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The Bob Dylan Concert for Just One Person
An interview with Fredrik Wikingsson, the subject of 'Experiment Ensam'
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Eleven years ago today, a Finnish online gaming company posted a 14-minute video that blew the minds of Bob Dylan fans across the globe. It depicted one of the most unusual performances of Dylan’s career, which had occurred just a few weeks prior. On stage in a beautiful old theater, Bob and his band performed for exactly one person. You can see that person sitting there in the photo up top. The rest of the theater was entirely empty.
How did this happen, that Bob Dylan gave a concert for just one guy? And what was this experience like for that guy? I wanted to find out.
That person was Fredrik Wikingsson, a prominent TV host in Sweden. The video was part of a series called Experiment Ensam, which translates to Experiment Alone. The idea was to explore what happened when a single person did an activity typically meant for a group: Karaoke, stand-up comedy, and, in this case, attending a Bob Dylan concert. Have you ever gotten annoyed at people around you at a Dylan concert and wished they weren’t there? For Wikingsson, they weren’t.
Not only that, but Dylan did not perform his usual fare. Instead, he performed four 1950s covers, several of which he’s never sung before or since: Buddy Holly’s “Heartbeat,” Fats Domino’s “Blueberry Hill,” Lefty Frizzell’s “You’re Too Late,” and Big Bill Broonzy’s “Key to the Highway.”
I interviewed Wikingsson about his surreal experience having Dylan sing for only him. That’s below. On Monday, I’ll share a part two with the series’ director, who shares some behind-the-scenes info on how it came together, including an unexpected meeting with Bob himself. That one will go only to paid subscribers. Sign up if you want to read it:
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