Hoping for 'Good' Dylan
Tomorrow night I am going to see someone in concert that I have wanted to see for a long time - Bob Dylan. Now I am aware that this could be a bit of a sketchy proposition. I have been warned by no less a musical connoisseur than Holli that there's a good chance that this concert could suck. And I have heard and read reviews about people seeing him and being disappointed. I just can't resist the lure of seeing a 'living legend' in the flesh. This guy played at Woodstock fer cryin' out loud!!
I guess I would characterize myself as a casual fan. I have a greatest hits CD that I bought when I was in college. We used to think it was great fun to call up the local radio station every night during request hour and ask for 'Rainy Day Women #12 & 35'. My first exposure to 'Like a Rolling Stone' was actually the Jimi Hendrix version, but I love the Dylan version and I think it is a true classic. I think part of the problem with some people hating Dylan in concert is because in person he doesn't sound like these classic songs, and he hasn't for a long time. I'm certainly not expecting him to. Hell, my parents saw him in concert in 1972, and they were disappointed!
In 1997 Dylan released an album called 'Time Out of Mind' that is considered by many to be a modern day classic. It was produced by Daniel Lanois, who tends to have kind of an ambient sound (I loved his score for Sling Blade). I really love this album, it's kind of bittersweet, a man coming to terms with his own mortality. I don't know, to me it was amazing that an artist who has been around so long and was considered to be washed-up by so many people could produce music this affecting. In fact, typing this made me get up and get the CD so I could listen to 'Not Dark Yet'. He followed this album up with 'Love and Theft' , oddly enough released on September 11, 2001, which also got rave reviews. It was on tons of 'Best Of 2001' lists. I like this album too, and on the surface it's a little more upbeat than its predecessor. It gets an amazing metacritic score of 93!
So this is where I am coming from in wanting to see Dylan in concert. I've heard that he can be inconsistent, great one night and mediocre the next - I hope I see him on a good night! I'm trying to keep my expectations in check, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
I guess I would characterize myself as a casual fan. I have a greatest hits CD that I bought when I was in college. We used to think it was great fun to call up the local radio station every night during request hour and ask for 'Rainy Day Women #12 & 35'. My first exposure to 'Like a Rolling Stone' was actually the Jimi Hendrix version, but I love the Dylan version and I think it is a true classic. I think part of the problem with some people hating Dylan in concert is because in person he doesn't sound like these classic songs, and he hasn't for a long time. I'm certainly not expecting him to. Hell, my parents saw him in concert in 1972, and they were disappointed!
In 1997 Dylan released an album called 'Time Out of Mind' that is considered by many to be a modern day classic. It was produced by Daniel Lanois, who tends to have kind of an ambient sound (I loved his score for Sling Blade). I really love this album, it's kind of bittersweet, a man coming to terms with his own mortality. I don't know, to me it was amazing that an artist who has been around so long and was considered to be washed-up by so many people could produce music this affecting. In fact, typing this made me get up and get the CD so I could listen to 'Not Dark Yet'. He followed this album up with 'Love and Theft' , oddly enough released on September 11, 2001, which also got rave reviews. It was on tons of 'Best Of 2001' lists. I like this album too, and on the surface it's a little more upbeat than its predecessor. It gets an amazing metacritic score of 93!
So this is where I am coming from in wanting to see Dylan in concert. I've heard that he can be inconsistent, great one night and mediocre the next - I hope I see him on a good night! I'm trying to keep my expectations in check, but I'm cautiously optimistic.
Labels: Concerts
posted by JC at 12:42 PM
3 Comments:
Yeah, when I saw him.. he literally blew chunks. And it didn't help that he followed Tracy Chapman, who sang with nothing more than her guitar and she totally rocked.
But I'm with you - it's always good to get a living legend under the belt while you still can!! I'm just not down with doing it more than once.
I have the Slingblade score too and I love it.
Have fun tonight. I have the feeling it's going to be a great show.
I hope you have fun. I'm not a Dylan fan but then a lot of the late 60's/early 70's bands don't do it for me as this is the music my dad listened to. I like it but it's not my first choice. We have a whole section of our (I should really say my husband's) music collection that I don't care for.
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