October 2, 2007 will be no ordinary Tuesday in central New England. At least not musically. No more than 50 miles will separate two legends. Two musicians that are true American treasures.
Bruce Springsteen kicks off his "Magic" tour in Hartford, CT, while up I-84 Bob Dylan will again play the aging outlaw bard to the fine folks of Worcester, MA. Currently, there is no real comparison as to which musician gives a better live show. Springsteen is all energy, smiles, fist pumps and sing-along rock & roll. Presently, Dylan plays a shifty, introverted show where it appears his aim is to please one person, and that person is under the cowboy hat with the famously reedy voice. Dylan also happens to be the finest wordsmith of our time, our parents time, and many of our grandparents time.
So you can see my dilemma. Having surrounded myself with like-minded followers of both musicians, separate groups of people close to me acquired tickets to each event for Tuesday, fully expecting me to revel with them in the presence of a truly memorable event. An agonizing decision was reached.
But it's only Monday, so I may change my mind.
Stay tuned for the concert review later in the week!
Shaun
By the way, what a crazy coincidence has occurred between the Boston and Minnesota pro sports teams. In this case, the rich have gotten much richer. The Celtics will be led by future Hall of Famer and former Timberwolf, Kevin Garnett; the Red Sox cleanup hitter David Ortiz is the best clutch hitter in baseball and a former Twin...and the icing on the cake, Randy Moss is playing like he did during his days as a Viking, but for the New England Patriots. But hey, sports stars always say they want to play in a warmer climate.
Amazing with the Boss/Dylan battles - both drop new CD's tomorrow. Bruce will give to us "Magic", his first album with the E Street Band since "The Rising." If the first single, Radio Nowhere, is any indication, this should be up to the Boss' usual standards. I had that track in my head for three days after I heard it on the radio last week.
Meanwhile, yet another Dylan retrospective, this one titled simply "Dylan", comes out in three different versions: a one-disc, a three-disc, and a box set that's basically a fancy version of the three-disc.
The funny thing is both are under Sony labels. If you click the link on Dylan's site to buy the new compliation, the "recommended titles" underneath are Bruce's last three releases - Magic, Live in Dublin, and We Shall Overcome - and Dylan's cd Modern Times and DVD The Other Side of the Mirror. Clearly the symmetry is no mistake - people like Shaun Mac and those who would read this blog were who Sony had in mind. This is no Kanye/50 competition.