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Dylan fans make a show of it

Our Bureau

MUMBAI, May 27

IT was an unmovable, determined audience in the form of Bob Dylan fans at Mumbai's open air theatre Rang Bhawan the other day.

For the entire three hours of the show, the audience sat immersed in the music as desi rockers paid their tribute to Dylan, known as the rebel bard, on his 60th birthday.

Organised by the Tatas as part of its Legends Series, the concert was choc-a-bloc with performances by 40 local artistes, mainly singing Dylan numbers, interspersed by the occasional Joan Baez numbers, with Louis Banks providing the music.

No doubt, the grainy drag of Dylan's voice was missing, but no one was complaining. Suresh Bhojwani, one of the promoters of the Brite Group, however, came close enough with his rendition of `Love Minus Zero'.

As for Dylan's all-time classics `Forever Young' and `Mr Tambourine Man', the singers chose to do their own versions incorporating the Blues style to their singing.

Singer Pervez Quadir provided comic relief when he staggered on to the stage in a suit, complete with dark glasses. He sang a fairly satisfying `Tangled Up in Blue' from Dylan's album `Blood on the Tracks'.

Brian Tellis, the famous radio voice, sang `Man of Peace' from the 1983 album Infidels. The surprise singers were Jules Fuller and Sophia Haque, the former VJ of Channel V. Haque sang `Rainy Day Women Nos 12 & 35' while Fuller sang a song written by Dyla n's son Jakob of Wallflowers.

Singers Gary Lawyer with his `Lay Lady Lay' and Vivienne Pocha's `Knockin' on Heaven's Door' enthused the crowd. `Shelter from the Storm', `All Along the Watch Tower', `The Times they are A-Changin' and `Subterranean Homesick Blues' were the other Dylan numbers.

Mehnaz, the Indipop star, came on stage with her rendition of `Gotta Serve Somebody', the number composed by Dylan in his religious phase.

The high-point of the evening was Delhi singer, Sushmit Bose's personal tribute to Dylan.

Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, was the musical voice of revolt during the 1960s.