Bob Dylan is Not a Crooner, But He's Now One Filthy Rich Singer/Songwriter!

I was a huge Bob Dylan fan back in the day. In addition to owning vinyl, eight-track tapes, and then cassettes, I had a book of his poetry and song lyrics. When my son Dylan (note the spelling) wanted to see him in concert for his 23rd birthday (2016), I was all in.

My wife got four tickets to a July concert in Boston at the then-Blue Hills Bank Pavillion so the four of us, my son and his girlfriend, me and my wife, could enjoy the legend together and celebrate my son Dylan's birthday in style. They were decent seats too, and not cheap.

I was excited to hear Bob talk about the origin and meaning of some of his classics, but there was none of that. He didn't comment on the city of Boston (maybe he forgot where he was?), introduce his band, or talk about the meaning or origins of his songs. In fact, he did Sinatra ballad after Sinatra ballad, performing only two of his classics, which were barely recognizable. I never considered Bob Dylan to be a crooner and I would've never paid to see him try to be. If it wasn't so disappointing, it would've been incredible satire. It was as if he was daring us to "unfollow" him...

Yuk!

We were disappointed, but out of respect, we weren't leaving like at least a third of the crowd did early in his performance. By the end of the concert, the crowd was thin and those who were leaving were shaking their heads in disbelief on the way out. The guy sitting next to my son actually fell asleep early in the performance and we didn't dare wake him…

Bob Dylan crooned this guy to sleep…

It was clear that Bob Dylan no longer connected with his audience and didn't care to even try. It was at best, a lackluster performance by an over-the-hill legend. In his defense, he was 75 at the time and he looked thin and frail, and it made me think about one of the lines in my favorite songs on The Freewheelin album, Talkin' World War III Blues, “Give me a string bean, I’m a hungry man”. It sure looked like Ole Bob could've used a couple of string beans… But performing live was his choice and his fans deserved better.

Hearing that he sold his entire songwriting catalog to Universal Music Publishing Group for an undisclosed price that’s estimated to be more than $300 million (Rolling Stone), all I can say is, "Good for him". I'll do my best to forget that pathetic concert and remember the legend for what he did best.

Here's another Dylan classic…

No one's lining up to hire me to be a music critic, but I know one thing for sure, on the night we saw Bob Dylan in concert in 2016, he sucked!