Monday night, I went to Madison Square Garden to see the man himself, Bob Dylan, in concert. It was awesome. Bob was backed by a kick ass four piece band, came on at 8 and left just before 10:45. No video screens. No pyrotechnics. No special effects. So many times these days live concerts use smoke and mirrors to hide the weaknesses of the artists and their songs. It was refreshing to be at a concert that was *just* about the music. A good ol'fashioned concert, the type of which you dont often see these days. Bob played a variety of old and new songs, including some from his terrific new "Love and Theft" album. There were some great moments. Such as Bob doing long harmonica solos during "Just like a Woman" and "Don't Think Twice (Its alright), where Bob is playing harmonica and the crowd is singing along. Bob's reworked some of his songs over the years. "It Ain't Me Babe" was originally an angry song, but he now sings it full of sadness and remorse. On the other hand, when he sang "Tangled up in Blue", it was now angry and defiant, as if that song-- written about the breakup of his first marriage-- was about something much more recent. Other songs seemed really appropriate for the setting and the times we are in-- particularly a beautiful "A Hard Rain's A-gonna Fall" and during the encore, Bob came out with the acoustic guitar and did "Blowin in the Wind". Moments like those you really savor, particularly as this was in new york, and he said "nobody has to ask me how I feel about this town", as he noted most of the songs he played on the show were written and recorded there. Then he did "Just like Tom Thumb's Blues", and the crowd popped for the last line of the song, "I'm going back to New York City, I do believe I've had enough" There were other great moments, like at the end of the set (but before encores) when he did "Rainy Day Women", which his band really got into, and had the crowd chanting, "everybody must get stoned..." Bob did a long encore set, featuring a beatiful "Forever Young", and a great "Like a Rolling Stone". During that, Bob would sing the lyrics and the crowd would join in as he did the famous chorus "How does it feel..." Then he did a loud, extended version of "All Along the Watchtower" What is striking is at this show, where Dylan did some songs he wrote forty years ago, is that the songs are as relevant today as when they were written. That is the gift of a master songwriter. It also bears mentioning that Dylan sang as many new songs as old, terrific new ones like "Lonesome Day Blues" And he continually reworks his old ones, not the words but the tone, the style. That is what makes Bob Dylan continually relevant and cutting edge, whereas so many of his contemporaries (those that are still performing) end up out on the casino circuit as basically parodies of themselves. It was also striking in that the night before I had watched some of the Brittany Spears concert on HBO. Ninety minute show where she's offstage half the time doing costume changes and killing time, and the other half she's lip synching. Compare that with Dylan, a sixty year old man who comes out with a four piece band, no opening act, and kicks butt for two and a half hours, never leaving the stage or using visuals or special effects of any kind. Also very little small talk with the audience, just letting his music do the talking. Definetly a concert to be remembered.3 responses total.
Sounds like you enjoyed yourself. I went to hear Dylan in concert at Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor about ten years ago and had a very different experience. The performance was so bad and the sound so awful that my friend and I walked out after about forty minutes, preferring to spend the rest of the evening walking around campus and talking rather than finish out the concert. Dylan's had a long and somewhat uneven career by nearly any measure. I'm glad you caught him at a relative high point..
Really. Nice read about a good show.
I remember so many concerts in AA that were
ruined by bad sound.
I hope I wasn't in charge of any of them...
You have several choices: