Review: Bob Dylan at the Echo Arena Liverpool

But somehow, almost against his will, the music world clasped him to their collective hearts, and nowhere more than here in Liverpool.

His parties in the Adelphi in the 60s have fallen into legend, the heady nights drinking Beaujolais with the beatniks and Mersey poets.

He always said one day he'd come back to settle down in the city he loved so well.

So, when he announced he was to play at the Echo Arena, tickets sold out at lightning speed.

To see the protest singer of his generation, the original rebel troubadour, sing his back catalogue undimmed was truly something special. There's no denying that distinctive voice has changed with age. But then Dylan's music has never been about singing in tune. If I'd wanted easy listening, I'd have gone to see Cliff Richard.

A rebel from his earliest days, Dylan became a voice for the American civil rights movement in the 60s, and, while he was at it, wrote the finest songs of his generation.

Kicking off at 7.30pm and playing for two hours, he was effortlessly charismatic. Looking sharp in a black jacket, green shirt and fedora, he led his superb touring band.

He peppered the set with a greatest hits from heaven - Like a Rolling Stone, All Along the Watchtower, Spirit on the Water, Highway 61 Revisited and The Ballad of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

In tribute to being in Liverpool and his pal George Harrison, there was a bittersweet version of Something.

Admittedly, most tracks sounded nothing like the original versions, with the new band putting a twist on everything they played.

But the audience filled in any gaps, happily singing the original melodies.

But anyone looking for a carbon copy of the first recordings can have just that - a CD that sounds the same every time they play it.

To hear one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century performing his own music is something special.

The only slightly sour note sounded during the final song, Blowing in the Wind, when a fan managed to jump onstage and hug Dylan, before being swiftly removed by security.

But, entirely unfazed, El Zim played on, finished the set and lapped up his applause.

It would take more than that to stop this rolling stone.