Friday, October 24, 2008

out of the blue, into the black, they give you this, but you pay for that

This week was the week of concert epic-ness. For those of you paying attention, the Universe loved me enough to bless me with consecutive Neil Young-then-Bob Dylan concerts.

On Wednesday, Nicola, Michele, Shannon and I went to go see Neil Young. Our seats were balcony, our view was as such:

and that's with the camera on zoom!
but the concert was absolutely phenomenal. It's a cliche, I know, but I can't put it any other way: He just plain fuckin' rocked. Thrashing around, spastic guitar solos, pissed-off wails...I have so much respect for him, but I had never really thought of myself as a "Neil Young fan". No more! The hightlight? Probably the epic cover of "A Day in the Life" for the encore. Any Neil Young fans should check it out here. There was a fierce intensity behind his second "I love to turn you on", and at the end of the song, he starting ripping out his guitar strings and mashing them against his guitar, pressing it against the amps. In the video I linked, the strings start flying around the 6:00 mark, and its pretty damn rock'n'roll. He played for almost 2 1/2 hours too.The next day, we headed home to mentally prepare ourselves for seeing Bob Dylan.
In case you forgot, my friends and I had third row tickets. That meant we were pretty damn close.
Close enough to see ever time he smiled (about five times!! Be still my heart..) or nodded a cue to the band. Frankly, a lot of the songs he played were unrecognizable he changed the melody so much. This might be why the local paper gave him a poor review. However, it's not a Pussycat Dolls concert...you don't go there to be entertained by an "artist" trying ridiculously hard to sell you something you didn't know you needed. You go to bask in his glorious presesnce, to gaze upon his unearthly being with your very eyes, to swoon over his clumsily graceful stomping pseudo-dance.
I had seen Bob Dylan before, but I hadn't seen him play guitar, so I was elated when he played guitar (instead of keys, which he played for the rest of the show) on "Just Like a Woman".
Both concerts were also a study in Baby Boomers Behaving Badly. Bending over to toke up where the security couldn't see, trying to sneak into seats they didn't have, getting ridiculously wasted and flailing around...the over 50 set clearly thought they owned the place solely due to their proximity in age to the artist. While us teens and young adults watched in quiet, respectful awe, the Boomers were having the time of their lives. It was a joy to behold.
In forty years, that will be me, drunkenly dancing offbeat while a grizzly old Alex Turner mumbles "I Bet You Look Good On the Dancefloor" from onstage.
I can't wait.

13 comments:

Female Action Star said...

Thanks alot! I digg how ur posts are always full of content, like some good meaningful good stuff!

this wheel's on fire said...

okay so many things i want to say!!
1.) that's where you've been!
2.) amazing! amazing amazing...
3.) neil young + beatles cover=genius!
4.) bob dylan smiled?! classic
5.) baby boomers comment made my day! so true! i went to the 2007Sausalito "Summer of Love" Art Festival & i saw a bunch of gmas and gpas (including my own haha) lighting up from their fanny packs! love my grandparents so much! that's probably the reason i'm so connected to that time period.
LONG ASS COMMENT! anyway, my point really was: this is amazing! <3

AsianCajuns said...

How cool! I can't imagine what it's like to see Dylan live.

Keith said...

Hey Molly. That's awesome. Sounds like some really cool shows. My uncle is a big fan of both Young and Dylan. I grew up listening to a lot of their records at his house. I'm glad you had a great time.

Sister Libby said...

Baby Boomers Behaving Badly just made my evening. And, really...the fact that you got to bask in the dylan glow is fantastic...you should put some sort of "awesome block sunscreen" on to avoid being scorched...That little idea was funnier in my head. But this post was so so so great.

Lexie said...

i think i'd like to see neil young. that video you linked is lovely!

bob dylan .. i'm not sure i'd shell out over $100 to see him past his prime.

Jen (MahaloFashion) said...

I love neil young
sweet caroline ba ba ba

Interstellar Overdrive said...

I'm so glad you liked the concerts! Loved the baby-boomers part... so true... like a glimpse into the future... I'll meet you in the front row, with a hot-pink fanny-pack full of hydroponic grass and mini-bottles of Jack Daniels.

Anonymous said...

Oh I am so jealous! Neil Young is coming down under so hopefully I'll be able to score some tickets for that. It's always funny seeing older people reconnecting with their old youthful enthusiasm, I remember when I was watching the Joy Division documentary (not Control) at the cinema, this older lady next to me was doing air drums whenever a song came on - she was loving it!

Cate said...

You're so lucky....... I am a Neil Young fan. Pity about the seats though. But well, you don't have a reason to complain - you've been there, and that's what counts ^^ the video you linked makes me want to have been there even more. Hm, that review on the Bob Dylan concert was indeed poor. I can see why the author was disappointed with him. But that was bound to come. I mean, if the author was a fan of him in the 70s... He was bound to change.
LOL Baby Boomers Behaving Badly. I was glad to read that they had a good time though ^^

yiqin; said...

Ohmy, I am so jealous right now :( I havent been to a concert for soooooooo long!

Secretista said...

Oh how exciting!

NonchalantMod said...

you are so lucky lucky lucky for seeing Bob Dylan live!!