"Bob is our Jesus" declared the sign on a psychedelic-coloured Hiace van parked close to Kilkenny's Nowlan Park yesterday afternoon. If it hadn't been for the van, it might have been a run-of-the-mill Sunday as a steady stream of punters of all ages made their way to the stadium normally used for hurling matches.
"Who's playing today, lads?" shouted a passer-by from a car window as fans, many bedecked in GAA county colours, headed up the Hebron Road. "Bob Dylan and Elvis Costello" came the reply. It made a change from "Kilkenny and Wexford".
Not all of the 20,000 people in the stadium for one of the concerts of the summer were quite as devoted to Dylan as the van owner, but many were not far behind. Andy Bowden from Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, was at his fourth Dylan gig, having first seen the singer in the Albert Hall in London in 1965. "I really admire his lyrics and I like the tunes, though he never had much of a voice," he said.
Fortunately the sound of Elvis Costello playing with an electric band for the first time in five years prevented other Dylan fans from hearing such heresy.
Even celebrities are allowed to swoon at the sight of Bob. Support singer Juliet Turner was explaining to The Irish Times how much she had enjoyed playing to a large outdoor audience when suddenly the interview was interrupted: "Aieeee! There's Bob . . ." A small cloud of dust was left as she went for a closer look.
Dylan took to the stage shortly after 9.p.m. and for almost two hours played a set dominated by 1960s classics.
An enthusiastic crowd spurred him on, as did Rolling Stones' guitarist Ron Wood, who joined Dylan early in the set fort "Maggies's Farm" and stayed for over an hour.
Actor Stephen Rea had last seen Dylan in Earls Court in London "around Street Legal time" in the 1970s. "Yeah, I'm definitely a fan, I mean who isn't?" Actor Daniel Day Lewis and singers Marianne Faithfull and Paul Brady were also there.
