It’s Sorta Him, Babe
21. Nov, 2017 
1 Comment
Bob Dylan
Mavis Staples
Beacon Theatre
November 21
I never wanted to see Bob Dylan. I respect Bob Dylan, but I’m not a giant fan, and everyone always said how awful he was in concert anywayz. But when Tom Petty died, I was like, OK, let’s not mess around here – Bob aint gonna live forever (and probably has already lived longer than any of us have ever thought he would) – and I need to see him before he goes. HAVE TO!
To my surprise, a Bob Dylan show is wholly and udderly musically enjoyable. His band is incredible! And Bob totally seems with it, switching between piano jangling, and straight-up crooning, with a microphone stand in hand. And shockingly, he sounds like Bob Dylan! The problem? He’s not singing the Bob Dylan songs the way that the Bob Dylan songs sound, or at least on how they are suppose to sound. Also, he didn’t play guitar, AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF BOB???? Look, he’s earned the right to do whatever he wants to do with his music, and while I’m not a deep Dylan catalog guy, the songs I knew that he played, I could barely recognize. Oh, that was ‘Tangled Up In Blue’? FOOLED ME!!!
Still, it had to be done. And while the concert was nice, it almost felt more like a chore, which I can now add a giant check mark next to…Â Â
see Dylan before he dies ✓
Real best part of the show? Opener Mavis Staples. Long security line made me miss 2 of her 7 songs played, but the 5 she beautifully belted made me wish that she was the headliner, and Dylan the opener
Dylan Setlist – Things Have Changed / It Ain’t Me, Babe / Highway 61 Revisited / Why Try to Change Me Now (Cy Coleman cover) / Summer Days / Melancholy Mood (Frank Sinatra cover) / Honest With Me / Tryin’ to Get to Heaven / Once Upon a Time (Tony Bennett cover) / Pay in Blood / Tangled Up in Blue / Soon After Midnight / Early Roman Kings / Full Moon and Empty Arms (Frank Sinatra cover) / Desolation Row / Thunder on the Mountain / Autumn Leaves(Yves Montand cover) / Love Sick’
Encore – Blowin’ in the Wind / Ballad of a Thin Man
