BEIJING – Counter-culture hero and singer-songwriter Bob Dylan got a rapturous welcome from fans yesterday at his first concert in China, despite having agreed to sing only an approved set designed not to offend political sensitivities.
Famous for his songs against injustice, Dylan struck a cautious line in Beijing and did not sing anything that might have overtly offended China's Communist rulers, such as The Times They Are A-Changin'.
On stage for almost two hours to a crowd of about 5,000 at the city's Workers' Gymnasium, Dylan brought the audience to a standing ovation with his penultimate song, All Along the Watchtower,and came back for two encores.
Like a Rolling Stonealso proved popular.
“I was a little disappointed that he didn’t sing many of his songs because of the politics,” said Zhang Tian (30), a Beijing lawyer. “What is the government so afraid of?”
Promoters tried to bring Dylan to China last year, but the culture ministry did not give its approval.Agreement this year came with the proviso that Dylan “performed with the approved content”, according to a brief statement issued last month by the ministry.
Beijing perhaps ought not to have been so worried. While some Western artists such as Lady Gaga and Celine Dion are wildly popular in China, especially with young people in the big cities, Dylan is much less well-known.
One state-run newspaper, the Global Times,a popular tabloid run by Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily,wrote that Dylan had nothing to say to the man on the street in China.
“The subject of Dylan’s songs, from drugs to racial equality to human dignity to war, are not on the radar of the average Chinese person, who is more interested in taking care of his or her family,” it wrote in its English language edition.
In 2006, Beijing demanded that the Rolling Stones exclude five of their racier numbers for their first show in China, including Brown Sugarand Let's Spend the Night Together,due to lyrics deemed too risqué. – (Reuters)