What About Bob?

Sometimes people are great, sometimes they're not, and sometimes they are idiots. There is a popular Country & Western song with a refrain - "God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy." That pretty much summed up my experience on Saturday night at the Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Bob Dylan concert in my hometown.

I had not had the opportunity to see Bob Dylan before and I was so excited to finally have the chance. I've seen Led Zeppelin, James Taylor, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Topp and others, but Bob Dylan is a classic. Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp were the icing on the legend-of-rock-music cake.

The evening was beautiful for the outdoor venue - a college football stadium so large only one side was used. Sixteen-thousand tickets were sold for this fantastic musical extravaganza. An exception was even made for the normally "dry" venue to sell beer. And sell it they did - even at $7 a bottle. I have never seen so many obviously intoxicated people attempt stadium stairs in my life! The night was warm with a gentle breeze, there was an almost full moon and no mosquitoes. Willie Nelson brought the Texas crowd to its feet and John Mellencamp kept us there with his powerful rock standards.

By the time the headliner, Bob Dylan, the great Bob Dylan who was dubbed the poet laureate of Rock and Roll before 3/4 of the attendees were even born, (the remaining quarter of the attendees were oldsters - even I was on the young end of this percentage) took the stage it was late. Actually, it was only 9:30, but the music had begun at 5:30 and the crowd was mostly intoxicated. Not in a nice mellow, "I've got a good buzz on to enjoy the music" way, but in a rowdy, falling down, screaming way. The great Bob Dylan took the stage for a bunch of beer-soaked ingrates.

Dylan started off with three popular classics - "Maggie's Farm," "Lay, Lady, Lay," and "Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again." The most incredible thing began to happen as Dylan was singing; people began leaving the stadium. Unbelievable. The next five songs were great Dylan songs, but not as well known and even more people were leaving. I was shocked. Who could walk out on Dylan? Apparently the imbeciles in my hometown.

I closed my eyes and listened to the voice, the arrangement, the music, the genius and tried to forget that all around me others were missing out on the greatness I was enjoying. And miss out they did. Those of us still left in the stands brought Bob back for an encore and he treated us to a cover of our very own hometown boy's "Not Fade Away." I couldn't help but think this was the same town that once shunned another musical genius -Buddy Holly. Buddy's song was followed up with "Like a Rolling Stone" and "All Along the Watchtower." Classic Dylan, classic rock.

All-in-all, a great evening of rock and roll; one that I will remember for the rest of my life. Those who left early will probably only remember a killer hangover or bruises from falling on the cement stadium steps or perhaps the remorse they will feel when someone tells them what a mistake they made by leaving early.

Thanks, Mr. Dylan, for a wonderful evening.