Bob Dylan played a concert for just one person at Philadelphia's Academy Of Music. The special show took place as part of a Swedish film series called Experiment Alone. The concert video called "The Lonely Meeting" and exclusive imagery has been released today for the Swedish audiences only.
On November 23, the iconic singer-songwriter Pop Dylan performed for 'superfan' Fredrik Wikingsson, who was sat alone in the second row of the venue. The gig took place as part of a Swedish film series called Experiment Ensam (Experiment Alone), in which one person is able to take part in an experience normally only open to large groups of people – such as comedy clubs and karaoke nights
For Wikingsson, as a die-hard Dylan fan, it sounded too good to be true. After 25 years of worshipping his idol and having been to more than 20 concerts around the world, the dream of going to a concert just for Fredrik was going to become reality, for the first time ever, and probably the last.
"It is making me totally crazy. One hour does not go by without thinking about how it is going to feel to sit alone and experience this. Surreal to say the least," said Fredrik Wikingsson himself about how he felt before the upcoming experience.
Three years ago Wikingsson wrote an article in the Swedish newspaper "Dagens Nyheter" about his "Dylanology" that he also calls a disease that constantly demands more, and how it has influenced him and his family and friends.
Dylan performed with his band, playing covers Buddy Holly's 'Heartbeat' as well as Fats Dominos 'Blueberry Hill' and Chuck Wills' 'It's Too Late (She's Gone)'. Wikingsson said of the show: "I was smiling so much it was like I was on ecstasy. My jaw hurt for hours afterwards because I couldn't stop smiling."
"Experiment Alone" is an entertainment series for the web where a number of experiments are made with activities that we usually do with others. Through the series of these experiments, the boundaries of loneliness are tested in different situations. Paf, the gaming company behind the experiments, lives by the motto "The more the merrier". This motto was put to test in "Experiment Alone"-series. In the final episode Fredrik Wikingsson conducts the last experiment by himself.
"I feel so unbelievably privileged and happy that I got to experience this. The fact that it is being made into a film is of course a magnificent bonus since I felt pretty alone sitting there all by my self and there is a risk that I am going to show the film to people in bars for the rest of my life." said Wikingsson after the concert.
"Loneliness" is a subject that interests Swedes. Kungsholmen, a community in Stockholm, is one of the world's loneliest islands with 80% of households being single.
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