Several aspects of the Zim’s return to Kilkenny marked it out from past shows on the never-ending tour. For one, he sounded just like Bob Dylan – no mean feat given that his voice has latterly resembled the sound of rocks being mangled in a washing machine (it was the first gig of this leg of the tour – clearly the rest worked wonders for his tonsils!). Secondly, the set-list was – if not quite a Dylan-watcher’s dream – then as near to it as anyone could have wished for. Finally, the songs were more recognisable than they have been for years, with largely fan-friendly versions in place of those frustrating deconstructions he has subjected his back catalogue to over the decades.
And what songs! The opener, ‘Maggie’s Farm’ was angry, viscous almost, ‘She Belongs To Me’ an early highlight, ‘Lay Lady Lay’ was sublime and as close to the recorded version as I’ve ever heard it, while ‘Ballad Of A Thin Man’ – surely one of his best songs – was truly astonishing, the crowd erupting in cheers when he blew the harmonica part .
The band, all dressed in black, worked up a bluesy groove on ‘Stuck Inside Of Mobile With Those Memphis Blues Again’ and ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ and were suitably restrained on ‘Masters Of War’ – another crowd favourite. The man himself, whose legend has soared even higher thanks to Martin Scorsese’s No Direction Home, sat behind a keyboard like an anonymous band member rarely looking outwards, though exchanging friendly banter with his fellow musicians. But even with the now familiar black stetson hiding most of his head he looked every bit the iconic figure. After just a dozen songs and a brief band intro – his only words to the crowd all night – he was gone, only to reappear with the inevitable, ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ which had them screaming the “how does it feel” part with all the enthusiasm they could muster. We all knew what was coming next and personally I could do without yet another cursory run through the perennial show-closer, ‘All Along The Watchtower’ but there’s no denying that it provided a suitably upbeat end to what has to be one of his most enjoyable Irish shows in years.
Earlier, a strong line-up set the scene perfectly for his Bobness, though it was a real shame that Ray Lamontagne, also returning to Kilkenny following his Rhythm ‘n’ Roots debut last year played so early. Mundy, as always rose to the occasion – the predictable highlight of his set being his summer anthem, ‘July’. Always worth seeing and hearing too, the Violent Femmes’ spiky Gothic Americana just gets better with time. But it was the Flaming Lips – well on their way to being the biggest cult band in the world – who almost stole the day with a way too-short set that bedazzled both visually and aurally. You really had to be there but suffice it to say that had Michael Jackson turned up, he would have thought he was back in Neverland!