"The highest purpose of art is to inspire.What else can you do? What else can you do for anyone but to inspire them?" -Bob Dylan
83 years old and still touring is impressive; Touring his 39th album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, playing only a few classic Bob Dylan hits that we all love. Instead, a nuanced performance reflective of his new, more refined sound. I can imagine still singing the same songs he wrote in his 20’s would get pretty boring and potentially would no longer represent his thoughts and feelings or are no longer the message that he wants to send out with his music, so it's understandable why he no longer plays them (perhaps not wanting to be a tribute act to his younger self); but for most people, I imagine, and for myself that is what I wanted to hear.
No phones meant no distractions from the music, which was something I've never experienced before but was a refreshing change. Also, no photos or videos were allowed, but considering he hardly got up from the piano there wasn't much to film anyway; understandable as all his songs were played on the piano, so why get up?
The arena lights dimmed promptly at 7:30pm as the band and Bob entered the stage, followed by loud applause and cheering once he sat at the piano, center stage. The iconic and classic riff of All Along the Watchtower started playing; once again, upheaving crowd roars and cheers are heard from all around.
With very few seats left empty; I was expecting to be one of the few younger people there; but to my surprise, Dylan’s fan demographic age wise is much more diverse than I thought! From parents with their younger children, who were immersed in his music, to the older generation of fans who possibly grew up listening to all his new music. It seems Bob Dylan’s music seems to advocate for all generations on many topics. It was a pleasant surprise to see so many people immersed in his music at the concert.
There was only one negative to the whole night: the lighting on the stage didn’t really do the set of incredible new music from the generational voice much justice, which was a shame; however, his lyrical genius and poetic songs made up for that!
Seeing Dylan play was a once in a lifetime experience for me and I will never get over the pure excitement I felt going into that arena; The atmosphere was so incredible, and I relished in every single second of it!
Outside of the arena was a massive crowd of Bob Dylan fans who had clearly flocked over after seeing the real thing and heard a busker singing Dylan's classic songs as they'd always heard them! it was a quite extraordinary thing to see straight after the concert! Check it out:
Written by Mia & Holly
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