Libby and I
live just outside of Bordeaux so Bayonne was a perfect venue for us. We also
adore both the French and Spanish side of the Pays Basque. We arrived in good
time at the beautiful town of Bayonne; the sun was shining with a good
temperature and a gentle breeze off the River Nive was sure to be perfect for
Bob’s concert.
The concert
was being held at the Arènes de Bayonne, a classic bull ring, but more
importantly a French stronghold for bull fighting. The hotel was central so we
had time to wander into town for something to eat before the 21:30 Show Time. I
had heard of a great little restaurant called the Bar du Marche serving
traditional Basque dishes. It had a great bustling ambience, complete with organised
chaos and the typically local dishes such as ‘chipirones marines au piment d’Espelette a la plancha’ and ‘cochon au lait’ were delicious … as was
a Basque red wine from the region of Irouleguy.
This set us
in fine mood for a Bob concert and we headed on foot to the Arènes de Bayonne. It
was a beautiful walk, passing through the old town with its half timbers and
shutters throwing out the national Basque colours of red and green from a white
wall background.
We passed the Gothic Cathédrale of Sainte-Marie whose
magnificent cloisters watch down on you from high above the narrow streets. And
as we rounded the massive citadel and up towards the Arènes, we caught a
glimpse of Bob’s black tour bus!
(Photo 2&3
of town and cathedral)
The Arènes
was bathed in warm sunshine even now at 9pm and the circular shape adorned with
bullfighters, the mustard yellow trims and dark red shutters made a dream
setting!
We quickly got
inside without fuss and a there was a definite air of excitement. We had a cold
beer then made our way inside to the open-air arena. The inside was stunning
and before I noticed the amazing white stone seating, I spotted what I had been
hearing about this year: Bob’s big black grand piano on the right of the
set!
I had
selected the seats at a perfect height above the number one staircase so nobody
would be in front of us. There was good legroom from the aisle and we were just
off-centre as I knew Bob would be facing us from his left of the stage.
The atmosphere
was buzzing; the standing area below us was steadily filling up and the cries
from the red and white dressed nut sellers hopping up, down and between the
spectators made good comedy. The crowd were aware it was now 9:30pm and after a
bit of encouraging cheering, the band entered with Bob coming out last, dressed
immaculately in white trousers and shoes, black jacket, bootlace tie and a
white, wide-brimmed hat. With no introductions the band blasted into a racy
version of ‘Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat’,
Bob at the keyboard. Without a second’s pause Bob slid effortlessly over to the
grand piano and gave a brilliantly clean voiced ‘Love Minus Zero/No Limit’. You could really hear the keys and just
how good Bob is on the piano.
Again, no
pause and Bob was up to centre stage with the harmonica for ‘Things Have Changed’, the clear lyrics
telling exactly the way it is now! Bob stayed centre stage for the start of ‘Tangled Up In Blue’ – Stu backing
excellently on acoustic guitar – before moving back to the grand piano and
playing some really excellent melodies in synch with Charlie’s lead guitar. Now
Bob’s legs were moving under the piano and he took on a half-sit-down, half-stand-up
pose with some right handed piano playing and left hand harmonica: brilliant.
The crowd
were going now and he speeded up the tempo staying at the piano with a raspy
loud ‘Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum’.
Donnie pulled out his electric mandolin, Tony swapped onto the stand-up bass
and George excelled on the drums for a controlled and perfect ‘Desolation Row’.
Bob was
obviously enjoying the new piano sound and stayed half-seated to the piano for
a bouncy ‘The Levee’s Gonna Break’. Then
a real treat, as if to say “hey people
this is my song by the way and this is how it’s done”: a really fantastic ‘Make You Feel My Love’. ‘Honest With Me’ came next with lovely
harmonica, then a spot-on version of ‘Spirit
On The Water’.
With Bob still
at the grand piano, the band belted out ‘Highway
61 Revisited’, before Bob came to the front of the stage to surprise us all
with the best-ever version of ‘Forgetful
Heart’. He dominated the stage and led the band in style, arms out wide. And
he sang beautifully; this is the Dylan of today, the next invention, just
brilliant!
A blistering
‘Thunder On The Mountain’ lifted the
tempo once more, with Bob really in the groove now. And then, what I was
waiting for, ‘Ballad Of A Thin Man’
and Bob on the piano. The vocals were superb, with an eerie echo after each
line really creating the mood of the song.
Then he introduced the band and slipped with ease into a classic and
solid ‘Like a Rolling Stone’.
I have heard
‘All Along the Watchtower’ live many times, but tonight’s version was just so
special. Bob’s grand piano changed the song, making it so much more personal. The
band came to the stage front to loud applause and Bob stood for a good while,
pointing with two hands and open armed to the crowd and then back to him. He
skipped off and the lights went down.
I wasn’t sure
if he would come back out after such a great last song and he let the crowd
wait a good few minutes before the encore of ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’. As was the theme of the evening Bob was back
behind the grand piano. A last goodbye from
Bob and the band and he was gone. Wow! What a performance from the band and I
just love this grand piano sound!
Set List
Bayonne 20th July:
1.
|
Leopard-Skin
Pill-Box Hat
|
2.
|
Love Minus
Zero/No Limit
|
3.
|
Things
Have Changed
|
4.
|
Tangled Up
In Blue
|
5.
|
Tweedle
Dee and Tweedle Dum
|
6.
|
Desolation
Row
|
7.
|
The
Levee's Gonna Break
|
8.
|
Make You
Feel My Love
|
9.
|
Honest
With Me
|
10.
|
Spirit On
The Water
|
11.
|
Highway 61
Revisited
|
12.
|
Forgetful
Heart
|
13.
|
Thunder On
The Mountain
|
14.
|
Ballad Of
A Thin Man
|
15.
|
Like A Rolling
Stone
|
16.
|
All Along
The Watchtower
|
|
|
|
Encore
|
17.
|
|
The town is split into two with the beach front being separated from the
narrow streets of the old town by the main road. The beach is very
clean and lined with colourful, rather English-looking punch and Judy
tents.
We wandered the streets stopping here and there for a drink of either
local crisp white wine called Txakoli, a glass of joven Rioja or a
Basque cider coupled with a selection of delicious tapas. Prices vary,
but in general it is cheap and a tapas will cost you €1.60 apiece, a
wine or beer €1.90 and a plate (raciones) €6-9 (apart from the Bellota
ham). 
