Have been a Dylan fan since his first album in the early 60s. After the last two concerts, I have to say he played on automatic. IMHO he is essentially a troubadour traveling the country at this stage of his career. I admire him for letting people hear him in all the little venues he now visits. His endurance is amazing. You are hearing and viewing a legend. But often his concerts are uninspiring muscically even though he is inspiring as a professional musician who is still willing to make the show go on regardless of whether he is having a good or bad day.
Bad live music still has an ambiance that is different than canned music. I certainly sympathize with people who no longer are moved by his live performances. In an interview a couple of decades ago in Rolling Stone or Playboy, Dylan said he was not sure how much longer he could be on the road because of all the drugs you have to take to be "up" every night. Well, like Neil Young says, "He is a survivor." Dylan, amazingly, just keeps on going even if he often looks like warmed over death. I guess you assess the man as a whole including his pluses and minuses. Many of us still feel a debt of gratitude for his early on standing up to protest the abuses of power. And he always did so in a most poetic way. He is a driven soul. May he find peace.
Jon
Bad live music still has an ambiance that is different than canned music. I certainly sympathize with people who no longer are moved by his live performances. In an interview a couple of decades ago in Rolling Stone or Playboy, Dylan said he was not sure how much longer he could be on the road because of all the drugs you have to take to be "up" every night. Well, like Neil Young says, "He is a survivor." Dylan, amazingly, just keeps on going even if he often looks like warmed over death. I guess you assess the man as a whole including his pluses and minuses. Many of us still feel a debt of gratitude for his early on standing up to protest the abuses of power. And he always did so in a most poetic way. He is a driven soul. May he find peace.
Jon