handyfloss

The times, they are a-changing…

Indeed they are! The Dylan I saw and heard in the concert he gave yesterday in the Zurriola beach was not the one who earned his glory, but one living of his glory.

His voice has always been singular, but yesterday it was just degradated. He never let the camera get closer than a certain point, and we were so far away from the scenario that the giant panels were our only hope of catching a sight of his face. We never did.

He also made the whole performance seated in front of the piano, didn’t even introduce himself in the beginning, and actually said nothing during all the concert, except near the end, when he gave a brief speech of which I understood nothing.

I am no fanatic of Dylan, but I do like his most famous songs (“Blowing in the wind”, “Mr. Tambourine Man”, “Knocking on Heaven’s door”, “Like a rolling stone”), but also some others that are not that famous (“The times, they are a-changing”, “Don’t think twice, it’s all right”, “It ain’t me, babe”, “Maggie’s farm”…). However, yesterday he sang such twisted versions of them, that no one managed to identify half of them. He began with, The times, they are a-changing and Maggie’s farm, if I recall correctly… and I identified them by the lyrics, not the music. When he played Mr. Tambourine Man, the song was 3/4 through by the time people would recognize it.

Before Dylan played, Mikel Laboa did. He is getting really old, and it shows. He sang quite correctly (faithfull to his particular style, that not everyone understands), but his mental and physical health are deteriorating. Anyway, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy his songs. Some more than other, but all in all it was fine.