If the band didn’t start playing, the audience may not have even known that Bob Dylan took the stage at the Maine Savings Amphitheater in Bangor on Friday.
Dylan was nearly invisible to the crowd as he sat behind the music stand on his grand piano and was obscured by four bright lights.
Gov. Janet Mills was one concertgoer who barely saw the legendary singer-songwriter during his 17-song set.
“Dylan, I don’t know, I’ve seen him before but he’s never been so reclusive. I had to get my telescope out and I still couldn’t see him anyway,” Mills said at an event in Bangor on Tuesday.
Dylan has taken steps throughout his career to distance himself from the audience, but his Bangor concert was the first set on the Outlaw Music Festival tour to include obstructions such as the music stand and lights. In recent years, the 82-year-old has even banned cellphones from his solo concerts to stop audience members from taking pictures or videos of his act.
Mills said that the other artists who took the stage, specifically Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson, put on more impressive shows. She added that she was able to meet and take pictures with Crow and Nelson and was able to join the artists on their tour bus.
During his act, Dylan’s crowd interactions were slim with him addressing the audience twice and only being visible when he stood up to grab his harmonica, showing that he was wearing a hooded raincoat pulled tight to his head. Dylan and his bandmates also occasionally raised their hands above their heads to acknowledge the crowd.
Dylan was one of five acts who played as part of the Outlaw tour headlined by Willie Nelson. His act was the only one to not have the camera view inside the amphitheater change during the set, showing just a single wide shot of the stage.
Multiple concertgoers in the venue questioned if Dylan was actually behind the piano or was the one singing.
The Nobel Prize winner has had a tumultuous relationship with his crowds since 1965 when he was booed at the Newport Folk Festival for going electric.
In recent years Dylan has voiced frustration over concert attendees taking cellphone videos and photos, which he felt detracted from the direct experience of watching the concert.
At a show in Austria in 2019, he reprimanded the crowd saying, “I say, once again, take pictures or don’t take pictures. We can either play or we can pose.”
Dylan banned cellphones from his solo concerts, but hasn’t banned them from venues on the Outlaw tour, partially because of the large venues on the tour, according to Rolling Stone.
