Why do you go see Dylan in concert at this point?

I don't envision me attending anymore Dylan concerts. I have SACDs of his to remember how he sounded and connected with me with his songs when we were both younger.

 

I've seen him at the baseball stadium in Pawtucket, R.I. a couple of times and he always has a great band. You go to see him because it's Dylan and you don't know what's going to happen. I've seen Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor too in their 80's and as Edmund O'Brien said in The Wild Bunch 'It's not the same, but it'll do'. Or words to that effect. Had never seen Mavis Staples before and I went to see her in Rockport this winter. What a trouper. She got it on even with bronchitis. A great show? Absolutely not. But as my partner said 'I guess we should have seen her 30 years ago'.

 

Given his static setlist of late, I'm not sure I agree.

 

The nice part about life is you probably don't have to go see Dylan if you don't want to. You probably don't have to see anybody if you don't want to.

 

I'm strictly in it for the sushi and sex.

 

Well those are two things Dylan did not perform when I saw him.

 

"So do you think anyone that comes to see me, is coming for any other reason besides entertainment, really?" - Bob Dylan (from the movie "Don't Look Back")

 

Cos' I could not afford it before now , bringing up kids ,putting them through college ect....not all of us baby boomers were drug addled hedonists [ I will admit that I could have done with some hedonism
on occasion !!]
Since the kids have gone I have ticked a few boxes as far as artists are concerned but Dylan still remains a target.

 

What a great attitude to have! you and wife must be a wonderful pair . Looks like you get to see him in a beautiful venue in what should be a wonderful point of the tour. I cannot wait to hear how great it is. be sure to check the current tour thread to stay abreast!

 

forgive me but I have no idea what you mean.

 

what an utter load of crap

 

I've seen Bob 21 times now...he puts on a great show....

the only caveat is don't go expecting to hear him sound like he did in the 1960s or 70s... expect the guy who has been putting out great records since 1997...yeah, like the last 20 years.... is that so unreasonable?

as far as the band...to call charlie sexton boring? donnie freeman who is a master multi instrumentalist? or george recile who none other than Keith Richards lauds in his autobiography as boring? Tony Garnier who started out with Asleep at the Wheel and has been with Bob going on 30 years and his defacto band leader and will play killer stand up bass on a few tunes...

i mean really..the ******** you read on here... people complaining about a bad show in 1988????

and his voice.....I happen to think it sounds pretty good... if you don't like it on the records like Tempest well you probably shouldn't go! no **** sherlock

 

its just so funny..people over and over again putting bob and his live show down.. meanwhile he's i think 74 and he keeps playing everywhere all the time... as he has been doing since the late 1980s... and we are supposed to think its just crap??? its been crap for nearly 40 years and yet people continue to go?

let me tell you, they are not all first timers being tricked to see the great master! there are a lot of those but there also a lot of us who think he's putting on a pretty damn good show and we keep going.....but apparently everybody that goes , all over the world, year after is an idiot seeing a crappy show and word somehow never spreads...word never gets out cause people keep going! its really bizzare...i mean how bad can it be if he's been able to tour at a really heavy clip for nearly 40 years! come on now!

people should just say "its just not my bag"....fine its not your bag move on

 

my guess as to why all the naysaying: people are insecure in their view...secretly they think "you know what, maybe I JUST DON"T GET IT.. I DON'T GET BOB DYLAN LIVE...oh no cause imagine if its good but i'm not getting it!"

so they feel compelled to shout to the three winds that it sucks and try desperately to convince everyone else- even before they go to their first show! (such poor form btw)- that indeed it does suck

i remember the first time i saw bob ...1996... i had spent years hearing he was crap... i went driving all the way to south bend fearing he would die like jerry and it blew me away...it was AWESOME.. a friend of mine had told me she had seen him in the early 90s (a bad patch for bob) and he had been awful...i took her to see him in 97 in waltham....during don't think twice she had tears in her eyes..it was that good and she was that moved... don't believe the naysayers..

 

I saw him for the first time ever in Hong Kong in 2011 or 2010...his voice was a force of nature, his band was loud and awesome and he played harmonica, rhythm guitar and some tasty lick work...and played piano. They played about 16 songs...a great collection of hits and modern classics. It was an epic experience.

 

I think the problem is, that for Dylan concerts there are rules that stand in contrast to most other shows. That's why people going there with "normal" expectations will be disappointed.
"Normal expectations" include an artist visibly enjoying himself on stage - and also say "Hello" to the audience.
I've seen him twice and out of curiosity I read a fan forum about the shows that I found quite peculiar. And I was amused to read those comments. On one of the shows I saw, his Bobness had said "thank you" after one song, which seemed like a sensation in the Dylan world....

So it's a world of it's own, if you are in it, you will enjoy it. If not, it's better to stay away.

 

finally stated with the fire and attitude the topic deserves. Not far from when and where I began seeing him as well -
about a year earlier and 50 miles west, in a little town called Merrillville. Luckily there was a Chef at the country club that I worked at as a Lifeguard who kept telling me all summer long - he's on an upswing now, with a great band, it's a good time to see him. I was having my own bobexistential crisis after listening to World Gone Wrong trying to crack the shell,
which didn't happen until after that album when to CD exchange and I re-bought it again about 15 years later. it's one of my favorites now. I think he had the momentum of Woodstock '94 around that time too, so he was pretty foxy. Now, he's got the momentum created by the vacuum of musiclessness that is showcased in the grammy's every year.

the man is one of the most sincere and hardest working musicians on the stage. the sweat pours down his nose every time.

 

the thing is, it's not a world on it's own - Dylan is often only the gateway drug into that world of longstanding tradition where musicians are into each other on the stage and thus able to deliver something more interesting to the audience. King Crimson takes on this persona,
and thousands of blues acts.

and right now he's very interactive from physical standpoint actually.
most of the interaction has to do with the brim of his hat though.

 

I am not going to bother to explain. Either you get it or you don't.

 

From the first times I heard Dylan as a teen I loved his voice. You either do or you don't - I long ago stopped trying to convince anyone about it, despite long hours trying I've never seen it work.

 

Right. People listen to Dylan - and they get it. And if they don't - don't bother. Dylan does not need to be explained, he needs to be listened to.

 

I'm a lifelong Dylan fan, but I honestly don't think it's as simple as that.

I've heard some stuff in the last 10 or so years that, quite frankly, was difficult to listen to.

 

Sure, that's the conventional wisdom, but in point of fact Pete Townshend held me at gunpoint and made me buy two tickets to the last Quadrophenia tour, a show I only partially enjoyed.

True story.

 

just what I'd expect from the writer of the original post, smug and condescending. Usually the refuge of people who have nothing to say.
Maybe you're not in that group. ...........But then, how would I know that, since you've said nothing.

 

Then you are not the kind of person, I was talking about. It is not about liking everything. I don't like his most recent records. I don't like everything he does, not even all concerts. But I am not going to explain Dylan to people. If you need convincing, ask someone else.