Don't Think Twice

The truth of the matter is I was there to see Elvis. When Elvis Costello plays 10 minutes from your house it's time to get off the couch (or laptop) and go see a concert. The venue: DCU Center. Formerly the Worcester Centrum. As the Celtics were hanging banners and the rats were chewing up the parquet floor of the old Boston Garden, the Centrum was the hottest concert venue in New England. Now it houses minor league hockey and monster trucks and on occasion a halfway decent concert bill like Bob Dylan & Elvis Costello. No wristbands these days just a verification code and bingo your on the floor. First up Amos Lee. This guy's in fine voice and his band ain't bad either but after a few songs I realize this is the kind of music I hate. Sort of a poor man's Hootie and the Blowfish. Maybe he should open for Jack Johnson or Phish. That way I won't have to see him again. Seems like nice guy. Probably good at hackeysack. At this point the place is filling up. My guess is Elvis fans probably dig Dylan, but do Dylan fans dig Elvis? They do now. Costello was in fine voice. He opens with Red Shoes and he's already got the crowd.
The acoustic guitar suits him well and prevents him from playing those overextended leads he usually plays with The Attractions/Imposters. Some new songs, a little known gem, and some hits. By the way, I hate Veronica. Do you suppose I'm the only one? It seems like he plays it at every show. Anyway this is top shelf Costello worth the 70 dollar ticket price. A complete success. Between acts I hear people saying things like "I forgot how good his songs were". I didn't.

So what about Bob?

Well maybe I'm not qualified to review this portion of the show because I "left early". I don't want to say I walked out. It wasn't that bad? It was exciting to see the great songwriter as the lights went on. Nice hat. Appropriately, he started with Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat and except for the singing it wasn't that bad. Shortly after that was a reinterpretation of Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (reinterpretation is bobspeak for "bad version"). For a moment I imagine it's all right. Then I think twice. Some new songs sound okay but it's kind of wearing on me. We decide to go look at the t-shirts or get some food. In other words we don't want to leave, it's just that Dylan starting to ruin the good vibes of the earlier EC performance. I've had enough. Hey, it's all right to "leave early" (I "left early" a during an Elvis show once-King Of America tour). Doesn't make me a bad person or him a bad artist. He's still Bob Dylan and he's still a living legend. He's just not a living live legend