Just got home from a Dylan concert

Okay...gotta say something on this one ! I have been going to Bob Dylan concerts since the late 70's.....I have seen him being backed by multiple bands from Tom Petty to the Grateful Dead. Some shows were great to good, others were just fair. But, with him touring all the time I got to accept the good with the fair. That means I was catching him anywhere between two to four times per year. With that said, I saw him with ''his new band'' in April with Merle Haggard. This was the first time I ever saw Merle and he brought the house down.....he voice was like seasoned smooth single malt Scotch. Then Bob,.....it was a joke !!!! He can no longer annunciate any of his words anymore, he rushes through the songs and lets the Band be the dominate part of the show and with Larry Campbell and Cherlie Sexton gone .....The show stunk for $100 a ticket. As I said I am / was a big Bob Dylan fan. This was the 4th time in a row in the last year that his concerts were just plain terrible !!!! He plays the keyboard ( which if you listen is not really turned up or I was questioning is it even on !!! ) due to carpel tunnell.....get it fixed Bob it is a simple operation. I had to get used to him playing keyboards and not the guitar and thought it was just a another of Bob's phaseses but it looks like it is a permanent move. I think that it is all ego now....as if to say ; ''see I'm still the best''....you were and still are, but now after the last show, you are ruining the songs that made you famous and it is time to stop touring and stay in the studio. The people next to me at the last show I went to actually left after 4 songs stating they couldn't take it anymore !!!!! Love ya Bob, but I think that it may be time.

I too have seen Dylan twice in the last few years. I have also seen him another four times in my life. The satsifaction index has varied all over the map through my experience. Of all his concerts I've seen (and forgive me for not remembering the dates) the one tour he did when he was broadcast from, I think, Australia during the Grammys was his best by far. He rocked, and nailed every song with stunning vocals rivaling his best recording. Very true to the originals. Less than one year later when String Cheese Incident was his opening act and he was playing the piano I considered it the worst of his concerts I've heard. No doubt the piano was turned on as I could clearly hear it. He's a genius and I wish him well but I sense that he doesn't give a hoot about his fans and never has nor never will. In spite of this he remains one of my all time favorites for giving us what we need by sharing his/our pain in a poetic fashion with tunes that will last forever. Remembering as I do the guitar battles he was having with the other lead player at his best concert and how exciting it was I wish someone would convince him to return to that instrument. With the piano set to stage left he never even looked at the audience once. Besides, his facial profile is not complimentary at all. Gimme a full facial with a guitar in his hands any day.

I saw him twice this year, once on his college tour and once on his tour with Merle Haggard. Yes, it is true that his words can't be understood. Personally, I see his voice as just another instrument in his band and don't worry about the words. I like the sound of it, goes well with the rock-a-billy music he is playing. I hope to see him more in the future.