Blighted by Dylan

Is it true that Bob Dylan is 70? I would never have guessed: there has been so little about it in the newspapers. No doubt he is out on the road right now, on his never-ending tour, murdering his old tunes with a relentless indifference, unbothered by what his fans might think. But you have met a Dylan fan. You might well be a Dylan fan. They are not like the rest of us. It is 20 years or so since I saw Dylan live but I have never forgotten the experience. The most serious trainspotters were down at the front, making sheaves of notes. Others cheered a song they knew Dylan hadn’t played for seven years, four months and 18 days. Someone who had missed the fourth night in the run of seven was ostracised by his fellows. Up on the stage, the man himself, dead-eyed with boredom and contempt, sang ‘Maggie’s Farm’ for the 98,773rd time, possibly as a lilting reggae number, or maybe backwards, to catch everyone out.