What a prospect on a night brooding with potential for rain, but also with the potential to hear one of Dylan’s most iconic albums played all the way through and in the right order. This celebration of Desire, fifty years on from its release, was organised by singer-songwriter David Ford, who’d brought together a band of note to not recreate but reimagine the sound of Desire. Band of note? Well, Michelle Stodart was there to provide vocals, guitar and keyboards, her usual role on bass having been taken by Rob Stoner, who had played on the original album recordings. And, to ensure that the most signature sound of the album, the wild fiddle playing of Scarlet Rivera was adequately represented who could be better than Scarlet Rivera? The band was completed by Darren Beckett on drums and special guests, but more of that later.
With the room starting to fill up, the evening “support” took the stage, and what a mistake for anyone who hadn’t arrived promptly, because there was no support, just a selection of Dylan songs performed by Michelle Stodart, Rob Stoner and Scarlet Rivera to turn what would have otherwise been a rather short set of nine songs into a more fleshed-out evening. The evening was introduced by Kerry Shale, here as the co-host of the Bob Dylan Approximately podcast rather than as his other life as an actor, who gamely undertook (once some light was shone upon his script) to introduce Bob Dylan and the album Desire to a room full of Bob Cats of one stripe or another of obsessiveness. Maybe they didn’t all think about Bob, or read a book about Bob, as often as Kerry confessed to doing himself, but it was a pretty safe bet that they knew at least the bare astonishing facts about Desire; that it consisted of predominantly co-writes with Jacques Levy and that the album was intrinsically connected to the legendary Rolling Thunder Revue tour. The music got under way with Michelle Stodart playing and singing a fine Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, before Scarlet Rivera played and sang a wonderful Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power) with it’s tale of Americans pushing their luck and living on an emotional edge seemingly having been waiting all along for this Desire-esque makeover: it’s one of Dylan’s most adaptable songs and this one, as with many others, is just perfect. Rob Stoner’s contribution was a Desire outtake, the very rock and roll (in its original sense) Rita Mae; probably a tribute to writer Rita Mae Brown, and definitely a song that Jerry Lee Lewis also recorded, and it’s easy to see why as the song chunks away and inspires such showmanship as Rob Stoner playing his bass behind his head.
Before progressing to the next song, Scarlet removed her jacket to reveal her “Fuck ICE” T shirt, and made a passionate speech about how “Sauron has creeped into the White House“, adding that “the Dark Riders of ICE” were roaming the land; it was clear that she’s no fan, and it acted as a perfect introduction to A Hard Rain’s A-gonna Fall, on which David Ford took the lead vocals.
It’s quite something when a surprise guest is themselves surprised to be there; “I don’t know why the fuck I am here either” was Nish Kumar’s opening gambit before a short chat with Kerry Shale, although the presence of an electric guitar was a slight clue. Nish Kumar’s opinions on Desire focused on the cinemagraphic nature of the songs, mostly acting as short films, or, alternatively, they are very direct songs like Hurricane or Sara, where Dylan is making a strong point: the one about American injustice, the other a one-take plea for a marriage not to end. And then, in what was for him as much as anyone, there was the fantasy sequence where Nish Kumar gets to play a powerful Like A Rolling Stone in a band that includes genuine Dylan band mates like Rivera and Stoner. Glorious for him, glorious for us; Rob Stoner does a good Dylan on the first verse before David Ford takes over and it is truly impressive, the song as passionate and cathartic as ever.
Stray thoughts arrive; if this is the Rolling Thunder Revue, then Scarlet, well, she’s Scarlet and Rob, well, he’s Rob, Darren Beckett is Howie Wyeth and that makes David Forth Bob Neuwirth and Michelle had better be Joni. Bob himself, of course, is not here, and that leaves Nish Kumar as Roger McGuinn. Well, no, not really, but he’s having fun and so are we, so that’s all cool. And with that thought, it was into the brief interval before the main purpose of the evening.
It was back to podcast mode before we got to Desire itself, with interviews with both Rivera and Stoner focusing on the well known stories of how they were recruited into Dylan’s musical sphere, Scarlet Rivera literally being picked up on the street and offered a live audition at a club playing songs she didn’t know and Stoner’s being in Dylan’s mind for years and then being called in to help out on saving the Desire sessions, there’s something very special about hearing these stories told again by the people they actually happened to, hopefully these were recorded and will turn up on an actual podcast somewhere.
Desire is a great album, and this band gave it every opportunity to shine, making every song feel like an encore’s climactic closer before doing it again with the next track off the album. We all know the songs, we all know the running order; Hurricane got things going with a hell of a bang, Rivera stamping her mark on the song as she would go on to do for the rest of the night. It’s shocking to think how many verses the band get through in such a short time (the now contentious line is got around with the switch to “he was just a tragic figure“), and even now it’s a powerhouse of rage that sadly still finds meaning in the 21st century. Isis retains its mystical overtones, and Mozambique still satisfies as an exercise in rhyming – and yeah, Dylan still hasn’t visited the country. One More Cup Of Coffee is slightly stripped down; there’s no room for finger-cymbal-like percussion, but the drama remains intact, and to repeat, so soon, every song sounds like the song of the night.
What can one say about Oh, Sister? Well, probably one wouldn’t suggest that it might be a song about incest, and that suggestion did seem a flippant remark. Sure, there’s a line, “Oh Sister am I not a Brother to you?” but this seems to be more framed as a spiritual connection rather than to be taken literally. There is, after all, “We grew up together from the cradle to the grave“, but thinking it through, there’s nothing there to suggest a shared birth, and the narrator is clearly not dead yet. And so we reach Side B of the album.
David Ford had, Rob Stoner confessed, almost convinced him that Joey is not Dylan and Levy idolising a mobster – rather it could be seen as a viewpoint from within his gang, like Christopher Moltisanti wondering why anyone would have it in for a nice guy like Tony. Hmm, maybe, but however it’s taken, that line “what made them want to come and blow you away ” is, as we’ve said before, more than adequately answered by the rest of the song. Ford also mentioned that he’d originally thought that it was just a story, not realising that there was a real-life figure it was based on. Of course there is the issue of both album sides kicking off with long narrative stories about real people; Dylan clearly thinks Ruben Carter was mistreated, the positioning and dramatic retelling sort of implies he has the same feelings about Joey Gallo. Or perhaps he was just trying to emulate Woody and write a new Pretty Boy Floyd. Who really knows? But Michelle Stodart replicated the accordion sound on a keyboard; that much we do know.
Romance In Durango and the divine quick-stepping Black Diamond Bay followed in quick succession, each staying true to the album before Michelle Stodart took the lead on Sara, and doing fantastically well with it, yet another highlight in an evening of highlights. All that remained was the encore, which turned out to be a rather mixed message. Scarlet Rivera took the lead on violin and vocals for an emotional Forever Young, as good as it has ever sounded before, perhaps predictably and without a hint of irony in the juxtaposition, Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. What a closer for a night those who attended were lucky to be at; it seems too early to be assigning gig of the year, but this must surely be a contender. All-round inspired genius, how about fixing Hard Rain this autumn?
