One extremely lucky fan saw the show of a lifetime Sunday (Nov. 23) when Bob Dylan played a special gig for the sole audience member. Fredrik Wikingsson watched the iconic songwriter perform a handful of covers, including Buddy Holly's "Heartbeat" and Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill," at Philadelphia's Academy of Music. The show was filmed as part of a Swedish series Experiment Ensam (Experiment Alone), which films one person experiencing events usually reserved for large crowds, Rolling Stone reports.
"I was smiling so much it was like I was on ecstasy," Wikingsson said. "My jaw hurt for hours afterwards because I couldn't stop smiling." Anders Helgeson, director of the series, is friends with Wikingsson, who had to prove his love of Dylan to score the lone ticket.
"I had an endless series of meetings where I managed to convince people my extreme fandom made me the best candidate for the enviable task," he said, adding that it wasn't easy since he's generally a passive person.
It was difficult to be in a crowd of one, though. Wikingsson tried to give the songwriter an atmosphere he was use to, which provided a nice laugh.
"Nobody took notice of me," he said. "I figured that maybe it just sounded phony or weird. During the second song, 'Blueberry Hill,' I realized I had to say something. It was just too weird. I screamed out, 'You guys sound great!' That caused Dylan to burst out laughing."
"Now, I have two kids and their births were great, but him laughing onstage at some lousy f**king comment of mine was unbelievable," he added.
Wikingsson's experience will be available to view on YouTube Dec. 15.
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