Aug. 12- Lake Elsinor, California
The Storm Baseball StadiumHere's Nancy's review of the concert.
We made our way through the Lake Elsinore heat sweating along with a diverse crowd (all ages and types) - on our way to the Storm Stadium - a baseball field disguised as a rock venue.
It was a triple header - Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Bob Dylan!
Who could resist a line- up like that?
And it was worth every penny of the ticket price.
First came Willie to a rousing welcome. This was Willie Nelson territory after all.
The heart of Elsinore - horse country, biker haven.
The more sedate sat calmly in the stadium seats, but the more rockin' adventuress fans filled the infield - cheering, rocking and dancing to the music.
He sang and played all the favorites - "Momma, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" and "On The Road Again" and others accompanied by his piano pounding sister and guitar playing son. It was a family affair and everyone loved it.
After Willie came John Mellencamp and the crowd went wild. We joined the throngs on the infield (tired of being sedate) and what a difference - you could literally feel the music - pounding, piercing rhythms - you could physically feel it in
your chest - thump, thump - every beat of the drum.
John also played some crowd pleasers - "Small Town" and "Rock in the USA", etc.
A true bonus was the appearance of T. Bone Burnett
who sat in on one of the numbers.
T Bone - the genius producer of the
music from "O Brother Where Art Thou".
John's 14 year old son played the bass guitar as his father
looked on proudly.It was a night of passing the torch to the next generation.
(Too bad Bob hadn't brought Jacob along).
The highlight for me was the fiddle, accordion duet by two very gifted musicians from Mellancamp's band. Didn't catch their names, but they were fantastic. Hard driving, haunting and just plain great music.
Then on comes Bob Dylan. It was great to see the legend. But honestly I wish he would just stay home. His voice is totally shot. I barely recognized "Like a Rolling Stone" and "The Times They Are a Changing" - until I would catch a familiar word here and there. But the audience was not fazed in the least. They rocked along as if he was his old self. Which he most certainly wasn't. His voice sounded like Tom Waits with laryngitis!
But much fun was had by all. We left happy that we had witnessed such an historical concert - and in Lake Elsinore of all places!
This was the only picture I got of Willie Nelson. So far away and behind the protective screen behind home plate. This was before we realized we could go up close into the "mosh pit"
Oh, wait I did get a photo of Willie! The little girl in front of us bought this souvenir ($25!)
Plenty of snacks.
John MellencampI know ! it's not a good photo- but it's my favorite. You can almost hear the music.
John Mellencamp's 14 year old son.
A very drunk lady and her even drunker daughter told us all about her Western clothes, including this belt and about what a great horse trainer she was and that they had gotten Willie Nelson's autograph...and on and on.
Bob Dylan & Band
This is why I couldn't get good photos of Bob.
Outside of the stadium.
1 comment:
Claudia sent me an email comment. She said that Bob Dylan is one of those icons that you gotta love even if he is a bit off key. I agree completely. I still love him. She also said he never could carry a tune and certainly wasn't a smooth crooner.
Agreed again. This is about the third time Nancy and I have seen him in the last ten years and I do think his voice is really deteriorating. It's even more raspy than usual. Each time I see him, though, I feel as though I've participated in an historical event. May his voice hold out for another 10 years.
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