Dylan at the Palace- April 28, 2013

Last night's show at the Palace found Dylan and Company in fine form, movin' through a total of sixteen tunes.

Legendary blues artist Duke Robillard, who figured in heavily on Dylan's 1997 release "Time Out Of Mind", has assumed lead guitar duties with the tourin' band. As might be expected, his presence gave the entire set a strong bluesy feel. Major reworkin' of nearly every song made for a fresh, extremely cohesive night of music.

Dylan spent a great deal of the early part of the show singin' and droppin' in some of the best harp work I have seen from him. The band appeared to be enjoyin' themselves and this came through in the performances. It was evident by the end of the first selection, "Things Have Changed", that this was gonna be a Good One.

The latter portion of the evenin' had Dylan stayin' mostly at the piano. Robillard's guitar gave Dylan a few opportunities to step out in a bit of a different fashion from his usual approach.

Not once did Dylan pick up the guitar. (A minor disappointment for me- I like Dylan's guitar playin'...)

A number of songs had such radically different arrangements from what I was used to hearin', that there were times the band would be well into the intro before I could pin down what they were playin'. A couple times I wasn't even certain what they had begun until the lyrics started.

This show has made on to my Short List of Favorite Dylan Shows.

Damn Good Time...

Fish

Set List:

Things Have Changed*
Love Sick
High Water (For Charlie Patton)*
Soon After Midnight
Early Roman Kings*
Tangled Up In Blue
Pay In Blood
Visions Of Johanna*
Spirit Of The Water
Beyond Here Lies Nothin'*
Blind Willie McTell*
What Good Am I?
Thunder On The Mountain
Scarlet Town
All Along The Watchtower*
Ballad Of A Thin Man*

*Tough, but these are some of the highlights of the evenin' for me...

Of course, it would be wrong not to mention the venue- the Louisville Palace is hands down the most beautiful venue we have here in Louisville. Probsbly the coolest place I have ever had the pleasure to see a show. Breathtakin', exceptional sound, and loaded with history. We should consider ourselves lucky to have such a place.

Thanks, once again, to the Fine Folks at WFPK, without whose complimentary ticket giveaways I would have certainly been unable to attend last night's excellent show!

2010 Assault (Homicide) by Discharge of Firearms- Center for Disease Control (Or- Somebody Got Pissed and Shot and Killed Somebody, 2010)

Okay, Girls and Boys-

There has been so much "information" comin' down the pike of late in regard to guns, gun control, gun violence (ad nauseum), that I felt compelled to do some diggin' on my own and try and find somethin' close to statistically legitimate and specific- particularly "Homicides by Discharge of Firearms" here in this Great Country of Ours.

(No, not bein' sarcastic- I love my Country. So don't give me no shit if this should happen to conflict with your Particular Worldview.)

I finally found that the CDC (Center for Disease Control) doesn't just track my particular morbid statistic, but what appeared to me to be damn near any earthly way a body could cash it in.

Once my head stopped swimmin' from the shear numbers of ways to die and I regained my focus, I found these statistics for "Assault (Homicide) by Discharge of Firearms". ( No, these numbers DO NOT include Accidents or Suicide or Casualties of War. The Suicide count which, by the way, is freakin' huge! A whole other discussion...)

Just to be clear- everyone knows that "homicide" means there was a victim, a "target", and they ended up dead, right? There are no degrees of Dead. Dead is just Dead.

Okay...

Ready?

Here it is, anyway-

In the United States, in 2010:

"Assault (Homicide) Deaths by Discharge of Firearms" (by Age of Victims)-

Less than one year of age- 11
1-4 years of age- 43
5-14 years of age- 165
15-24 years of age- 3,889
25-34 years of age- 3,331
35-44 years of age- 1,673
45-54 years of age- 1097
55-64 years of age- 533
65-74 years of age- 207
75-84 years of age- 90
Over 85 years of age- 34
Not stated- 5

All ages- 11,078

This is the number of American Citizens intentionally shot to death in the United States in 2010.

I wanna go on, extrapolate, but I won't.

Okay- I will. Just a little...

I would ask this: That everyone think of how incensed we become over the disgustin' things that took place in Oklahoma City, New York, and now, Boston. Think about how angry we get (rightfully so), and how urgent Our Demand for Justice. Then, consider Our Lack- nay- Complete Absence of Outrage concernin' the "Statistics" above.

Numbers. All representin' Dead Americans. Intentionally Robbed of Life at the hands of Another- with a Gun. Someone's Parents. Someone's Children. Friends. Companions. All in the space of One Damn Calendar Year, with the Same Damn Tool.

Think about it. Politicize it, if you think that's what's important. These are Facts. Pure as we're gonna get. I can't tell you what to do with it. I expect Most will turn their heads.

But, if you read this, don't act like you didn't know, because now you do.

Fish

What a Rush...

Okay. I admit- I don't ever really recall sittin' and spendin' any more than a few seconds listenin' to Rush Limbaugh at any given time. Felt I'd heard enough clips and quotes via other avenues over the past couple decades to know that Me and Rush are basically without overlap- politically, idealogically, morally, ethically, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera... Nope, none.

So, I get in the company van earlier today. The radio is switched to AM (red flag, right there) and Rush is on. So, I assume out of some morbid personal curiosity, I leave it there.

And I listen...

Durin' the course of next three to four minutes that I subject myself to this "show"(?), I hear nothin' but a non-stop, ugly, name-callin', insult-slingin', mockin', derogatory, pessimistic, venom-spewin', piss-and-moan, hate-monger bitch-fest, the likes of which I don't think I have ever had the misfortune of hearin' before. No "meaningful dialogue.". No "discussion". Just mind-blowin', jaw-droppin' rhetoric! I am freakin' out! Yeah! Me...!

(Breathe...)

Damn.
If this stuff is indicative of the kind of thing that apparently shitloads of my Fellow Countrymen are choosin' to include in their regular diet of Sorry-Ass "Entertainment", then a good lot of things instantly become clearer for me to see and a little bit easier to fathom-

The Level of Hate and Intolerance I see around me every day is a Big Mystery no more. The Veil has been lifted.

The Blisterin' Contempt with which we so easily hold Our Down-Trodden and Less-Fortunate is no longer surprisin'. (Expected...?)

(Drink...)

The Deaf Ear and the Blind Eye that so often decide to ignore Fact and Reason, optin' instead to posit that Compassion is a Curse- a Burden yoked only by the Weak- these are now recognizd as Enviable Skills, as in "if I had been a bigger, more closed-minded prick, I might woulda had a better chance..."

The Capacity to be led by the Nose by our Opressors/Manipulators/Abusers- those loungin' across eider down pillows while bein' fed golden grapes by hosts of both Virgins and Harlots- as we relish in every minute of our Stupidity? This is the New Corporate Fascism. The True Face of Capitalism Run Amok and a Populace Turned Commodity. Rendered blind. Lazy. Blissfuly Ignorant. Mean-Spirited Mobs- all Pitchforks and Torches. Tens of thousands sharin' a Single Brain, and a shitty one at that.

Bigotry, Intolerance, even Racism? All dressed up in thousand dollar suits and white and purple robes, espousin' their Proclamations of Infallability and Unwaverin' Blockhead Conviction. Annointin' the Hoarde with their Faux Concern, dumped from heart-shaped boxes made of Death Warrants and Eviction Notices, pasted together with Blood and Bile. Uncompromisin'. Haughty. Swollen Fat with Pride. Drunk on the Sweat of Others.

These Abandonments of Collective Empathy are no longer recognized as Flaws of Character, Errors in Judgment, but are absurdly held up as Examples of the New Virtues, Badges of the Iron-Fisted. The Absolutely Righteous. These Cancers now displace Compassion, Understandin', Empathy- things which were once Treasured and Admired Values, but are now considered only Pathetic, Fragile. Crushable. So Crushable.

At Best? Instrumental in the Design and Implementation of an Untenable Situation.
At worst? Simple Doom.

Unbelievable?

Sadly, no.

Not so much now. No...

I think I might be sick...