Bob Dylan And Willie Nelson - Live In Tulsa, Oklahoma

So, the concert up in Tulsa was excellent. Rana made it, we had a rather stiff dinner with her, her sister, and a friend of hers, and then we piddled for a bit before Rana, Clif, and I went to the stadium. We got our tickets without a hitch and found some decent seats. The only real problem with where we were sitting was the people behind us, a group of a half dozen kids, aged about 18 or 19, whose adult companions were buying them beer. Lots of beer. And they weren't the sort of kids who could hold their alcohol very well; by the end of Willie Nelson's set, they'd already spilled a beer on Clif and accidentally punched him the back of the head in their enthusiasm over a song. Thankfully, they wandered off sometime during Dylan's set, so we were able to appreciate most of that in peace.

Willie's sound was a little too soft, and we had trouble hearing him over the morons behind us. Dylan was cranked up, though, and we had no trouble hearing him (understanding him, now...). He also rocked real hard, which you wouldn't expect for a sixty-odd year old man. I actually knew every single song Dylan played, and it was a pretty varied set list (mostly drawing from Love and Theft, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde, though), and it was a good mix of well-known tunes and exceptional album cuts. Among the highlights was a full-band rendition of "Blind Willie McTell," which ranks as one of my absolute favorite Dylan tracks. I actually kept track of the setlist, which was as follows:

1. Tombstone Blues
2. She Belongs to Me
3. Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum
4. Just Like a Woman
5. High Water
6. When you go your way and I go Mine
7. Blind Willie McTell
8. Honest With Me
9. My Back Pages
10. Cold Irons Bound
11. Visions of Johanna
12. Highway 61 Revisited
Encores
13. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright
14. All Along the Watchtower

I thought it was a pretty good setlist. Some of the songs retained just enough of their original essence to remain recognizable, and some were changed so radically ("High Water" comes to mind) that I had to catch a snatch or two of lyrics that I recognized to finally figure out what song it was.

Rana and Clif both seemed to enjoy the show. I know I did. It was good to see Rana, whom I hadn't realized just how much I missed. Makes me sad to realize she's been only a couple of hours away for the pass three years, and I've just now gotten around to seeing her a couple of weeks before I move halfway across the country.

Spent Thursday taking care of things in Shawnee. Got my car serviced and the bug shield replaced, which took much longer than it really should have (their fault, not mine). Also got a computer out at my dad's office fixed that I'd sorta accidentally caused problems with. See, I'd forgotten to replace the harddrive in the computer I'd borrowed a few months back when mine was on the blink. We got that taken care of, and I just decided to hang out at the office until they called about my car. Ended up taking care of Kathy (the tech woman's) grandkids while I was there--Michael, a 19 month old, and Andy, a 3 month old--so I was pretty tired by the time my car was ready. I ended up not making it back to Norman in time to work. Since I knew I wasn't going to make my shift, I stopped by Del City and visited Jess and Dom and their new bouncing baby boy, who is a charmig little infant with a full head of dark hair. Sat and chatted with them for awhile, then drove the rest of the way to Norman and went to Writing Club. Realized we only have one more meeting for that, so I need to finish up the corrections and changes on my story so I can have it ready for next week.

Hard to believe I leave in just over two weeks. I'm nowhere near ready. I don't know how I'm going to get everything ready in time for it. I guess I'll manage somehow.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Bob Dylan, "Blind Willie McTell (Live)"