Bob Dylan

[Cerfer]

I saw him a couple of nights ago. Color me impressed! Great voice, great energy, fantastic re-arrangements. Some songs don't need new arrangements (Highway 61 Revisited), but Ain't Dark Yet really benefitted from one. I wasn't as old as most of the audience (many had become mathematicians and carpenter's wives, undoubtedly promising to themselves in 1975 that they never would), and my 17 year old daughter knew all of the songs. Not too many empty seats. $88 is expensive for a concert, but if you've never seen America's freshest Nobel Laureate, you really ought to get out and see him if you can. He's working his way east right now.

His tyrannical ban on cameras was refreshing. Imagine, going to a concert to see a concert and not trying to mediate the experience through your phone...

 

[Zeno Marx]

His tyrannical ban on cameras was refreshing.

100%! I'd pay extra to artists if they would ban phones and cameras. I'm fine with people recording audio though. A sea of microphones is less irritating to me than the phone.

Though I've long been a big fan of mountain folk, "race music"/super early blues, the folk revival, etc; I was never a fan of Dylan...until I watched Scorsese's documentary. Everything changed with that. Such a big fan of his folk work and pre-electric. Nothing about his voice, lyrics, and songwriting works for me in the electric realm. I've come to love his voice next to an acoustic guitar, but it grates on me in an ugly way next to an electric sound.

 

[Blackhorse]

$88 is expensive for a concert???  NO WAY!  Stuff my wife and kids go to (all sorts of different stuff...solo, bands, plays, symphony, ballet etc.) can run MUCH more.  And that’s Portland for gosh sake! Like 3 - 5 times that much or more.  If you live in an area where $88 is really expensive...I’d think about moving there!  lol

Just checked the price of a local ticket to Celine Dion...the range is $85 to $350 or more.  How bout Blake Shelton?  Try $85 to $850 +!!!  Trans Siberian Orchestra goes for $50 - $200.  Wow!

Sorry. Didn’t mean to jump on this so hard. It’s just something that annoys me. But, you know, whatever the market will bear. God bless America.

 

[Cerfer]

$88 is expensive for a concert???  NO WAY!  Stuff my wife and kids go to (all sorts of different stuff...solo, bands, plays, symphony, ballet etc.) can run MUCH more.  And that’s Portland for gosh sake! Like 3 - 5 times that much or more.  If you live in an area where $88 is really expensive...I’d think about moving there!  lol

Just checked the price of a local ticket to Celine Dion...the range is $85 to $350 or more.  How bout Blake Shelton?  Try $85 to $850 +!!!  Trans Siberian Orchestra goes for $50 - $200.  Wow!  

LOL

I grew up paying $8 or $10 to see the Grateful Dead or The Moody Blues. $88 is up there for me. Hell, I still remember a Mad Magazine cartoon from the 70s where someone called the police because $1/gallon was akin to a stick up!

I live in a college town where most things are next to free. I can't afford to even look at Portland's Zillow listings! I'll take my affordable 4500sf house in the middle of nowhere, thank you very much.

 

[Blackhorse]

Yeah...on one hand it’s a benefit to live in a “culturally rich” area...on the other hand, only if you want to afford it.


PS: I remember driving up to OSU from Eugene in 1968 to see Simon & Garfunkel. Randomly assigned $12 reserved seat tickets put 4 of us together in the 5th row, center. It was epic. They sounded better in person than their records.

 

[D.L.Ruth]

My little brother got to see Bob Dylan a few years ago at a small venue in Cleveland. He said it was amazing, he was right up front. Got the tickets for probably like 20 or 30 bucks.

I went to see Simon and Garfunkel a long time ago. About half way through the show Paul said oh yea we brought some old friends with us, and the Everly Brothers came out to finish the show with them, it was awesome.

 

[Zeno Marx]

The Police played Wrigley Field. Average ticket was $250. They played a whole 45-minute set. I would imagine Ticketmaster and the promoter took more than half that. I know a couple people who had $1000+ credit card statements from that event alone. While the big artists are making some loot, it's all the other corps getting rich off their talents. That bothers me more, but I'm also a hypocrite. I download and listen to a lot of youtube. I don't feel particularly bad for any of them when people take their music for free. Smaller artists are a different story. Kind of hard to feel bad for Don Henley when he's complaining about youtube stealing revenue from The Eagles. He's right, but feel bad for him?

How much do people spend going to sporting events these days? Like an NFL football game after ticket, parking, snacks? $300/person?

Sorry to derail your thread. Any promoter that is going to work with Dylan, and other artists of that economic level, are going to pillage the audience. Why? Because they can. Capitalism has no conscience.

 

[Carlos]

I moved the thread to the Music Hall Forum. Looks like it left a shadow just fine.


Artists sometimes get trapped in contracts. And that can affect charges and credits. You do not see Bob Dylan listed in the credits on Delaney & Bonnie & Friends On Tour with Eric Clapton. But it's Bob's feet in his cowboy boots hanging out the car window on the album cover.

 

[huffelpuff]

Glad you enjoyed the show!

Jim

 

[Bub]

Too many years ago I went to a Joan Baez and she introduced a new singer, who just got off the bus, by the name of Bob Dylan.
The tent wasn't big and everyone was life size. A few years ago we went to another Dylan concert in an auditorium, he was about 2 inches tall and it sounded as thought the speakers were next to us. A neighbor recently went to NY city and saw the surviving Grateful Dead in concert at Madison Square Garden. Even though there was a lovely aroa in the air,this would not be my cup of tea.