The Times They Are A-Changin'

Tonight we saw 'The Bob Dylan Show' kicking off his 2005 tour at the Paramount.

Having never seen Dylan live before, I had high hopes of seeing a great show. Despite my optimism, I tried to keep my enthusiasm in check due to Sean Nelson's negative write-up on the show in this week's Stranger. Turns out Nelson was spot on (as usual). Dylan's voice was in rough shape (even for him which is really saying something) making it sound as if he was mumbling all evening. Even when he played songs that were old favorites of mine I had a tough time making out the lyrics to anything other than the choruses. Dylan no longer plays guitar on stage, so most of the musical work was left to his competent but not overly exciting band (though they did feature a disproportionately hot female fiddler...distraction technique?) . Seeing the show mostly just made me sad that I never got to experience Dylan at his peak. It actually reminded me a lot of watching Edgar Martinez finishing out the last year of his career for the Mariners last season. Despite the fact that you love the guy and you really want him to hit a homerun, you know deep down that it just isn't his time any more. That said, even being in the same room as Dylan is still pretty sweet, I mean the guy's a freakin' legend!

Merle Haggard and his 8-piece band The Strangers on the other hand were a very pleasant surprise. They played old favorites including 'Mama Tried' and 'I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink', but mostly Haggard just did a great job of commanding the room and keeping everyone's attention. The set he played was very loose, but in that outlaw country sort of way that you'd expect from Haggard. Several times he stopped during the middle of a song and completely changed course, but he always managed to do so in a way that made you like him all the more. One example of this was when he played the first line from 'Okie From Muskogee' and then decided that Dylan fans probably weren't the right crowd for that one. Earlier in the night, he joked about how his band was 'the oldest bar band in the country', about how they had been touring together for nearly 40 years now, and about how he knew how to play in front of crowds where fist-fights were taking place in the audience, but wasn't used to playing in front of a seated crowd in a classy venue like the Paramount. Another highlight came when Haggard alluded to Martha Stewart's recent release from prison and joked about how he and Dylan were going to a pen a song called 'Martha Stewart's Blues', which he even ad-libbed a few lines from. Hearing Haggard's music again made me realize just how much I'd listened to him while I was growing up and just how under-rated his work is today. All in all an excellent set, so if you catch 'The Bob Dylan Show' somewhere down the road make sure you get there early to catch Merle.

As for opening act Amos Lee, all I can say is 'meh'.

The line it is drawn the curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past.
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.
--Bob Dylan