China Blocks Bob Dylan Tour

The more times a-change, the more they stay the same—though Bob Dylan has moved beyond the protest movement that he really only involved himself in from ’62-’63, apparently China still views the rock ‘n roll bard as something of a mind-altering threat. Therefore they don’t want him or his “crazy” music entering their country.

The Guardian UK reported today that the communist country has blocked Dylan’s scheduled gigs in Beijing and Shanghai, stating that “China’s ministry of culture, which vets planned concerts by overseas artists, appeared wary of Dylan’s past as an icon of the counterculture movement.”

Even more unfortunate is the fact that this forces Dylan to cancel the entire Asian leg of his Never Ending Tour, according to promoter Jeffery Wu of Taiwan’s Brokers Brothers Herald.

“With Beijing and China ruled out, it was not possible for him just to play concerts in Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan… The chance to play in China was the main attraction for him. When that fell through everything else was called off.”

Oh, China—we get the whole repression of independent thought as a means to establish and cement control over a subservient worker-based populace under an umbrella of petty-bourgeois nationalism thing, but c’mon! It’s Bob Dylan—let him in!

What do you think about China denying Bob Dylan? Is it fair?