Bob Dylan played a standing-room-only show in Fort Lauderdale last month as part of his 2018 tour
SHADE-O-METER RATING
5 OUTTA 5 WERKS: “10s ACROSS THE BOARD – LEGENDARY STATUS”
Who’s Bob Dylan? I’m sure that we all know who he is. What’s the Au-Rene Theater? It’s the main theater at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. It holds about 2,600 people, and it has three levels. How was the venue? It’s first-rate. How was the parking? They have valet, or you can park in the garage for $12. The garage is about a block away. Does the venue serve liquor? Yes, and there are multiple bars. We got one double chardonnay for $19. How was the drink? Fine.
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Does the venue serve food? They have some snacks. How was the food? We got a chocolate bar. It was good; it costs about $3. Where were the seats? At the back of the mezzanine, a.k.a., the second level. How much were the tickets? About $110 each, including those annoying Ticketmaster fees. The flat price was $93.75 each (how did they come up with 75 cents?). Was the show sold out? Yes, completely. They even had a standing-room-only area. Was there an opening act? No.
How was the show? I’ve seen him several times before, and, concerning the sound of the whole band, there’s no one that sounds quite like them. The closest comparison I can think of is The Stones. The reason that The Stones sound different than everyone else is that the songs are driven by Richards on the guitar, as opposed to just about what everyone else does, where the rhythm section (the drums and bass) drives the song. It’s said that this is a dangerous way to play, but, if one can do it right, there’s nothing that sounds like it. The same thing is going on here with the Dylan band—He’s leading the songs from the piano. Regarding the songs, it’s common knowledge that Dylan’s not going to perform them as written, and this show was no exception. The set consisted of a mix of standards and the obscure. Standards consisted of “It Ain’t Me, Babe” (a fabulous subverted version of it), “Highway 61 Revisited,” “Like A Rolling Stone” (this one really got the crowd jazzed up), and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” The band consisted of either four or five members (I couldn’t quite tell because of the distance) and, particularly with the lighting, came off like the house band from a David Lynch film.
How was the crowd? Here’s where it gets interesting. No photography was permitted, and the ushers were swirling around like hawks over this one. The crowd mostly consisted of baby boomers, and we all know how they are when it comes to cell phones—those fingers had to of been itching like mad to satisfy the Facebook beast. And satisfy it they would, for they started with the phones during the last few songs. The ushers tried to stop it, but there was just too many at once. I can guess why Dylan prohibits the phones, but one wonders if it would be less distracting to just let them do it than to try to hold them back, because, ultimately, there’s really no stopping them. You also had a fair amount of ones who left halfway through the show, no doubt, because they weren’t getting the typical “rock concert” experience. Have they watched one live video of Dylan’s that was recorded over the past 30 years?
What could have improved the show? Really, nothing. Either you like him or you don’t, but the music was on point. And for those who are critical about Dylan’s voice, it is what it is. They should know what they’re getting into by now. Regarding the abundance of merchandise, I’m not sure that that aligns with Dylan’s no-nonsense image. What was surprising about the show? The way that Dylan interacts with the crowd. I thought that I remembered him at least greeting the audience in the past. There was none of that here. He never addressed the audience (not once), he either stayed behind the piano or very far upstage the entire time, there were no spotlights or video screens of him, and his exit consisted of one brief bow with the rest of the band. I can’t think of anyone in the history of show business who’s at this level that did something like this. Even Elvis and Michael Jackson—both were known for having little interaction with the audience—said at least a few words to them.
The Broward Center for the Performing Arts is located at 201 S.W. 5thAve., in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
