Hat
by Martin Bril, De Volkskrant, April 26th 2002

Bob Dylan is coming. Next week Thursday he will play the
Rotterdam AhoyÕ. In Amsterdam I noticed one concert poster
hanging underneath an overpass in East.

In show & concert!

Bob Dylan.

And his band!

A bad picture of the Dylan decorates the poster. He is a
holding a harmonica in his hand. His eyes are wearing
make-up. Notice also the exclamation marks. In show!
Everybody knows that there is nothing to be seen during a
Dylan concert. And his band! As if he would show up with
somebody else's band.

Bob Dylan.

These days it was forty years ago that his first record came
out. I was 2 then and not yet a fan of the Bob. Whether I am
one by now, I don't actually know for sure either.
Fascinating he is indeed, and he cannot sing.

Dylan first hit European soil in Stockholm this year. That
was on April 5th. After that he visited Oslo, Copenhagen,
Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, Hannover, Frankfurt, Stuttgart,
Munich, Ravenna, Italy, Milan, Zurich, Innsbruck and
Nürnberg. Every concert was different, but there were fixed
items too. So every night he played The Times They Are
A-Changin' as the second song, and Blowin' In The Wind as
the twentieth song. In between he played a different
selection of songs from his vast repertoire every evening.
Don't Think Twice It's Allright passed by almost without
fail, sometimes at the beginning of the concert, sometimes
in the middle.

Tweedle Dee And Tweedle Dum he only played in Stockholm and
Nürnberg.

What it was like last night in Strasbourg, is still not yet
known. I await in expectation until www.expectingrain.com
publishes the setlist. Because the question is whether
something is the matter with the Bob; the day before
yesterday in Nürnberg suddenly The Times They Are A-Changin'
was no longer on the program. For the second song he now
played Señor. Will this change persist in Strasbourg, and
what does that mean? Are the times suddenly no longer
changing and how come? Or did Bob temporarily not feel like
it?

Lots of questions.

There is something else. Since Dylan started his tour in the
autumn, in Orlando, Florida, every night he wore a black
suit and a small, white cowboy hat. In combination with his
curls this little hat comes out nice. There is no denial.
Just as the fact that Dylan has a beautiful hawknose.

April 17th the Bob showed up in the Olympiahalle in Munich.
As the second song he played The Times They Are A-Changin'.
Nothing the matter, one would think. But he wore a small
black hat! The next day in Ravenna and the day after that in
Milan he wore the white head cover again. In Zurich,
Innsbruck and Nürnberg also. What was the matter that 17th
of April with the Bob that he put on a different hat, a
black hat even?

Even more questions.

Today Bob Dylan has the day off. Saturday he will play in
Oberhausen, Sunday in Brussels and then in Paris. His Dutch
fans are waiting in excitement for the things to come. Will
he be wearing his little white hat, and what will he be
playing as his second song?