If at first you don't succeed...

Nothing ever goes as smoothly as you want and that was the way when a collection of Tauranga's top musicians combined forces for a concert to celebrate Bob Dylan's birthday.

That was back in May when the singer was turning seventy seven. But the concert had to be postponed due to illness.

Now, with Bob Dylan currently on tour in Asia and heading to New Zealand, they have re-branded the concert as a 'Warm Up For Bob” and it is scheduled for Saturday 18 August, exactly a week before Dylan plays in Auckland.

Popular local band Kokomo have joined forces with singer Marion Arts and multi-instrumentalist Robbie Laven, for the concert at Tauranga Boys' College's Graham Young Youth Theatre and together the ensemble are promising a multitude of Bob Dylan songs, from the 1960s to the present day.

The concert is the brainchild of Kokomo front-man Derek Jacombs, a Bob Dylan fan since he first sneaked out of school in 1978 to see Dylan in concert in London. The magical spell woven back then has never faded and in 2008 Kokomo became the first New Zealand band to release a full album of Bob Dylan songs, their widely-praised collection, In The Well.

'The only problem at the concert is how much you can fit in,” says Derek. 'We're hoping for at least a couple of dozen songs, but with Dylan that's just scratching the surface. Still, we have songs from 15 different albums, so we're covering a fair amount of ground...”

MARION AND ROBBIE

Marion and Robbie first came to prominence on the New Zealand music scene in the 1970 with the ground-breaking band Red Hot Peppers. After taking the band to Australia they then spent several years playing concerts and festivals throughout in Europe. Even then Bob Dylan was a big influence.

For the birthday concert Marion will be reworking two songs that she used to sing with the Peppers. She finds Dylan's songs exert a continuing fascination: 'His composing is so good that you can keep revisiting the songs, making something quite different out of them each time.”

Robbie says that when he first heard Dylan's music in 1964 his 'whole world turned upside down.” That influence has lasted: 'Even now I get inspiration and immense musical satisfaction out of playing Bob Dylan's songs” he says.

Kokomo are also getting ready. Their drummer Ian 'Beano” Gilpin is currently on tour in the UK with his 'other” band Brilleaux. On his returns Kokomo head to the Bay of Islands Jazz & Blues Festival and then back for the Bob Dylan concert.

'We're really looking forward to bringing a little Bob to Tauranga,” says Derek. 'Even if you're going up to Auckland the following week, come and get a little appetiser here – on the bright side our show cost about a tenth on Bob's!”

The Songs of Bob Dylan concert takes place on Saturday 18 August at Tauranga Boys' College. Being at a school it will be an alcohol free concert, though there will be soft drinks available. Tickets are $24.95, currently selling fast on Eventfinda.