Dylan Plays First Ever China Concert

Billboard reports that the singer's concert at the city's Worker's Gymnasium in Beijing was hugely well received

He apparently spoke only once directly to the crowd of some 5,000 people - mostly young Chinese though with a strong foreign presence - and that was to introduce his band.

"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?"

Dylan's gravelly voice, which made his lyrics hard to pick out even for native speakers of English, would have flummoxed many Chinese in the crowd in any case.

Promoters tried to bring Dylan to China last year, but the Culture Ministry did not give its approval, as is required for any concert in the country.

"I know his songs from karaoke, but I'm really not that familiar with him," advertising executive Yin Yang, 24 told Billboard. "Still I think this was a historic concert and I'm glad I've seen him."

In terms of the set list, Dylan omitted anything that might have overtly offended China's Communist rulers, like "The Times They Are A-Changin." Instead he trod a fine line between protest song and his "hits".

Here's the set list:

1.Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking
2.It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
3.Beyond The Horizon
4.Tangled Up In Blue
5.Honest With Me
6.Simple Twist Of Fate
7.Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
8.Love Sick
9.Rollin' And Tumblin'
(Elmore James cover)
10.A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
11.Highway 61 Revisited
12.Spirit On The Water
13.Thunder On The Mountain
14.Ballad Of A Thin Man
15.Like A Rolling Stone

Encore:
16.All Along The Watchtower
17.Forever Young

(Billboard)