"I don't believe in Zimmerman"
Initially reluctant to let him perform, the Chinese authorities sanctioned the show on the condition that Dylan dropped his celebrated protest anthems, including Blowin’ in the Wind and The Times They are a-Changin’. Dylan without protest songs sounds about as useful as Hamlet without the soliloquy - and the fact that the star agreed emboldened those who have doubted his authenticity from the start.
The Telegraph, April 9, 2011.
With international concern mounting at the disappearance of Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist with a penchant for criticising the country’s communist regime, America’s erstwhile protester-in-chief studiously avoided any mention of politics. Instead he launched into a harmless rendition of “Gonna change my way of thinking”.
Financial Times, April 8, 2011.
Dylan has agreed to perform only approved content, leaving Blowin' in the Wind and The Times, They Are a-Changin' off his Beijing set list. He is due to perform in Shanghai today.
"It's shocking to see him collude in this kind of censorship," Brad Adams, of Human Rights Watch, said.
"Back in the day, if he had been in Ai's shoes, he would have expected someone to speak up for him. What does he have to lose?"
Dylan's representatives at Sony Music in New York had no immediate comment last night.
The Australian, April 8, 2011.
Dylan was allowed to perform on condition that he sang only “approved content.”
He spoke only once directly to the crowd of some 5,000 people - 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 concert comes as the government works to ensure that the times are definitely not changing - at least not in a way that the Communist Party does not control.
Montreal Gazette, April 6, 2011.
The Telegraph, April 9, 2011.
With international concern mounting at the disappearance of Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist with a penchant for criticising the country’s communist regime, America’s erstwhile protester-in-chief studiously avoided any mention of politics. Instead he launched into a harmless rendition of “Gonna change my way of thinking”.
Financial Times, April 8, 2011.
Dylan has agreed to perform only approved content, leaving Blowin' in the Wind and The Times, They Are a-Changin' off his Beijing set list. He is due to perform in Shanghai today.
"It's shocking to see him collude in this kind of censorship," Brad Adams, of Human Rights Watch, said.
"Back in the day, if he had been in Ai's shoes, he would have expected someone to speak up for him. What does he have to lose?"
Dylan's representatives at Sony Music in New York had no immediate comment last night.
The Australian, April 8, 2011.
Dylan was allowed to perform on condition that he sang only “approved content.”
He spoke only once directly to the crowd of some 5,000 people - 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 concert comes as the government works to ensure that the times are definitely not changing - at least not in a way that the Communist Party does not control.
Montreal Gazette, April 6, 2011.