I've been looking forward to this weekend for a long time. We're hopping in ol' maxxine & heading down to Indianapolis early tomorrow morning to see Dan & Jill. Dan & I are going to the Bob Dylan concert tomorrow night & Christie & Jill are going to do anything but go to the Bob Dylan concert. I think they have both sworn off following us two idiots to these things. I'm going through my memory to try & think of all the concerts Dan & I have been to, here's what I've come up with. I hope I'm not forgetting anything.
Elana James & the Texas Two
Jimmy Vaughan
The Decemberists
Alejandro Escovedo
Wilco
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Bob Dylan in 2005, twice in 2006 & now 2008
This marks my 15th Bob Dylan concert since 2000. My first concert was in July of 2000, I went with a friend of mine whom I haven't spoke to in years. Now I know what most of you are going to say. Obsessed much? Haven't you heard all of the songs by now? Isn't he dead? I've heard it all. There's not much I can say in response to these things, I figure you either get it or you don't. The way I look at it is, if Shakespeare came to your town every year or so to share one of his plays with you, wouldn't you want to hear it? But then again, Shakespeare probably wasn't even Shakespeare before he was dead & gone.
I have to say, though, that my expectations of these shows have waned throughout the years. Half of the reason is because the excitement isn't quite what it once was when it was new & also because I don't believe the performances are as good as when I first started going. See for yourself if you like.
Bob Dylan in 2000....
Bob Dylan in 2008
These days, I hope for a couple of songs I haven't seen before & I always look for that one moment when the spontaneity of the music meets up with the excitement I bring to hearing the music for the first time. A live performance is a two way street, the person up on stage is only half of it, the crowd feeds off the performer & the performer feeds off the crowd. In this respect, Dylan never lets me down as a performer. He never sings a song the same way twice, sometime it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you know he's always trying to create that moment of magic that has never been seen before. When he's on, the magic lasts the whole show, other times you only see it during one song or even one lyric line.
We've got eighth row seats tomorrow, so this will be the closest I've been in a long time. We'll see how it goes.
In other news, one of my best pals Katie turns 30 tomorrow. Katie's one of those friends that you want to have around whenever something good or something bad happens. She'll stick by you through anything. It's hard to imagine that I've known her for only ten years now, it seems like we've been friends all our lives, & that's a good thing.
Five Favorite Songs of the Day
Gates of Eden-Bob Dylan, Rochester 2000
Blue is the Color of a Lonely Heart-The Old '97s
Ashes of American Flags-Wilco, Kicking Television
You Turn Me on I'm a Radio-Joni Mitchell, Miles of Aisles
I Wish I was a Mole in the Ground-Bascam Lunsford, Anthology of American Folk Music
A Long December-The Counting Crows, Recovering the Satellites
Happy Friday, friends
andrew
4 comments:
I hope you enjoyed the concert. Happy Birthday to Katie. If I had known it was her birthday I would have sung to her when I saw her in the Eddie Bauer store on Wednesday!
You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio ? That's a Joni Mitchell tune I do not recall. I'm picturing your mom singing in the Eddie Bauer store.
Here's to Mr. Dylan's magic.
Comment capability was denied for your Tuesday post regarding the Dylan concert. It was such an inspiring review that I went out to the garage and found my Modern Times CD in the truck. Thanks.
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