So here's the deal. I'm going to a Bob Dylan show tonight in Baltimore. My father in law bought the tickets and I'm going with the wife and brother in law.
I know little about music but do know Dyland is famous. My father in law went to some show where Dylan first played the electric guitar or something.
Please tell - why Boy Dylan is famous?
What should I wear?
What can I expect? What will the crowd be like (age, sex, etc)? Will I like the music?
You won't understand a word he says.
Bob Dylan is famous because he has personally written many of the greatest song lyrics the world has ever heard. I would expect the crowd to be two extreme ends, the old who knew him from the 60s, and the young in their 20s who want a chance to see the poet laureate of rock and roll while they still can. You should wear either casual clothing or a teletubby costume. Will you like the music? I have no idea. It might speak to you. It might not. Nowadays he never stops touring, and he pretty much does whatever he feels like every time, each show is very different so its hard to know what to expect. I would say he's not as good live as recorded anymore, but definitely a great opportunity, one you shouldn't miss.
Dylan has been performing since the early 60s. He's no kid.
I've been to five Dylan concerts over the years. The worst one was in 1972 or so, at the Boston Gardens. He butchered his songs.
The best one was in 2014 or late 2013, I can't remember. He was in a performing mood and turned on the charm. He had some terrific musicians accompanying him.
His audience is mixed - everything from pot heads to businessmen to grandmothers to kids.
One other thing, he's the greatest songwriter of all time.
I've seen Dylan 3 times since 2009. Every performance was good to great. I have heard from some people that he has had crappy shows but that's not my experience. A few years back I saw Dylan with Elvis Costello as the opener. Elvis was superb and so was Bob. Probably the best show I have ever been to.
God, just get really high before hand or none of that sh&t will make any sense.
Greatest songwriter of all time..
His newer stuff not listened to carefully enough..
Some of that "Oh Mercy" (relatively new stuff) as good as his great classics.....
Ran a 4;30 mile in high school in a meet against Alice Cooper.
They tied (before FAT)
People either love or hate him.I personally think he is a great songwriter but some of the best versions of his songs are covers by other people who can actually sing and perform.I saw Santana and Dylan live and while Santana tore the head off of everything he played and was mindboggling good, Dylan sucked. I was pretty disappointed. This was years ago though. He's probably even worse now.If you ever have a chance to see Neil Young, do it. I saw him last year and he was incredible.
amarylander wrote:
So here's the deal. I'm going to a Bob Dylan show tonight in Baltimore. My father in law bought the tickets and I'm going with the wife and brother in law.
I know little about music but do know Dyland is famous. My father in law went to some show where Dylan first played the electric guitar or something.
Please tell - why Boy Dylan is famous?
What should I wear?
What can I expect? What will the crowd be like (age, sex, etc)? Will I like the music?
He's probably the greatest American songwriter, ever. He might be the greatest living songwriter, regardless of nationality. Yup, he's that good.
Problem is his best stuff was in the 60's and 70's. Since then, pretty slim pickings. His voice, which was at its best charitably described as "gravelly", has really deteriorated with age.
Enjoy the show. If you're at all curious, pick up on Blood on The Tracks, Highway 61 Revisited, and Bringing it all Back Home. A couple of listens ought to let you understand the reverence most of my generation (old f*ckers) has for him.
All that greatest-songwriter stuff is fanboy hero-worship. People overrate the music of famous people all the time, just because they're famous.
What made Dylan famous was playing folk music on electric instruments. That pissed off his folk fans but the sound was popular with mainstream people who bought his big "Like a Rolling Stone" song. It was the sound that made him stand out from the crowd, not the lyrics.
As time passed his music became legendary simply because it happened during the 60's. Ironically, with all the people who think so highly of it, only two or three of his songs are in the main rotation of classic rock radio, and one of them is performed by Hendrix, not Dylan.
Dylan is a notoriously lousy performer, even his fans don't deny that.
Hey, BW, Dylan was famous before he went electric. Try to keep up.
Here he is with his big-nosed girlfriend;
Erfworm wrote:
I've seen Dylan 3 times since 2009. Every performance was good to great. I have heard from some people that he has had crappy shows but that's not my experience. A few years back I saw Dylan with Elvis Costello as the opener. Elvis was superb and so was Bob. Probably the best show I have ever been to.
That (w/Costello) must have been a great show, and I am sure Costello's professionalism made Bob competitive.
Dylan is the kind of artist where you can say "I'm not a Bob Dylan fan, but..." And then you can have a favorite album or so.
I have Dylan's whole catalog on digital, cos you never know when you want to hear a certain song. And his biographies are fascinating. He had an interview in Rolling Stone mag in the last year or so that was fascinating. He said that he knew early on that he wanted a career as a performer....so he was a performer before he was a song writer...cutting his teeth on classic early American folk. The guy is a walking encylopedia of American music.
And yeah, he's probably a genius. Although he may just be a really smart craftsman.
You can read more about his genius here
I was a big fan of Dylan's voice from the 60's and 70's, but it has definitely declined to the point where it can be hard to listen to at times. Most of his best stuff, lyrically and musically, came from that time period.
I think it's hard to overstate just how great a lyricist he is. Try 'I pity the poor immigrant' and 'I dreamed I saw Saint Augustine' to get an idea of the plain-spoken brilliance of what he writes.
But I don't think he gets enough credit for how creative he was musically. Whenever I hear 'meet me in the morning,' 'seven days,' or 'black-diamond bay,' I'm entirely convinced that I'm listening to perfect music.
He may not be very good live anymore (I've never seen him perform) because of his voice, but be grateful for a chance to see the greatest of his era perform live.
Album suggestions:
-John Wesley Harding
-Highway 61 revisited
-Bringing it all back home
Expect a terrible concert. I'm almost 60 and was excited finally to see him (er, almost 30 years ago) and it was an awful concert. If he's not awful, consider yourself lucky for seeing a legend and a decent concert at the same time.
If you have front row tickets be aware that his hygiene is poor and he is said to small worse than Gwyneth Paltrow.
Shnozolla wrote:
Here he is with his big-nosed girlfriend;
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mIC7KQPDuDc
That song was written by Joan Baez.
Some his "contemporaries" as great American singer-songwriters are Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen.
Many other famous musicians have covered his songs.
He made a couple of historic tours in the 80's with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ('86) and the Grateful Dead ('87).
He's made a lot of music and gone through different periods/phases, so some of his music is more accessible than others.
Radio has changed dramatically. So like you likely won't hear Paul McCartney solo music, but you will hear the Beatles, Dylan's newer material is less familiar.
I saw him last night in Atlantic City. It's not a great show. He has a great band of ace musicians who carry him. His voice is shot, and his piano playing leaves something to be desired. He plays no guitar, which is disappointing. The arrangements he does of his most beloved songs renders them unrecognizable. I go because although Bob is well past his prime, he is a living legend and perhaps the greatest song writer of our lifetime. He won't be around much longer, and he is a giant (THE giant) of the musical genre I love best (folk/rock). As always, one man's coffee is another man's tea -your mileage may vary.
I just realized you are most likely already at the show. Hope you enjoy it. Take a long look - a man like Dylan will never pass this way again.
If you get home tonight wondering what all the fuss was about, I recommend that you check out any of his releases from the 60's, and Blood On The Tracks from '75. Love & Theft from 2001 is the best example of his later work, imo.