Dylan

As street cred for calling yourself a fan of an artist goes, my dad has more than most regarding Bob Dylan (my name is Dylan, after all). But, it surprised me a bit to find out that, of all the concerts my dad had been to over the years, he'd never seen Dylan live.

So, when he asked me if I wanted to come up to Kansas City and see if Bob Dylan was still freewheelin' after all these years (as part of my attempt to see one concert a month this year) I was very, very excited to accept.

First let's talk about the venue: The Starlight Theater. Everytime I go to any kind of an event in another state, it always reminds me of just how much Dallas gets it wrong. I went to a baseball game at Jacob's Field in Cleveland and despite how nice The Ballpark in Arlington is, the nestled-in-downtown-walk-from-work-to-the-ballgame Jake is pretty spectacular. Likewise, the Starlight theater is the nicest outdoor amphitheater I've seen. What a great venue with an amazing comfortable feel and great sound. The only bad thing was some of our fellow concert-goers (especially one guy) who walked in front of us, making us stand up from our seats a minimum of 20 times during the show... that got annoying.

While we're on the subject, it was pretty interesting to see the cross-section of people that a guy like Bob Dylan brings out. There were certainly people who hadn't yet quite left the 60's behind (Pachuli was a player) but there was also the KU student who was just as into it. It was a setting where you just wouldn't surprised to see a father and his 28 year old son sitting next to each other.

As we were driving in, I asked my dad to pick one song that he'd want to hear. He thought about it (it's fun when I can genuinely stump my dad for a few minutes) and after a bit he said Just Like a Woman. I told him that mine would be Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again. So, it was kind of a nice moment when, halfway through the set he played Just Like a Woman and then immediately followed it up with Stuck inside of Mobile. We couldn't have done that if we'd tried. I can't explain how cool a moment that was.

Here's a surprise from the show: Dylan played guitar for only two songs. He started with a newer song that I didn't recognize, followed it up with Lay Lady Lay after which he put the guitar down and stepped over to the keyboard where he would remain the rest of the night.

Here's an unsurprise from the show: Bob Dylan can't sing. Not that he ever could, but I don't really have to be too much of a salesman to say that his voice has always "worked" for his music. These days, though, he can't even hold a note. The result was they took most of his songs and uptempo'd them a bit so he wouldn't have to hold any notes out. There was rarely anything resembling a melody, merely one note at the end of each line that would raise a bit after he growled out the previous words ("ComeinletmegiveyoushelterfromtheSTORM").

That's not to say that the music wasn't great, because it really, really was. The band was really great. They alternated between folk-rock to country sounds for most of the show, but when they kicked it into gear they were really very good. Songs like Highway 66 Revisited, Ballad of a Thin Man (which was the highlight of the night for me) and All Along the Watchtower (which they ended on, despite the plaintive wails of a guy two rows behind us who REALLY wanted to hear Forever Young -- The Last Waltz has been on cable a lot lately) absolutely rocked.

I wish I had some grand theme to tie this all together, like the merging of generations united around a common symbol or the former most relevant artist in a generation still able to speak to this generation. There isn't one. I mean, he's doing what he's does. He's a musician and he tours every year making money playing music. He charges $30-$40 bucks for a tee-shirt just like everyone else in the business. That wasn't disappointing at all -- I certainly expected it -- it's just the reality. He's commercial and has been for some time. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

But I was there. I saw Bob Dylan. And I saw him with my Dad, who was seeing him for the first time. In what could very easily be termed as a role-reversal, it was very cool to watch the show through his eyes. He was seeing this musician who he thought so much of growing up that he named his first born son after him. More than that, he was seeing him for the first time with that son. I'm really glad that I got to be there with him for it. It's a memory that I'll never forget.

And, he played the two songs we both wanted to hear. How cool is that?