Bobby, We Hardly Heard Ye
Monday, September 8, 2008 at 04:31PM Last night I went to the Santa Barbara Bowl to hear Bob Dylan. I have been a fan of his for at least forty five years and I am always thrilled to hear and see him. I was in the third row last night. Eveline had never seen him so I wanted her to see and hear one of the most impactful and original songwriters of the last century. 
I was looking forward to seeing her reaction to the brilliance of his lyrics and phrasing. In this world of celebrating so much ignorance and street cred as something viable and admirable, this was going to be an especially wonderful treat.
We climbed the long hill to the bowl, got frisked for weapons, walked thru clouds of marijuana smoke benignly floating over the five thousand folks who, like me, were looking forward to an evening of innovative and intelligent songwriting.
Dylan had a rocking band with him. No really outstanding soloists but a good solid band that had obviously played together a lot. And they watched Dylan like a hawk, as he doesn’t always follow a map.
He likes to keep it free, so that he can take a moment between verses if he feels like it, or introduce a solo here and there. This night there were solo’s in every song.
I found it disturbing that the sound man, Dylan and the band altogether didn’t seem to be away that they were all playing and singing in exactly the same frequency range, so the sound was muddy. You couldn’t really hear anyone solo and amazingly, nobody in the band wanted to play a little softer or a little less when someone else was soloing.
There were no dynamics and no texture changes during any of the songs. The kicked off and it was a wall of muddy sound that extended to the end of the song.
As I mentioned earlier, Dylan likes to keep it free, so he often changes the keys, tempos, arrangements and melodies of his songs. So the only way that you know what song he is singing is to hear the words, and now we come to the crux of my profound disappointment with the evening.
You couldn’t hear a word Dylan was saying. Not a word. So you didn’t even know what songs you were listening to. It was like being in a bar jammed with people, everyone shouting and the band playing something indistinct that simply added to the clamor.
On the way out of the concert I heard the same complaint over and over. They couldn’t hear Dylan; couldn’t hear his words or his remarkable way of phrasing.
Because he changes everything but the words, all Dylan concert goers know that they are not going to get what they have on record or cd and we’re all okay with that. But Bob Dylan is one of the premier lyricists of the twentieth century.
I wanted to hear the lyrics and revel in their brilliance, poetry and impact. I got none of that. And that was the betrayal.
We were all in there to hear him, but we were lured in by the words, not the albums, not the stage show…the words. And for him to play with a band where the music was so loud you couldn’t hear what he was singing was just wrong.
You could tell he was having a good time, but he could have done that in his garage with those same guys. If you are going to go on to a stage and charge a hundred bucks a ticket, then you have a responsibility to deliver to the audience what they came for. It doesn’t have to be a mirror image of your recordings but you have to acknowledge what brought them in there.
That’s why every act always does their most familiar songs at some point. To deliver on the promise they made when they said they would perform live and you came because you knew of their work and you wanted to hear it.
When you go to the trouble of writing brilliant lyrics, then go to the trouble of doing a sound check that will enable people to hear your brilliant lyrics.
Last night the sound was amateur and simply louder than he had to be…and I like loud music, though I don’t confuse volume with excitement. I hope you don’t either.
All I know is that I love Dylan and I won't go hear him play with a band again. I want to hear what he has to say as an artist. Let us all try to remember that.
Reader Comments (4)
I've never seen Dylan in person...the first time I ever heard him perform live was about 18 yrs ago on a grammy show...The audience was on its feet and after he was done gave him a long ovation...I remember seeing the B52's whom I adore and the look on their faces was rapturous...i didnt get itto say the least...more over I was appalled...was he trying to sound that way?...It took a couple of years till I would notice the writing credits on albums by the Byrds Judy Collins you name it Dylan's name was the writer...then I got it...OHHHHHH he's not a singer perse he's a poet...in fact he's THE poet...of all time...matchless...it made me appreciate his singing voice...the fact that some of the notes are just dead air only serves to heighten the worth of the words...maybe the sound man was stoned
by the by...whenever I see someone else with my name I get confused for a second without fail...i actually had to stop when I saw the title of this post and thought to myself..."Ok that's my name but i'm certain its not about me...mostly certain"
So...what was Mrs. Stanley's response to Dylan?
Wow! 100 bones, yeah, I'd been disappointed too if I couldn't hear him. And it's worse when it is a special for someone you love. That totally sucks. I feel your pain all the way here in Nashville. Great point about the necessity of a good sound man! I believe you've talked about it here on the blog, but when an artist walks into a venue, he/she should be (nice to everyone obviously) SOOO nice to the soundman. He's the one that is going to make you sound great or not, important not to get on his bad side, or make him feel like less of a "person" cause he's the sound man.
James….This is certainly a disappointing experience, and one I’ve experienced several times. And I wholeheartedly agree that artists owe it to their fans to deliver the promised goods. I believe some artists, as perhaps in Dylan’s case, feel that they have “nothing to prove”; Thus, concert goers will get what they get and that’s it. This is very sad. A recurring theme in your posts with respect to performances is being prepared and putting on the best possible show you can during every performance. This is what all artists should strive for.
I remember seeing Gordon Lightfoot in Hawaii during the last seventies. He was “beverage challenged” and made some horrific mistakes and didn’t care at all. I’ve always been impressed with his impressive body of work. However, this concert was such a disappointment.
On the contrary, another tunesmith whom I’ve always admired for his originality, deep lyrical wealth, and pure distinction, is Cat Stevens (aka Yusuf Islam). I saw him at the Waikiki Shell in Hawaii during the mid-seventies shortly before he gave up the music business to pursue a religious journey. His performance was impeccable: his voice was strong and rich, pure and flawless. Every tune was tight, and the band did precisely what they were supposed to do: support the singer, not steal show with a volume contest.
Max
Gordon Lightfoot made a return to Hawaii in the late 70's and while playing at the Waikiki Shell made mention of his previous visit and "horrible performance". His performance was brilliant and we were able to witness his sincerity from the front row of this marvelous outdoor venue.