Althouse: I got my Bob Dylan tickets.

September 29, 2010

I got my Bob Dylan tickets.

Previously on this blog: Despair. Now: A second show at the Overture, starting at 10. Are Meade and I too old to go to a 10 p.m. concert? We're younger than Bob!

(Pre-order info here.)

21 comments:

former law student said...: Take a nap that afternoon, or sleep in the day before. Best would be to gradually advance your bedtime the week before the concert.; 9/29/10, 11:56 AM
Michael said...: I would second FLS on the nap and the sleep in the day before the concert. However, I don't think there is time to acclimate by extending your bed time. Remember, if the concert starts at 10Pm Bob is not likely to appear for a while. I recommend the nap be extended and followed by amphetamines. Or, you could ingest the amphetamines pre-nap and see what happens.; 9/29/10, 12:02 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "Remember, if the concert starts at 10Pm Bob is not likely to appear for a while."

No. Bob is likely to start right on time. No opening acts. And the 7 pm show will start at 7. I learned that from the last Bob Dylan concert. The old man isn't going to start late like those other musicians you've seen.; 9/29/10, 12:05 PM
Michael said...: Excellent. I saw one of the last of Ray Charles' concerts and the whole shebang was like six songs. I expect Mr. Dylan will give you your money's worth.; 9/29/10, 12:12 PM
Bob_R said...: It's pretty unlikely that Bob teaches a class in the morning. Congrats on getting the tickets.; 9/29/10, 12:13 PM
lemondog said...: Are Meade and I too old to go to a 10 p.m. concert?

If you have to ask, then 'yes' you are too old.

Stay home, wheel yourself with some hot chocolate in front of the telly and watch Lawrence Welk reruns on PBS.; 9/29/10, 12:18 PM
Triangle Man said...: Dylan is going to poison your mind Althouse. Next thing you know, you'll be questioning authority and thinking up ways to stick it to the man; 9/29/10, 12:28 PM
Tank said...: Saw Dylan as the opening act (really) for Santana (really) about 5 years ago at PNC in NJ. Underwhelming, but I was really there to see Carlos. I'm one who thinks Dylan's songs are better left to others to sing/play. Not sure what you're expecting, but it's probably not the experience I had.

Too old? Never ! The question is: what is Meadhouse's pre-game plan?

wv: sneus - what you should take in the afternoon before the show LOL; 9/29/10, 12:40 PM
MadisonMan said...: I wonder if the concert will be overwhelmingly white.; 9/29/10, 1:15 PM
David said...: Just go.

By the middle of the following afternoon, you will know whether you were too old.; 9/29/10, 1:23 PM
David said...: "I saw one of the last of Ray Charles' concerts and the whole shebang was like six songs."

I first saw Ray Charles in Pittsburgh in 1962. Saw him again in Milwaukee in the 1980's.

Ray did not exhaust himself with too many songs at those performances either.; 9/29/10, 1:27 PM
traditionalguy said...: And don't foget to take a thermos filled with diet Hippie Punch.; 9/29/10, 1:27 PM
Triangle Man said...: I wonder if the concert will be overwhelmingly white.

Yes, and the staff will be too.; 9/29/10, 1:48 PM
BJM said...: We recently went to a Midnight concert. A nap, an early & light dinner and a double espresso with sugar before going into the venue did the trick.

Oh...and take along some 60% dark chocolate to top up the caffine buzz.; 9/29/10, 2:26 PM
Ann Althouse said...: "And don't foget to take a thermos filled with diet Hippie Punch."

If there's one thing I won't do before a 10 o'clock concert, it's drink any alcohol.; 9/29/10, 3:31 PM
traditionalguy said...: So go as the designated driver. But remember that the Greenwich mean time measurement for all hippies starts at Haight-Asbury where it will only be 8:00 PM Pacific Time.; 9/29/10, 4:09 PM
Clyde said...: On Monday, I bought The Essential Bob Dylan for $15.

So Monday night at work, I listened to the first half of The Essential Bob Dylan, that is the fifteen songs on the first disc. The first thing I realized was that on many of the songs, I preferred versions done by other artists. The second thing I realized after fifteen songs was that I was officially tired of the harmonica.

I did remember, however, that I had the antidote to Dylan on the iPod: On Simon & Garfunkel's Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme album, Track 9: "A Simple Desultory Phillippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission)."

I was talking with someone at work about the Dylan thing, and the simile we came up with was garlic. A little goes a long way. I listened to the second disc's worth of songs last night, and again, noted that I liked some of the songs better when done by other artists. Here are some examples:

Blowin' In The Wind - Peter, Paul & Mary, and Neil Young, among others
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right - Peter, Paul & Mary, among others
It Ain't Me Babe - Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs
Mr. Tambourine Man - The Byrds
All Along The Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix
If Not For You - Olivia Newton-John (Did you know that Bob Dylan wrote that song?)
Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Eric Clapton and/or Guns N' Roses and/or Warren Zevon
Forever Young - Rod Stewart

Then again, songs like "The Times They Are A-Changin'," "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" (Everybody Must Get Stoned), "Tangled Up In Blue" and "Everything Is Broken" wouldn't sound right by anyone else.; 9/29/10, 8:11 PM
Michael Haz said...: A pre-concert nap and a hit of vitamin B and you'll be good to go.

That, plus the we're-still-young post concert sex.

Should be a good evening.; 9/29/10, 9:22 PM
William said...: There were lively debates at the time as to whether Joan Baez's voice was too pretty to register the jagged edges of Dylan's lyrics or whether Dylan's nasal twang made his songs sound too whiny and adolescent.....Mr Tambourine Man gets better as you get older. Nowadays, it's not a coded message about the joys of being stoned. It's rather a celebration of the wonder of being alive at this too transient moment.; 9/29/10, 11:30 PM
jamboree said...: Well that's good anyway. :-)

I couldn't believe you were considering not going. He's 70 after all.

When I was in college I had a PT job at Ticketmaster. (And yes, I still like scalpers. Those ticket agencies are crooked. )

So I went to many many many shows of all kinds including some old R/B acts. It was common wisdom that the early shows were for the white people and the later shows were when things really got warmed up - 8PM was the workaday show- 11PM was a little better, but what you really wanted was the 1AM show.

Don't know if that will hold true with an act like Bob, but good luck. He's probably so jetlagged he doesn't know what time it is.

Have fun.; 9/30/10, 12:04 AM
Amexpat said...: I'm surprised that he's doing two shows in one night. I can't recall that happening before, but I'm not a fanatical follower of his tours.

Enjoy the show!; 9/30/10, 8:55 AM