Bob Dylan remembered as ‘rude’ during 1975 Niagara Falls visit

When American legendary musician Bob Dylan set off on his iconic Rolling Thunder Revue concert run in 1975-76, Niagara Falls was one of the stops.

However, it wasn’t the Canadian one but rather on the American side in the city’s 10,000-seat Niagara Falls Convention Center, later demolished in 2002.

Dylan would make four Canadian stops – Quebec City, Montreal and two in Toronto – but while he was in the American Niagara Falls for his November 15 show, the musician popped over to the Canadian side for a little sight-seeing.

When David Adams, the administrator behind the “Niagara History and Trivia” page on Facebook, posted a picture of the dour-looking troubadour at the falls on the page, it caused one poster to note quite humourously, “Bob always looks like someone pissed in his cornflakes.”

Turns out Dylan was on the Canadian side to visit the Behind The Falls attraction and one of the workers that day was quick to confirm the musician could be a little less than cheerful.

She posted, “I was working at the tunnels when his crew showed up. Dylan was so rude to everyone. From that day forward, I couldn’t stand him. True story.”

Director Martin Scorsese’s Rolling Thunder Revue, left, released in 2019. To the right, a picture of Bob Dylan visiting our Niagara Falls during his November 15, 1975 stop in Niagara Falls, NY.

That said, the Rolling Thunder Revue tour was a seminal event in rock history. Dylan, now a huge star, created the tour to play in smaller auditoriums in less populated cities where he could be more intimate with his audiences. So, artistic temperament aside, at least it was noble in its purpose.

Dylan’s supporting cast was stellar, too, as Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn, Joni Mitchell, Ronee Blakely and Ramblin’ Jack Elliot all took part in some or all of the 25 concerts during the tour.

In June 2019, legendary director Martin Scorsese took hundreds of hours of footage from the shows and pieced together the documentary “Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese.”

Shown on Netflix, the station said the film “captures the troubled spirit of America in 1975 and the joyous music that Dylan performed during the fall of that year. Part documentary, part concert film, part fever dream, ‘Rolling Thunder’ is a one of a kind experience, from master filmmaker Martin Scorsese.”