Dylan Pleases Audience

Backed-Up by Band

[Bob Dylan Live at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, Ohio, 8:30 p.m., November 19, 1965]

November 22, 1965

By CHARLES G. FENTON

Bob Dylan came to town Friday night with a cold that made his voice rasp more than usual. Nevertheless, he pleased the youthful audience packed into Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

There were grade school children with braces on their teeth. There were high schoolers in tight denims wearing "Dylan caps." There were college students ranging from the far-out crowd with long hair and peace buttons to cool types in herringbone suits and vests.

She Wore a Mink

There was even one middle-aged couple. She wore a mink. He had distinguished-looking grey hair.

They all had come to hear the foremost musical spokesman of the younger generation.

When Dylan sang the songs he composes himself they listened respectfully. The instant he finished a song the vast auditorium resounded with applause.

Dylan began his concert with "She's Got Everything She Needs." He accompanied himself with a steady, driving guitar beat and occasional breaks on a howling, wailing harmonica.

Dylan doesn't really sing, but he does more than just recite his songs. His voice has little range, but he conveys a variety of feelings from the melancholy of "Baby Blue" to the bitter social commentary of "Desolation Row."

In "Desolation Row" Dylan blasts Alfred [sic] Einstein, priests, insurance salesmen and middle-men of all descriptions.

Ignores Audience

Dylan is a very self-contained performer. He concentrates on what he is doing and all but ignores his audience.

After nearly every song in the first half of the program he paused to retune his guitar. "My electric guitar never goes out of tune," he told the audience.

In keeping with his new image as a rock singer Dylan was backed up by a five-man band for the last half of his concert.

A grand piano, drums, an electric organ and two electric guitars make a lot of music for one singer to shout down, but Dylan did it, cold and all.

The sound of all those instruments amplified many times over through the huge speakers at Vets was almost deafening, but the audience seemed to like it.