Wednesday 23 November 2011

Notes from a Concert

Email
It all started about two months back, with an email from Nirmalya: Dylan and Knopfler are playing in London in November. Interested?
And what a piece of news and I said yes of course I am yes book it now yes and dream come true and loved them since I was little yes like crazy and yes I said yes I will Yes.
...Well, you get the idea.

Photo
Dylan at 70
But first, Dylan at 24, and six minutes that changed rock ’n’ roll.
Forty-six years on. Naturally, nothing this revolutionary was expected on Saturday, and nothing revolutionary occurred.

Dylan’s voice
Has changed beyond recognition
The three-note growl, they call it
And his band were too loud for my liking

Why we still bother with Bob Dylan live
I wasn’t expecting musical perfection, or to witness a seminal moment in rock history. I went for a reason as unworthy, and as simple, as this: to see Bob Dylan in the flesh.
But it was more than that. The last song of the evening was Like a Rolling Stone (for Mr. Dylan has no truck with encores). “How does it feel? How does it feel?” a thousand people shouted back at him, and for that one song alone, it was worth it.

My first Dire Straits album
was Making Movies, which I borrowed from a friend. It seems odd now to reflect that even fifteen years ago, original tapes of older music were hard to come by, at least in Calcutta, and were passed from hand to hand like rare and precious objects. In trying to record it, I accidentally erased most of Side A, including Romeo and Juliet. It would be months before we could locate another copy.

My first Dylan album
was a greatest hits compilation, also borrowed from a friend. I was listening to it late at night, louder than was strictly necessary. At first I didn’t know what to make of it.
My father walked into the room just as Dylan was launching into the chorus of Mr. Tambourine Man, and politely asked me to turn down the caterwauling. I wasn’t your typical rebellious teen – far from it – but I made up my mind, then and there, to like Bob Dylan.

Ayan on the tube
On the way home, Ayan remarked, “I’ve just been to a concert featuring two legends of rock, and you know which song is stuck in my head?”
It was this one, of course.

9 comments:

R said...

Hello, I'm new here :)
At Dylan's age, it's a wonder that he even performs as much as he does.
I saw Iron and Wine live a little while ago, and the encore when he came back and sang 'Naked as we came' with the whole crowd singing along was my favourite part- pretty much undescribable, so I know what you mean about the Rolling stone bit.
Dylan. Knopfler. Damn you lucky, lucky boy.

Shrabasti Banerjee said...

Hahahaha Kolaveri xD.

But...wow. The photo is lovely.

Rara Avis said...

My word verification is "mayliked."
Except for the anti-climax with Ayan on the tube, I loved this post. Wow. :)
Also, you're fairly ancient.

Pratiti said...

Fairly ancient, troo.

Sroyon said...

@Riddhi: Welcome! :) I think you may be the same person whom I once accused of being a fish (on Facebook).

Rohan said...

I had a ticket for the Never Ending Tour last year but that got derailed. But oh damn, his voice sounds so incredibly sensual now, a lot like Tom Waits.

R said...

Yeah. A genius fish who has mastered the art of typing. And I can safely say that that is one strange welcome sentence :D

Tapobrata said...

@Sroyon Da

Tapobrata said...

I have been reading your blog for the last couple of days, (in yet another chair-swiveling law firm internship), and I really enjoy reading what you write.
I especially like this one, as I have been admiring Dylan for a long time, and my tryst with him began in somewhat similar manner, somewhere in Calcutta. But most importantly, I like the admission of seeing "Bob Dylan in flesh".
Anyhow, before they ask me to prove if I am a robot again, to let me post this comment (!), I'll be off.
Keep writing.