Dylan on tour again

muncybob

I'm wondering if going to see him will disappoint me again. Apprx 20 yrs ago he came to town and was simply awful. He looked ragged, appeared to be dressed in clothes that he has slept in for a week and if it weren't for the band I would have had a hard time knowing what song he was "singing" as he mumbled all through the concert. I read that this was a "fill in" date on a very demanding tour schedule which kinda explains things a bit, but man we were pissed!

Anybody seem him in the last several years? Maybe he's cleaned up his act?

pitdogg2

YEA I'm sure he'll be MUCH better this time...........NOT !

Toolfan66

Bob Dylan, and Neil Young, very few songs I like, their vocals wear on me, but they write great lyrics..

motorhead43026

A Complete Unknown the Dylan movie is fabulous, IMHO.

This movie for me was very emotional, just for the fact of what was and will never be again. Dylan is an absolute genius.

Toolfan66

motorhead43026 wrote: »

A Complete Unknown the Dylan movie is fabulous, IMHO.

This movie for me was very emotional, just for the fact of what was and will never be again. Dylan is an absolute genius.

I do want to see the movie.

My dad passed away when I was only two. The day my sister was born, he was in an accident on his way home, was in a coma, died 7 days later, so I never knew him, my family has told me through the years that he was a huge Dylan fan.

I have tried to like his music many times for this reason alone, and I own a few of his albums as well, it just never clicked for me..

Toolfan66

muncybob

If nothing else, read some of his early lyrics. Maybe because I was just getting into music then, but some of his writings are timeless imho.

Toolfan66

muncybob wrote: »

If nothing else, read some of his early lyrics. Maybe because I was just getting into music then, but some of his writings are timeless imho.

I agree, his lyrics are great, not taking away his song writing..

muncybob

My brother-in-law and I decided to give him another chance, picked up 2 tix today before it sold out. Hoping it's a much better experience than the last time we saw him in '91.

mhardy6647

Dylan is (in)famously mercurial, for lack of a better word, as a live presence.

On the the other hand, Van Morrison is notoriously surly live, but a couple of good friends of ours saw him in Boston a few years ago and said he was great. Morrison does have a soft spot of sorts for the Hub of the Universe.

TroyD

TLW and I saw Bob Dylan a couple years ago.....and he SUCKED. I'm not sure it was an actual live concert. He sat behind an upright piano so you couldn't see him......he would poke his head out between songs from time to time but that's it. Couldn't understand a WORD.....AND he played nothing from his back catalog, just a straight recitation of his latest album.

I wouldn't walk across the street if he was playing for free in my neighbors yard.

dromunds

I’ve seen Dylan many, many times. If you want to know what he plays go to Expecting Rain and they have set lists going back forever. There are also plenty of videos. If you go to see him expecting to see him play songs just like the record you will be disappointed. He never plays the songs like the record. He re-invents his songs constantly. If you don’t recognize his songs at a show then you have come with expectations. Or you haven’t done your homework. He’s not going to be a human jukebox for you. “Here we are now, entertain us” doesn’t work with him. In his last tour, he played almost the entirety of his newest album, “Rough & Rowdy Ways.” If you didn’t know he had such an album you would have been disappointed at the show. If you haven’t heard his new music since the 90’s or before you will be disappointed. If you don’t have an open mind you will be disappointed. If you think he’s going to play stuff from the movie A Complete Unknown you will be disappointed. I’ve seen Dylan progress in his shows since the early 90’s to where he is now and it pays to be a fan that pays attention to where he’s at, not where he was at some arbitrary point in the past. He deserves your attention, not just showing up thinking he owes you something. If you want every song sounding the same as the record and the set lists the same since the early 90’s then the Stones would be a better choice. Some artists can play songs the same way every night for 50 years, others consider that a bit boring. Dylan is constantly reinventing himself. I’m not saying all this to start an argument, only to give you an answer to your initial question, as someone who has seen every tour for nearly forty years, and seen how his music and concerts have developed.

TroyD

Eh, different expectations and I’m not a Dylan devotee…..but, if you are charging a premium price, I don’t think it’s out of line to expect a decent performance.

Springsteen for example, his tours revolved around the current album, mixed in with past catalog….and, yes, does different interpretations of his songs. The thing I’ve always respected is that he puts on a great show and still communicates what he has to say.

You say tomatoes, I say tomahtoes…….but the show still sucked

dromunds

I’ve been to Dylan shows that I thought were great, then a week later I’d talk to someone who said they walked out of the show after three songs. I wondered if I was actually at the same show. If you pay a premium for a Dylan ticket and don’t make any effort whatsoever to assess what a Dylan show entails, then it turns into “here we are now, entertain us.” For over thirty years, I’ve been listening to people say they couldn’t recognize songs at Dylan concerts. Most of them had not listened to any new Dylan songs since the 1970’s, as if Dylan hadn’t put out any new music since Blood On The Tracks. Most had no idea that Dylan had a slew of new music. Most had never heard of Rough & Rowdy Ways, even though the last five years was billed as the Rough & Rowdy Ways tour and he basically played the same songs every night. If you don’t even take the time to look at his set lists or listen to videos of his recent concerts before going to the show, or even listen to the album that is the advertised subject of the tour, then it is not surprising that you will be disappointed. Dylan requires that you know a little bit about his music and I don’t blame him for that, like I said he’s not a human jukebox. I’m actually glad that I can go to a concert and watch an artist paint a portrait right in front of me.

muncybob

Dylan has been "reinventing" himself for years. I'm cool with that as long as the music is good and I can understand at least most of the lyrics. I doubt I'll stay long if it is anything like the last time I saw him. Really hope he plays some older stuff too.

dromunds

It will be hard to say what he’ll play until the tour begins in Tulsa on March 25. You should go to Expecting Rain then and check out the set lists as the tour begins, and they will also have videos posted daily from the shows, although the policy of putting phones in locked bags has reduced the videos substantially. My guess is he’ll still have some songs from Rough & Rowdy Ways but also some classics, although reimagined. For the most part his set lists won’t change that much from night to night, until he joins Willie Nelson and the others for the Outlaws Tour later in May. Then it’ll be a shorter set list due to the number of acts on the bill. And he tends to mix in more classics at the Outlaw shows.