The people at the table next to me are on a first date ( or more accurately one of those " we have been talking on the interweb, we should meet face to face" occasions) They were talking about dogs a few minutes ago, now we just took a hard left turn into " there is no god" territory. Oh boy, hope all goes well you crazy kids.
The in store radio just played -A Simple Twist Of Fate, by Mr Bob Dylan.... I enjoy that song. Over the past few years I have seen Dylan live a number of times. An eccentric presence to say they least, but I always enjoy it.
I saw him twice at Bethel Woods, near the site of the original Woodstock festival, one of my favorite venues. The first time there was a women sitting behind me, she was incensed that he didn't speak in between songs, he rarely speaks at all. She was working herself into a frenzy! Why wasn't he saying anything?
What the heck did she want him to say? What in gods name could he possibly have to say about these songs that haven't been said a million times before? People examine every word he writes looking for evidence of..... Something. He'll sing them, let somebody else try to figure it out.
That same summer I saw the Doobie Brothers at Jones Beach, another terrific venue, they played all the hits, sounded great, classic rock radio come to life. Now Tom Johnston, spoke before and after every song. The comments were mostly of tHe "Are you ready to Rock?" " How you feeling Jones Beach?" Variety. Which is fine.
I can't imagine Bob asking " Are you ready to parse the meaning of all twenty verses of Tangled Up in Blue, New York Ci- Tay ?"
John Prine has a nice laid back quirky uncle vibe on stage. An offhand bit of oddity here, a wry observation there. A personal favorite, when I saw him at Carnegie Hall he asked " Did you all find the place alright? " a wee bit of perfect.
The late great Dan Hicks played the part of a slightly cranky, sour show biz veteran who had seen it all- twice. " Thank you very much Ladies and gentleman" he would intone without a shred of sincerity..... All the time allowing himself to be drenched in self deprecation. A big star on his way down the ladder, deigning to do his best to entertain the Hoi-polloi.
My nephew Kevin and I had the pleasure of seeing Mike Nesmith in concert at the Boulton Center, another great venue, very small and intimate. He introduced every song with a short monologue that would set the scene. Each introduction and song were like little movies. Great fun.
Oh boy, the couple next to me are now talking about their shared love of musical theater. Judging by his tone , I somehow question his sincerity. Time for me to skee-daddle.
Goodnight Starbucks! You've been great! Catch you next time!
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