2 posts tagged “bob dylan”

Reader advisory:  Cranky Old Man rant following.

Bob Dylan

I know that the title of this post might be contradictory (certainly Bob Dylan does not believe in audience participation, presumably and correctly letting his songs speak for him), but I gotta ask this question...

What is it with this "mosh pit" thingy at concerts?

I am not used to this, beyond cowering in terror at the sight of such phenomena on tabloid current-affairs shows when they go on about the Youthful Forces of Darkness at events like the Big Day Out and most silverchair concerts.

At the Bob Dylan concert last week, from our side-on-to-stage seats I noticed a throng of people hanging about at the front barrier.  Well, tough luck if we had shelled out big bucks foer front-row seats, I thought.

Whilst travelling home tonight,  I listened to an ABC Radio reporter in Perth talking about some biffo that erupted at the Dylan concert in that city.

The cause of the problem was the mosh pit that developed in the front row at the concert venue.

Apparently the people who had paid large sums of money to get front-row seats were being blocked out by these people who insist on standing about the front rows.

This (apparently - but G-d knows why) is a standard feature of modern concerts.

It is also something that people of (ahem) my years (and older) are, understandably (I believe), not used to - especially at Bob Dylan concerts, which probably, it is fair to say, attracts a concertgoer of a certain vintage and infrequency.  (Ah yes, in with the false teeth, out with the Zimmer frame, up with the hearing aid, and let's boogaloo 'til we puke.)

Why is this?  Why does this happen?  Is the front-of-stage fair game at most concerts?  If so, then maybe they need to tell us when we buy the tickets.

And whilst I'm on my soapbox, what about these people who pay out the money and don't even listen to what's going on?

Two drunken young blokes (in dinner suits no less) at one point sat down behind us in some spare seats and proceeded to talk loudly about everything except what was going on in the concert - the weather, the lousy state of Sydney trains, you name it.

When Pauline exasperatedly asked them to pipe down, they politely and directly declined ("No sorry, we cannot be quiet").

I was at the point of summoning an usher when they abruptly wandered off.  Presumably, the combined effects of the beer (which we could smell) and their short attention spans drove them to do something else, eg walk about.

Oh well, another mug of cocoa and its off to bed I go.

Bob Dylan

Earlier tonight we had the good fortune of seeing Bob Dylan and his band perform at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.

The verdict - fantastic!

This is the 2nd time I've seen Dylan live.  The first time, in 1992 at the State Theatre in Sydney was bewildering to say the least.   We didn't really recognise anything, due largely to the awful acoustics at that venue.   (The State Theatre is a lovely building but it didn't seem to handle this event well.)

This concert was hugely different.  The music was well  thought through, and performed with gusto and (whew) clarity.  His band has gusto and professionalism.

Modern Times

Bob Dylan

The music was a mix of some new versions of older material - such as A Hard rain's a-gonna fall and Tangled up in blue - and new material from his recent album Modern Times.

There would be something rather unimaginative of Mr Dylan if he was singing The times they are a-changin' the same way as he was 40 years ago.  But no - tonight's rendition was very different and still very enjoyable.

Mr Dylan played keyboards for most of the event, after initially using the guitar for his opening items.  His band very much made up for this with their arrangements of his music.

All in all, this has restored my faith in this artist.  I was prepared to remember the 1992 event on the grounds that I had at least seen an historic figure - and there is no doubt that Bob Dylan is an historic figure - in person.  Unfortunately then, that was about all I could say in favour of that event. 

This event was so much more satisfying.  The historic aura continued, but we could actualy sit back (or sit forward in our seats - Dylan's lyrics really grab the listener) and enjoy what's going on.  I can now say that I have personally heard Bob Dylan sing Masters of war and A hard rain's a-gonna fall.  But not just heard this - but enjoyed it immensely.  His band is very good (but the 2 guitarists look like the Blues Brothers), and the  performance was very focussed and energetic.

The newer material, especially from the album Modern Times, really had me in.  We had previewed this at home in the previous few days, but to hear Mr Dylan's interpretation was spell-binding.

People grumble that Mr Dylan never talks to the audience.  (In his 1992 State Theatre concert he barely sang to the audience.) Pauline has a very common-sense response - no need to say any more with the sort of songs he sings!  I mean, just listen to Masters of war.

As a bonus, his side-on stance to the audience as he played the keyboard for most of the concert meant that he was directly facing us in the el-cheapo side-of-stage seats.  Whacko!

Pauline spruiks Bob Dylan

All in all, now i can really see why people get so excited by this artist.  Pauline's faith in Bob Dylan has been restored, as wasthat of the other 18,000 people who witnessed this concert.

• Newspaper reviews of this concert will be linked here as they appear.
• Melbourne concert review, Herald-Sun, 19 August 2007

• Set list for tonight's concert, from the website Bob Links.
• Reviews of the concert, from the website Bob Links.

• The picture of Bob Dylan at the top of this post is from the weblog  All Along The Watchtower.