering in what should normally be a season of hope and renewal. However, it is difficult to generate those feelings of optimism given the current volatility of the world. Death and destruction are the watchwords and barefoot servants are carrying their lethal packages around the globe. No matter, as we went to print, Dylan began the next instalment of his Rough and Rowdy Ways World Tour, this time in North America. If the first concert in Omaha is anything to go by, then concert-goers are in for a treat. Gone was the slavish adherence to the now familiar set list, though there were still six songs present from that album. In were Man In The Long Black Coat, the first performance since 2013, covers of Bo Diddley's I Can Tell and the premiere of Eddie Cochran's Nervous Breakdown as well as the return from the Outlaw Tour set lists of Soon After Midnight, All Along The Watchtower and Don't Think Twice, It's All Right. In addition, throughout the entire show Dylan was playing electric keyboard which meant that he was more visible than in previous legs of this tour, however, he was wearing a white hoodie! Now the setlists may well settle into a more familiar pattern for this tour but we feel that there could be more surprises on the horizon. Hold on to your hats, this may well be an exhilarating ride into the unknown! Well, perhaps not that far but far enough.

You will see in Jotting Down Notes this time around quite a number of obituaries of individuals who have played a part in the Dylan story. Some good men and women have shuffled off their mortal coils in the past few months. One person that does not appear in that depressing list is Country Joe McDonald who died in early March. The Country Joe & The Fish anti-war anthem I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die would no doubt resonate strongly with fair-minded people in the current militaristic climate. The song would start with the crowd-teaser The Fish Cheer which invited the audience to join in. On stage it requested the audience to 'Give me an F, give me a U, give me a C, give me a K, What's that spell?' and the audience would duly shout out the word. In 1969 the band played a very short tour of the UK and a memorable stop was at The Bay Hotel in Sunderland on 24th March. This venue had become THE place to play in the North-East region even though it was a small hall and all manner of bands played there, many more than once. Pink Floyd, Free, Family, Tyrannosaurus Rex/T. Rex, Man, The Who, Jethro Tull all graced its stage. The place was packed for the Country Joe gig, not a spare square-inch was available. When the band went in to The Fish Cheer and asked the audience, 'What's that spell?', there was silence. Profanities weren't commonplace at that time. Country Joe gave a puzzled look and exclaimed - 'Don't you do that in Northern England?!!' Nevertheless, the show was tremendous.. Perhaps their most poignant song catalogues the desperate feelings of regret of a life less lived, of hopes and dreams dashed and urges us to grab life's chances with both hands and rail against the grind of conformity. Called Who Am I?, the chorus leaves little scope for hope:

Who am I to stand and wonder, to wait
While the wheels of fate
Slowly grind my life away
Who am I?

Yet the song resolves itself positively in the closing-verse's closing line:

For Life is here only for the taking

So grab it with both hands and take what you have gathered from co-incidence. We wish you the very best for the remainder of the year and hope that, if you see a show, you enjoy it.

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

Mike & John

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