He’s playing at the Paramount Theater in Oakland on March 14th, 15th and 16th at 7:oo PM. I’ve missed him for 65 years, and since he’s 64 or 65 years old too, I want to see him before one of us dies.
My SO and I went to tower records to get tickets. They went on sale at 10:00 AM. We were there, waiting for the doors to open, at 9:30. We were fourth in line. Not too bad, I thought, with any luck we can get Front Orchestra seats.
The doors opened. The first guy in line got his ticket. The second guy gave the computer operator his info and…their computer went down and stopped printing tickets. We waited and waited and I finally asked the computer guy if there were any other TicketMaster outlets in the area. Yes, he said, at the Sunvalley mall. I told Barb,“Screw it, this stupid machine might be down all day.” So we sped to the mall, only to find that the store didn’t open until 11:00. We waited. Then one of the women that had fled Tower Records with us got a call on her cell phone from her daughter who had stayed at Tower Records saying that their computer was back up. Mass exodus back to original store. I was 5th or 6th in line this time with no idea whether or not the venue was sold out.
They hadn’t! So we got our tickets finally, and they are in the Orchestra section, albeit the Rear Orchestra.
So if Bobbie or I don’t die before the 15th of March, I’ll finally get to see the legend, time-worn though he be.
Well, I’m going to give this lonesome thread a bump and a grind and a lap dance and a blow job and…so forth.
I can’t believe no one else is going to see Dylan. I remember old threads about him, and there were many rabid fans who raved about him. Some people intensely disliked him too, mainly because his voice grated on them or they didn’t understand his lyrics. But I always liked his voice and if I didn’t understand some of the lyrics, that was alright with me. I would just make up my own meanings, and they would change every time, giving my brain something to do. Sort of like a Jackson Pollock painting. I like good abstract stuff.
I’ve been to two Dylan concerts, but those were way back in the late '70s and early '80s (just before his Bible-thumping period began and just after it ended, fortunately): the Street Legal tour and the Shot of Love tour. IMHO, Street Legal was the bottom of a temporary artistic slump for the Zimster. Shot of Love was one of his few good efforts that came out in the '80s.
I passed on the chance to see him again a few years ago, because I’m waiting for him to lose that damn mustache.
I think I got the dental torture night.
It was a pleasant summer night, an outdoor concert, so that was okay.
His band was tight.
But the man had no stage presence. Zero.
I didn’t really expect him to interact with the audience. But Dylan did not say more than three words the entire time. Concert tickets aren’t cheap these days (unlike the 70’s!) and I will enjoy my Dylan CDs and vinyl and buy tickets for other bands that might like a bit of relationship with the audience.
One thing that I appreciate hearing about recent Dylan concerts:
He has been playing a Warren Zevon song or two. That’s cool.
Pah you got off light - my worst Dylan moment was the Fleadh in London.
He played all his songs to the tune of another, refused to play anything that anyone had ever heard of and sang like an overworked hoover. And it rained all through the set. (BTW he NEVER says anything to the audience). He has no taken to playing the piano badly instead of a guitar badly.
If you get him when he’s on form he’s great, it’s just a bit hit and miss.
When I saw Dylan in 1981, he actually talked to the audience. It was in Nashville, so he talked about the time he’d been brought to Nashville to record an album. He said if you went out on the street with long hair they’d chase you. So he stayed in his hotel room and wrote this song. Then he launched into “Ballad of a Thin Man.”
After the concert we went back to our hotel room and the next morning, Sunday morning, turned on the TV. Who did we see but Bob Jones of Bob Jones University. Preaching how “fear” was the greatest of traditional family values. Ugh! Was this the “Mr. Jones” he saw in his Nashville hotel room?
Chronologically, it doesn’t add up. The album he recorded in Nashville was Blonde on Blonde, made in late 1965, early 1966. But “Ballad of a Thin Man” was recorded before his trip to Nashville to record in the studio there. Could he have mixed up two different Nashville trips? (“Mixed Up Confusion,” yeah right.) Anyway, I just told you that to say that once in a while he actually does talk to the audience. Maybe not so much these days as compared with formerly.
Well, it looks like no other Dopers are going. I don’t know where I’ll be sitting except it’ll be somewhere in the rear orchestra section. The seating chart they give online is too small for me to read. We’ll just have to ask an usher, I guess. I’m hoping Bob will be having a good day that Tuesday.
I saw him a couple months ago in upstate New York. Even though I’m a fan of his music, I didn’t expect much going in. I was pleasantly surprised: a good time for sure. Many of the songs were old standbys but they were rearranged quite well. He’s not the most charismatic performer ever but it was fun seeing the ole mummy sway around and croak out quality ballads.