I did a “boomerang” from Austin to Charlottesville a year ago, and I had to go back for the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Believe the hype.
This is a Charlottesville blog (so I hear) so I won’t plug all of my favorite bands… yet. When I got home tonight, I cracked open this week’s C-VILLE and read the advance for the Bob Dylan show at JPJ.John Whitehead gives a thorough while still concise rundown of Dylan’s career, speaking to all 18 generations that have lived through Dylan’s music. (Maybe it just feels that way?) Having seen him perform on Sunday night, I encourage anyone who is thinking about attending the concert to read “U-Hall ‘91 revisited” for realistic expectations. It’s accurate.
Bob Dylan is everything Whitehead says he is: “the conscience of a generation” and “a creative genius.” But time has not been kind to his voice. My mom joked that she couldn’t even understand him when she was my age. My parents and I have together seen the likes of Rod Stewart, the Four Tops, Tom Petty, Lou Reed, and Elvis Costello perform hits from back when, and there’s really no way to predict how the voices will mature. Elvis Costello, though no conversationist with an audience, sounds the same.Lou Reed, bless his Beat-ing heart, does not.To this end, JPJ’s acoustic capabilities will not be lost on the performance.
If you are a real fan, you know it’s worth it (and by “it” I mean “cost”) to see Bob Dylan.The “never-ending tour,” like all good things, will come to an end one day. On Sunday night, a friend leaned over to me andmurmured, “It’s transcendental.”If you don’t get it, though, you probably won’t. As for me, I can’t make up for the years I wasn’t alive. I just nodded in agreement.
Alright. Selfish plug. If Muse comes anywhere near here, see them. Arcade Fire, ditto. Killers, duh. Download some Ghostland Observatory (local DJs, ya hear?), LCD Soundsystem (ditto), Gotan Project, My Morning Jacket, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and obscure Peter Bjorn and John (why yes that is real whistling).Damien Rice’s new stuff is really angry (whoever broke his heart needs a talking-to), Pete Yorn’s apparently kind of an ass (thanks for playing anything people heard of… oh wait), Blonde Redhead is so high-pitched I think dolphins cried three oceans away, the Decemberists are better on the CD (ouch), Regina Spektor is SO talented but looked especially high on life, Bloc Party is always a good show live, and Texas locals Spoon, Ben Kweller,and Blue October were predictably rockin.Nice little exchange about Bjork in one of these threads, yeah?Mmmyeah not for me.If she put her feet behind her head and juggle knives with them, the show would be Cirque du Soleil, with bad music. Please go to ACL next year if you can. A 3-day pass is about $130, and you get about 150 bands. And Austin is cool. Peace out. Word to your mother.
Ghostland “Sad City” @ ACL on Youtube
Muse “Starlight” @ ACL on Youtube
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Tagged as: Charlottesville, Concerts, Music, Not Virginia, Reviews
I went to the 91 U-Hall show also, and of the 300+ concerts I’ve attended it was definitely among the worst. The band was okay, but Dylan, well, he really sucked. He wasn’t there emotionally, and unless you knew the lyrics there’s no way on earth you could understand a word he sang.
Having seen him several times before (most notably with The Band on the scintillating “Before the Flood” tour) I was taken aback by how bad he was. As with all U-Hall shows, the sound was very bad but I can’t imagine his voice would have sounded any better at Carnegie Hall. Unless you’re a die-hard Dylan fan, or you just feel like he’s somebody you have to see before he retires or dies, do yourself a favor and take that ticket $ and buy some CDs. But if you gotta see him, you gotta see him.
The effort’s appreciated, and I hope the image addition and page jump works for people.
I have to agree that Bobby D. is terribly disappointing in the flesh, but I doubt that will stop any Boomers from shelling out $60 to attend the nostalgic, Viagra-induced hard-on that is a Bob Dylan concert.
Viagra-induced?
Don’t you mean Viagra-esque or something similar?
Makes me think of this Shouts & Murmurs from the New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/humor/2007/08/06/070806sh_shouts_wagner
1 Music Lover is true. This man is old…buy a cd and read a book about him. I grew up with Dylan and he has no bigger fan. I DO NOT want to see him in concert now…it will destroy my fond memories of his greatness.
ps. I do not need viagra
The show was fantastic. I am so grateful for another chance to enjoy Bob.