April 16, 2007 10:11

Bob Dylan returns to London

Tambourine man wows Wembley Arena

Photo Gallery: Bob Dylan
Photo: Pa Photos

Bob Dylan made a triumphant return to London last night (April 15) with a two-hour set at Wembley Arena.

Gracing the stage at precisely 8pm, the "poet laureate of rock’n’roll" appeared with his five-piece band, surprising fans by playing his first four tracks on electric guitar - on recent tours he has restricted his musical contribution solely to keyboards.

Beginning with a smouldering version of ‘Cat’s In The Well’, the set continued with classics ‘It Ain’t Me, Babe’ and ’It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’.

Switching back to his staple tour keyboards, Dylan wowed the crowd with a string of back catalogue favourites including ‘Highway 61 Revisited’, ‘Chimes Of Freedom’, ‘Blind Willie McTell’ and 'Like A Rolling Stone'.

On a sweltering evening, Dylan and his band treated fans to a stripped-down version of track ‘Spirit On The Water’ from last year's ‘Modern Times’ which saw the singer play harp.

The singer peered out of his straw hat, simply asking "Alright everybody?" before concluding the evening with encores 'Thunder On The Mountain' and a Jimi Hendrix-inspired rendition of his own 'All Along The Watchtower' that had the masses stamping their feet in collective appreciation.

Bob Dylan returns for a second night at Wembley Arena tonight (April 16). To read more about his UK tour check out NME.COM's sister site [http://www.uncut.co.uk/blog/index.php?blog=5]Uncut.co.uk[/url].