Bob Dylan Performs at the Beacon A Musical Genius Delivers a Substellar Show

Bob Dylan is a musical genius and icon.  He has won more awards than any other recording artist.  His unique blend of rock, folk and blues with profound lyrics has earned him 11 Grammys, a Golden Globe, Acad. Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom ('08 from Pres. Obama) and a Nobel Prize in Literature; the first ever bestowed a composer/lyricist.  The Special Citation of the Nobel Prize was awarded in ('08) "for his profound impact on popular music and American Culture marked by lyrical composition of extraordinary power."   Why would anyone who hasn't been living under a rock, or a rolling stone, not want the opportunity to hear this astounding artist, now 77, perform live.  I couldn't pass up this opportunity.  It was a thrill to be seated in the Beacon Theater when the curtain rose and there was Bob Dylan singing and playing the piano.  The thrill was gone somewhere by the 5th song.  Partly because, all the songs sounded interchangeable and much of his lyrics were indecipherable.  Though Dylan's unique raspy pitch and melancholic tone were identifiable and appealing, Dylan used a similar cadence in all his phrasing.  Dylan brought new arrangements to his older, most famous ballads. The aesthetic was bluesy rock; gone was any link to folk music.  He played the harmonica intermittently but not with the clarity and beauty of his early recordings.  Dylan didn't bother to banter, at all.  He did play non-stop for close to 2 hours.  The warning of no photography/filming came with the threat of ejection.  This proved to be true.  Honestly though, Dylan's performing made for a less than thrilling show.  I now have bragging rights to have attended a Dylan concert (without buying a T-shirt) but I wouldn't urge fans who haven't purchased a ticket to his sold-out performances through Dec. 1, to bother paying scalper prices.  (Most expensive seats were $169.)  I'm glad to have been in the audience.  I just wasn't overly elated by his show.  I do advise seeing the musical "The Girl of the North Country" playing at the Public (see attached link). The show features compositions all by Dylan arranged and adapted to tell a story of a family living in Duluth, MN in the late 1930s; the birthplace of Robert Zimmerman, a.k.a. Bob Dylan



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