It Was Time.....Seeing Dylan....
It's been a long time since we've done stadium type concerts...but Ernie and I headed off to see Dylan last night at the Assembly Hall. Neither of us had ever seen him and it seemed to be the right thing to do.
As we got settled into our seats I tried to remember how often I'd been to the Assembly Hall. I saw the Kinks there in 1980 with John Mellencamp opening as Johnny Cougar. Then I saw David Lee Roth, oops, I mean Van Halen there. Oh, and I went to commencement, sitting up in the high seats with lots of other LAS students. The guy next to me shared his newspaper with me. Many years later we saw the Mavericks there when they were opening for Mary Chapin Carpenter. We missed Mary Chapin Carptenter because we got to hang out with the Mavericks---who were fantastic of course. One other time we went to see David Ball and the Tractors when they were opening for Brooks and Dunn. Needless to say we didn't stay for Brooks and Dunn although I almost wanted to just to torment Ernie as he was somewhat obsessed with them. Oh, and Ernie reminded me that we tried to see Greg Kihn there once back in the early 80's. They were opening for Journey but the record company comp tickets got screwed up somehow and by the time we got in we heard Greg Kihn saying 'thank you and good night.' I vaguely remember that now....he says we stayed for a couple of Journey songs but I have no memory of that whatsoever.
I'd kind of forgotten that huge booming sound you get in a place like that. It was pretty wonderful. All the band in black, Dylan the only one with a bit of color in the bright lines down the side of his pants (just like Michael Jackson wore----we couldn't wait to tell Owen) and his light colored hat. And of course that Charlie Sexton is incredibly elegant---in his guitar playing....and well, uh, otherwise.
As Ernie said, it was pretty much exactly as we'd imagined it. No talking, other than to introduce the band. Stage went black between songs....lovely and subtle use of lighting and backing images. Favorite song of the night for me was Highway 61. Sounded brand new and urgent as hell. The encore was Like a Rolling Stone which the crowd loved but for me it's like hearing Ian Hunter do All the Young Dudes----it's great and all....but not necessary in my book. But overall----I am really glad we went. I'd just as soon stick to hearing music in my living room or clubs like the Highdive or Fitzgeralds or the Castle...but hearing him and his band and seeing them---even from a distance was pretty great.
Huh. We saw Dylan.