Bob Dylan - July 27, 2011 - Pensacola

A couple of months ago Carol told me Bob Dylan was going to play a show in Pensacola.  She asked me “wanna go”?  I didn’t expect that from her since she’s not a fan of his singing.  She knew I’d jump at the chance, so naturally I said “yes!”  Then she told me she wanted to see him when she was 19 or 20, years before I met her.  But her dad wouldn’t let her go, even though the show was in Fort Collins.  She must have gotten in trouble or something, so she never got to go.  So here we are, more than 30 years later, and Carol finally got to see Bob Dylan.

Here’s the deal with Dylan.  Some of his songs are now over 50 years old.  The most popular songs in his catalog are almost as old.  If you were a working musician and had to play those songs night after night for that that long, you’d get sick of them.  You wouldn’t want to play them anymore.  So if you want to keep it fresh, you change things up a bit.  That’s what real musicians do.  What you hear on the record is the version that Dylan liked at that time, but times change, and minds change along with the times.  In Dylan’s case, he changes his songs a lot.  The lyrics don’t change, but the arrangements do.  If you want to hear Dylan’s songs exactly the way they sounded when they were released, save your money, stay at home and listen to the albums.  For me, it’s a fun challenge to play “Name That Tune” when it comes to hearing Dylan play live.  That’s my expectation when I go see him in concert.  If a song sounds like it did on the original album, then I’m disappointed.  That’s the appeal of his Bootleg Series, especially Volumes 7 & 8.  You get to hear different versions of songs you thought couldn’t be heard in any other way.  Case in point:  the song Mississippi from “Love And Theft.”  I have three recorded versions of that song in my collection, and what I heard live didn’t sound like any of them.  It took me awhile before the light bulb came on and I realized “hey, that’s Mississippi.”

How was the show?  Fabulous!  Dylan looked he was having fun, and he knew he had his audience in the palm of his hand.  So enamored were some of his fans that if he blew a harp solo with his ass instead of his lips, they would have loved it.  Of course, I would have laugh hysterically because I got the joke.  Dylan opened his past few shows with Rainy Day Women #12 & 35, he’s opened others with Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat.  I was hoping for the latter, and my wish was granted.  Little did I know that he’d play some of my other favorites as well [Tangled Up In Blue, Things Have Changed, High Water [For Charley Patton], Highway 61 Revisited, Ballad of a Thin Man].  Dylan has an excellent band.  Such is the nature of Dylan’s changing music that all band members’ eyes were on him for cues.  But they navigated all the twists and turns of the music effortlessly.  At least they made it look easy.  These guys are very, very good.

There were 11 rows of seats between us and Dylan.  Yes, we had good seats.  No backup dancers were harmed in the presentation of this show [because there WEREN’T any!].  But there were quite a few Grateful Dead twirler wannabees in the crowd who nearly killed themselves because they were too trashed to stay on their feet.  One of them almost passed out on Carol’s lap [no, it wasn’t me…].  But luckily she left her seat before the show ended.  We did see her and her significant other in the lobby as we were leaving.  They both looked pretty rough.  After all these years, I still don’t get why people go out of their way to get so blotto at a concert they can barely stand.  I want to remember the shows I attend, especially at $65 a pop.

Band Members
Bob Dylan – guitar (G), keyboard (K), harp (H)
Tony Garnier - bass
George Recile - drums
Stu Kimball - rhythm guitar
Charlie Sexton - lead guitar
Donnie Herron - violin, banjo, electric mandolin, pedal steel, lap steel

The setlist:

Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (K) / It Ain’t Me, Babe (K) / Things Have Changed (H) / Tangled Up In Blue (H) / Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ (G) / Mississippi (K) / High Water [For Charley Patton] (H) / Simple Twist of Fate (G) / Highway 61 Revisited (K) / Forgetful Heart (H) / Thunder on the Mountain (K) / Ballad of a Thin Man (H)

Encore:

Like a Rolling Stone (K)

All Along the Watchtower (K)

2^nd Encore:

Blowin’ in the Wind (K)

The opening act was Leon Russell.  Dylan gave him 45 minutes, and it was an enjoyable 45 minutes.  These days Leon is looking like an older version of Dusty Hill from ZZ Top [long white hair, long white pointed beard, big black shades and a white Stetson hat], and he’s singing like Willie Nelson.  But his playing is still spot-on, and he has a solid band traveling with him.  I recognized most of the songs [Delta Lady, Sweet Little Angel, Hummingbird, I’ve Just Seen a Face, Wild Horses].  Sorry Leon fans – no Jumpin’ Jack Flash.  There were only a couple of songs I didn’t know, but that’s ok.  Leon still plays a good show.

Would I go see Bob Dylan again?  Damn right I would!  Thanks for the great idea, honey!