Anybody here gonna go see Dylan at Cynthia Mitchell Woods on August 2nd. Also Willie Nelson and John Cougar Mellencamp ( I dont care for the cougar personally) However, I am pretty excited about seeing Bob, even though he is getting up there in age and does not play a lot of guitar during sets anymore. Im just hoping for "Not Dark yet" as the sun goes down on a beautiful Texas night.
Saw Dylan about 7 years ago when he toured Aust.. just gets up there and goes about his business, no small talk from Bob.. Still a concert experience i will never forget..
I've seen him about 50 times since the late 80s - all over the country. Gotta warn you, his live show the last couple decades is an acquired taste. When I first saw him he was doing 3-4 songs acoustic with one guitar player backing him (in addition to his electric set) and he sang those very sweetly and clearly. These days he plays keyboards on all but one song max and he's turned pretty low in the mix. And his singing voice is down to about a six note range of mumbles. He's also reworked each of his songs so they're pretty unrecognizable. I know every word to every song but it sometimes takes me a whole verse to know what he's playing. That said, I still love to be in the same room with him, hear the new arrangements and do the detective work to figure out what the hell he's singing. Even in his extremely diminished capacity, he still gives pretty much my favorite concert. And Willie's always great live. I'm still deciding if I'm gonna make this one though. I've got surgery on Thursday and will probably still be in a wheelchair for the most part on Aug. 2. I usually rush the stage, but if I make it this time I'm staying up on the hill.
Great request in "Not Dark Yet," by the way. He plays his more recent songs (from Time Out of Mind on) with more care than the old chestnuts. Based on setlists of the last several years, I'd say you've got about a 5% chance of hearing that one -- which is better odds than I'd give for most of his catalogue. At least it's still in the rotation. I think it would be fun to hear him play "If You Ever Go To Houston." He wrapped the European tour about two weeks after the new record came out and that's the only song he's played off of it, so I think it's got a pretty good chance. Especially in Houston.
He plays a lot of the classics. He just has a bunch of them, that's all. His touring band is incredible. He's a nice guitar player, too. I have never thought that being in Houston in August would be something I want to do again, but a show like this is tempting. John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson are nice live performers, too.
I've had a few experiences with Bob and Willie in the last few years, the summer baseball stadium tour was a personal favorite, they played Yale Field and Montclair University... Seeing a Dylan show recently, I described it to a friend as Bob Dylan doing Bob Dylan covers. His whole style overall has been with the band from the last three or four albums, and he manages to arrange all of his songs to fit that style, kind of a swing/country thing he's been doing. I haven't heard much of his new album, Together Through Life, but I'm sure it fits that same pattern. Seeing him play his harmonica live, for me, was an amazing experience in itself and he still knows how to deliver an amazing show, with plenty of old school gems.
Oh Yesth! July 18th at the site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival in Bethel, New York http://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/
I went to the Lubbock tour stop on Saturday, and it was pretty awesome. Didn't think I'd get to see Dylan or Nelson in my lifetime, and seeing both in one night was a truly awesome experience. Dylan needs to come with subtitles though, maybe something like this. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2-xIulyVsG8&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2-xIulyVsG8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I would have gone to this if I'd known about it. I saw him once when I was first getting into Dylan, about 10 years ago I guess (12-13). I didn't know any of the songs he was playing until the end when he played Lay Lady Lay, which got quite the reaction from the crowd. Looking back on it, I'm really, really glad I was able to go, even if I had no idea what he was playing.
