First Night: Songs as Tight as His Drainpipes, as Wild as His Hair ; BOB DYLAN KINGS DOCK LIVERPOOL

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IN SEVERAL of the career summaries published to coincide with Bob Dylan's recent 60th birthday, writers mused over why he is endlessly on the road. Is it because he is depressed, lonely, a legend with no particular place to go?

But the quality most apparent to 4,000 people gathered in a big top on the banks of the Mersey for Dylan's only English appearance this year was one of sheer glee, a man revelling in his high-flown reputation and mythology.

"Somebody in this town has been telling lies on me," he smirked on an opening acoustic number plucked from his seemingly bottomless bag of folk cover-versions. With his redoubtable compadres Charlie Sexton and Larry …