Willie, Dylan and John

We went to the Bob Dylan Show this past Saturday with cheesy grins on our faces. For my wife and I, this is a HUGE deal, and just the chance to say we've seen Bob Dylan in concert made it more than worth it. We arrived early, about 4:15 and the main parking lot was already half full. You could tell who was there to see which musician; tie-dyed shirts and ponytails for some, cowboy hats and boots for others.

Willie Nelson played first and I've always enjoyed his music. From "Angels Flying Too Close To The Ground" to "Beer For My Horses", his songs never fail to get a crowd going. I have to admit though, you can tell Willie was tired and he just didn't have the energy that he had. Ok, he's 76 years old so I'd say he did pretty well under the circumstances. For his part of the show it was still sunny and he was facing west into the glaring hot sun, so you have to hand it to him for that.

By far, our favorite was John Mellencamp. He still had all the energy I remember and got the crowd on their feet for most of his set. a few songs into it he started doing an acoustic version of "Cherry Bomb" which was interrupted before the first verse was finished by some dufus getting arrested. I didn't see what the guy was doing but you can bet that there were a few $7 beers involved. John was a little surprised, mentioned that he didn't condone violence and wondered aloud that when he saw the boys in blue headed that way, he didn't know what he'd done. Mellencamp pulled songs out of the attic that I had loved but had been misplaced in my memory years earlier. It was definitely the highlight of the show for me.

Bob Dylan played some incredible songs, most of which were from his recent releases. He did a version of "Watchtower", best remembered as a hit by Jimi Hendrix, as well as a Buddy Holly song or two. His recent stuff is great but unfortunately his voice seems to have gone south to the point I didn't understand more than 10 words his entire set. The stands slowly cleared during his set, I think some were disappointed, but I wasn't about to leave before those final glimpses of a living legend were done.

Aside from the outrageous cost of beer, $7 a 16oz. bottle, I was thrilled with the experience. If you want to know more about the concert, check this out.

Oh, almost forgot. There was this very interesting opening act, kind of a cross between bluegrass and blues, called the Wiyos. They had this great upright bass and even though I couldn't see very well, I swear there was one song where someone played a washboard! Really great stuff.