The San Diego Dylan concert was a big disappointment, which shouldn't have been a great surprise in retrospect. His voice is pretty much gone to a staccato growl, interrupted by LOUD electric guitars and a drummer that bashes your brains in. He didn't touch a guitar--just stood there wacking away at a keyboard. When he played his harmonica the crowd roared its approval--the only thing recognizable from the sixties. Of the entire set we recognized about two songs. The rest were blues riffs with unrecognizable words. I do think I heard the phrase, "and there were seven left for dead in South Dakota" in one song. That was about it. I think he sang "The Times They are a Changin'", but I can't be sure with all the racket of the instruments.

Not exactly the kind of poetry I recall from the early Dylan. Worst of all, there were no chairs, everybody stood on the grass for the entire two hours. We thought we had reserved seats and that the concert had been sold out. Fortunately, we found a section corded off for the infirm. Dave asked if he could have his aging parents sequestered there with folding chairs, so we got to ride out the two hours staring at the butts of the fans standing in front of us.