All the Concerts Fit to Print

I was a fan of Bob Dylan, and not particularly of Paul Simon. They were billed as co-headliners, but Simon had the longer show. They switched who would open every night. I wonder if Dylan played longer when he was in the later slot. My dad ans stepmom went to this show, but I got my tickets later, and was behind them in the bleachers, while they were in the reserved seats.

I wanted to say that I was disappointed that the two didn't team up and play on each other's songs, but apparently they did. The setlist I found online shows they did three songs together. I wonder how I could have forgotten that. It must be because I thought there were better choices of songs for them to duet on, and my memory got sidetracked by this. My picks would have been to hear Simon on "Highway 61", and Dylan on "Baby Driver".

Just after I wrote this post, I found the following, when I was searching for something else. It was an e-mail that I wrote to my dad at the time. Funny.

Awesome show! I loved Dylan's part. I was disappointed that he didn't come back at the end. He and Simon are both good writers, and their lyric styles have their similarities, but their musical styles are way different. I still think it was an odd pairing. Steve suggested that apart, they wouldn't have made half as much money on the tour. Like I said, I would have liked them to have done "Highway 61" and "Still crazy after all these years", but that's just me, I guess.

I was also disappointed that nobody stood up for Dylan's whole first set. I should have just got up and danced. It was a pretty laid back crowd. Maybe a bunch of people were just waiting for somebody to do so, and would have followed my lead. There were a lot of kids up by us. Simon has some complex rhythms. You have to pay attention when you dance. Or just ignore his singing. He sings off rhythm quite a bit. Another thing he has in common with Dylan.

The first song Dylan played was "Friend of the Devil", from the Grateful Dead. I guess he was paying them back for when they did his songs for Dylan and the Dead.

What did you think of "Tangled up in Blue"? I loved it. I liked it a lot better than the album version. It was bouncier, more danceable, it kind of rolled along. I don't know. It never was one of my *favorites*. That one, and "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts". I like them, but about six minutes into each one, I start to go, "when is this gonna end?"

I trust you recognized more songs this time? Not only did he play more of his hits this time, but he sang them so you could understand him. I just wish he'd sing them truer to the original versions so we could sing along.

We could see the big TV screen pretty well. He was smiling sometimes.

Dylan sings okay, but he doesn't harmonize well. That might be because he's losing his hearing.

Another thing I enjoyed, was watching the hippies dancing in the aisles. They were in the big corridor behind you. They'd have to keep moving because Security won't let you stand there. So they'd slowly dance up and down the aisle.

It was odd that you kept running into me. Both times you pretty much walked right up to us. Then after I got to my seat, I decided to see if I could see you, and you were pretty much the first person I set eyes on down there.

Thanks again for the hat. [He bought me a tour hat, as a gift, which I wore for many years.]

( Setlist )