Bob Dylan China concerts avoid controversy

As reported in The Telegraph, Bob Dylan "charged through" his set list at Beijing's Workers' Gymnasium on April 6 with little interaction with the audience and only introducing his five-piece band after 90 minutes and the first encore.

The singer also left out some of his more famous protest songs including “Blowin' in the Wind” and “The Times they Are a-Changin'”.

Dylan, like all artists performing in China, had to submit his set list beforehand for approval by the Ministry of Culture, which in its formal invitation reminded the singer that he would have to "conduct the performance strictly according to the approved program," according to the Los Angeles Times.

Dylan’s set, which he played to a crowd of 6,000 in the 18,000-seat stadium, did include other hits, including "Tangled up in Blue" and "Simple Twist of Fate."

"Foreign acts coming into China are watched much more closely than native Chinese bands," Nevin Domer, booking manager at D-22, one of Beijing’s major live-houses, told the Los Angeles Times. "Even when bands on our label play big festivals with hundreds or thousands of people, they don't need to submit lyrics [to censors]."

Bob Dylan sings "Tangled up in Blue" at Beijing’s Workers’ Stadium