Bob Dylan at Vieilles Charrues

This weekend saw the Vieilles Charrues festival taking place in Brittany, one of France's premier music festivals.

The event was headlined by The Cure on Friday night, Sting on Saturday and Bob Dylan on Sunday. Also on the bill were Portishead, LMFAO, Gossip, garbage, Kasabian and Santigold, and there was also a huge number of some of the best current French acts, including Justice, M83, Martin Solveig, Zebda, Amadou &; Mariam, Thomas Dutronc, and many, many others.

In short, it's a big deal. but reviews of Bob Dylan's set were what could politely be called 'mixed.'

I've seen Dylan quite a few times, even in France, and yes he has disappointed at times, but also has staged one of the finest shows I've ever seen.

Despite being a huge fan, I've passed on buying tickets for shows in the past on account of uncertainty over whether or not he'll be any good.

 Professional photographers were also banned from taking pics of Dylan, which certainly upset many of the media, although I seem to remember that this is something that Dylan always does. I've even seen security staff at his concerts on the lookout for members of the audience taking pictures.

Also, there were complaints about the set, that didn't play all the hits and performed some of his less well known more recent numbers. And there was no encore, no audience interaction.

 But I have some sympathy for Dylan. He's been performing for decades, and I reckon these days - and for the last decade or two - he's been playing for his own enjoyment as much as for the audience's.

He doesn't play the media game because he's in a pretty unique position because he doesn't have to if he doesn't want to. He's under no pressure to sell records or tickets, after all.

He could have put his feet up decades ago.

The media don't like an artist that doesn't do what they want, and to a certain extent the same applies to an audience. He doesn't play the same set night after night because he's still a living artist rather than a museum piece, and besides, he'll never please everyone with a back catalogue as large as his.

 As a performer he still takes risks, and while this doesn't always pay off, when it does the rewards are great indeed.

 Next year's festival will be held on July 18 - 21, and the organisers say that securing an appearance by Radiohead is one of their priorities. Hopefully they'll leave the audience a bit happier.