He is a legend, a genius, an elder statesman of rock and all the rest of it, but Bob Dylan is not a very rewarding performer. Stuck on a stark, undecorated stage at this vast exhibition centre in Glasgow, he and his backing group lounged around with a minimum of fuss in the distance. There were no screens but Dylan was identifiable as the man in the white hat leaning over a microphone. The others wore black hats.

Seating was provided, but the great majority of the audience, some of them in their sixties (like Dylan), elected to stand for the entire two hours of a performance that meandered through songs from last year’s acclaimed Modern Times album, together with a selection of heavily disguised old favourites. Dylan began with a guitar in his hands, his voice croaky and quavering as he mangled the intricate lyrics of Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues and It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) into barely recognisable shapes. The musicians maintained the deceptively casual air of a bar-band, as if playing in front of 10,000 people was really no big deal, and certainly nothing that called for any particular showmanship.

Switching to keyboards, Dylan tackled The Levee’s Gonna Break, a lively jump blues, and When the Deal Goes Down, a waltz-time tune with a wheezy, fairground organ part to accompany his wheezy vocal. Both were songs from his new album, but sounded more ancient than the ark. Dylan stayed put behind the keyboard for the rest of the show, occasionally pulling out a harmonica, but offering little variation in his delivery from one song to another.

Now that we have heard his Theme Time radio programmes, we know what a droll and entertaining communicator Dylan can be. But nothing was volunteered between songs, save for the most perfunctory of introductions to the five band members right at the end.

“You think I’m over the hill/You think I’m past my prime,” he sang in Spirit on the Water, prompting a rare moment of engagement with the crowd, some of whom yelled their sympathetic disapproval of any such idea. Even so, with the best will in the world, it was hard to equate the spluttering rendition of Like a Rolling Stone with the incisive sneer of the original. They closed the show with a noisy romp through All Along the Watchtower, ending a display of genius that could be described only as deeply erratic, at best.

Tour continues tomorrow at Hallam FM Arena; at Wembley Arena on Sunday and Monday; and the NIA, Birmingham, on Tuesday, April 17

Musical influence

— Dylan has sold nearly 100 million albums during a 45-year career

— His comeback began in 1997 with Time Out of Mind, which won the Grammy for Album of the Year

— Modern Times entered the US chart at No 1, making him, at 65, the oldest living person to top it

— In Britain it entered at No 3

— He was listed as one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the 20th century

Source: Times database

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