Dylan In China?

According to several reports, Dylan is set to play the Beijing Workers’ Gymnasium April 6 and the Shanghai Grand Stage April 8.

“We’ve been trying to hold Mr. Dylan’s concert in China for years and finally we’ve made it,” Gehau Live Nation GM Wei Ming said according to ChinaDaily.com. “Chinese fans will see an authentic Dylan concert like in New York, Sydney, or any other city in the world.”

How much will fans have to pay to see Dylan in China? Reported ticket prices start at 280 yuan ($42.60) and run up to 1,280 yuan ($194.80). Supposedly there will also be VIP tickets carrying the date April 11, 1961 – commemorating Dylan’s first official appearance in New York City.

So far there has been no word from the Dylan camp about the concerts nor has anything posted about the dates on BobDylan.com. On March 3, the Associated Press reported that China’s Ministry Of Culture was reviewing an application asking the government to allow the concerts.

Dylan was scheduled to play Beijing and Shanghai last year but those shows never happened. Although fans blamed a dispute with the Taiwanese promoter handling the gigs, the promoter said the deal breaker was the Chinese government’s insistence that Dylan sign a pledge promising “not to hurt the feelings of the Chinese people” while performing.

Click here to read the ChinaDaily.com article.