The Elvis Costello show was worth the drive. Having dinner with Julie and the Braughler kids was worth it. Heck, being with Bob, the Braughler kind, on a night out in Pittsburgh was well worth it.
But the other Bob? The most famous living Bob in the world? More famous than Barker, Evans, Dole put together. The legendary Bob. The guy you can just say, "Bob," and you know who I mean? That Bob. That's a tough one.
Especially since it was the second time I saw that Bob in the span of two weeks.
As soon as I drove down the driveway and popped out of the car, and we cracked open some really nice Allagash White Belgium-style ale from the state of Maine and poured them into really nice Braughler mugs, I told Bob the story. About how I once broke up with a girl because she saw the movie E.T. without me.
High school girlfriend, long-time friend and pal, we were working together for the State during the summer after freshman year of college, and she and I were planning our Friday night together. Things were going downhill, we both knew it, but we still were dating, and were working on our obligatory Friday night. Spielberg's E.T. had opened in a sneak preview the week before, and I didn't know anything about it except some laudatory early reviews that didn't give the story away. It was opening nationally that Friday and I was eager to go, but she wasn't. She wanted to go see Clint Eastwood's Firefox instead. I was puzzled and asked her why and said E.T. was supposed to be very good, best movie of the year, best Spielberg movie, and it was Spielberg after all, Jaws and Close Encounters and Raiders and we loved those movies, so this one has to be good. "It isn't that great," she said. "Isn't that great? How do you know?"
"I saw it last week."
I was stunned. She went and saw E.T. without me? And didn't tell me.
It was over. That was it. The relationship. Everything. I calmly and quietly walked away and went to a pay phone and called up another girl from high school that I knew liked me and probably wouldn't say no to me, and she and I went to see E.T. And I never went out with that old girlfriend again.
Over Allagash White I told Bob this story and had to admit that I already saw Bob Dylan a week ago and he wasn't that great.
Bob calmly and quietly put his beer mug down and went to the phone to ask one of our Syracuse friends to go to the concert instead. A fellow named Petraitis or Ross or Gottlieb or something.
Bob Dylan. Is there a more legendary living rock icon? The Stones maybe. McCartney. Springsteen. Who am I forgetting? The Who? Dylan ranks a bit higher than all, except maybe the Stones.
But maybe because Dylan has been performing endlessly, like every single night since around 1988, his status has diminished. So have his chords.
There he was, looking like the Joker in Tim Burton's Batman. There's still a mild thrill to see him up there, so close. But he's a distant performer and you find yourself thinking, as he plays another unfamiliar song from a recent disc that sounds like something Bill Haley and the Comets would've recorded, that you wish maybe somebody else was singing instead.
I've watched him perform 6 times now since 1988. That first concert was amazing and electric. Updating Masters of War and Like a Rolling Stone. It's gone a bit downhill ever since. But I must admit that this last show in Pittsburgh saw a more energized and vocal Bob since a week before at an outdoor venue in Maryland. Maybe because we were inside the Pitt basketball arena and Bob got us great seats near the front? I used to hate it when the non-fans would complain about his singing and his phrasing and say that he was on a perpetual flu tour. Things have changed, and I'm feeling the same.
He might want to consider some time off, a little respite, say about a year or so, before going back on tour? Do you think? To give his voice a rest. Give us a chance to forget and then remember all over again.
I sneaked in a little recording device to the concert, past all the security guards, including those that know Bob Braughler personally and bring unto him all the blessings that he so rightly deserves, and recorded some samples from Dylan's performance of my all-time favorite "Tangled Up In Blue." Through some proprietary technology that I've developed in my spare time, I've stripped out the music and the crowd noises to give you a narrow, focused take on Dylan's vocals. Give 'em a listen and judge for yourself whether it's time for him to settle down and maybe gather some moss:
Download lord_knows_i_paid_some_dues.wav
And this one:
Download meet_again_someday.wav
And finally, this:
Download always_feel_the_same.wav
Thank you, Bob. Braughler that is. For getting us together and for taking me on the great tours of Millvale and the South Side Slopes, and the late night places of Pittsburgh. And for Elvis, who sang my favorite all-time Elvis song Crimes of Paris...so clearly! And thanks for putting up with me sleeping in your old bedroom, Kate! And for letting me play race cars with you, Adam. And for taking me out to dinner, Julie. And for fixing the toilet handle that I should've fixed before I left the state. It was too short a trip for me...but probably just long enough to be not-too-disruptive for everybody else! Let's see...what else could I break?
Thank you and may all blessings be upon you my funky brother.
