Cat Power has confirmed a Nov. 5 show at London’s Royal Albert Hall where she will recreate Bob Dylan’s famed May 17, 1966 concert at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall in its entirety.
Bootlegs from that era mistakenly labeled the show as having taken place at Royal Albert Hall several days later, and when it was finally officially released in 1998 as the fourth volume of Dylan’s The Bootleg Series, it was subtitled as the “Royal Albert Hall” concert.
Dylan’s 1966 tour was his first performing electric, a move met by criticism from fans and journalists alike. A fan famously yelled “Judas” at Dylan in Manchester, a sequence finally made available to the public as part of Martin Scorsese’s 2005 Dylan documentary No Direction Home.
At Royal Albert Hall in November, Cat Power’s Chan Marshall will mimic the structure of these concerts, which began with a solo acoustic set and finished with full band performances backed by The Hawks (who went on to become The Band). “When I finally got the opportunity to play the RAH, it was a no-brainer,” Marshall says. “I just wanted to sing Dylan songs. And as much as any, this collection of his songs, to me, belong there.”
Marshall is no stranger to covering Dylan, as she has performed everything from “Moonshiner” and “Kingsport Town” to “Paths of Victory” and “Hard Times in New York Town” in past concerts. She also covered “Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again” for the soundtrack to the 2007 Dylan biopic I’m Not There.
Marshall just wrapped a run of European dates and will embark on a North American tour July 16 in Los Angeles. Her most recent album, Covers, came out in January.
