Monday, September 17, 2012

Bob Dylan, Hershey PA - Sept. 9, 2012 - setlist and review

Bob Dylan is of course a legend, so anyone would be foolish not to catch him in concert. The Hershey show featured a great setlist (see below; 3 songs from Highway 61 Revisited, plus other classics).

What almost ruined the concert was the ridiculous security staff at the Hersheypark Star Pavilion. They took a "no photos" mandate to the extreme, barring people from even talking on their phones under threat of ejection from the show. The woman behind me was told to put away her phone even after she explained she was talking to her babysitter. I tried to write down a setlist and was vehemently ordered to put away the phone (luckily I was able to find a setlist online). This ridiculous behavior -- preventing people from tweeting, posting to Facebook, or even making a phone call -- was egregious, disheartening, and absolutely uncalled for (and the stifling of speech/expression in the United States by corporations is just sad). At a show opened by the great Bob Weir, a founding member of the Grateful Dead (who let fans record audio of their shows for decades), this behavior was especially appalling (I'm sure Bob Weir did not mandate this). I will not be attending any other shows at Hersheypark Star Pavilion unless they address this behavior by their staff, and I strongly urge everyone considering attending a show there to reconsider.

By the way, Bob Weir was fantastic too. It's a shame the Hershey staff put such a damper on the evening. You pay a lot of money for tickets, travel a great distance, pay an exorbitant parking fee, and then get threatened with ejection for writing down the songs? Wow.

Setlist:
  • I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
  • Man in the Long Black Coat
  • Things Have Changed
  • Tangled Up in Blue
  • Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
  • This Dream of You
  • Honest With Me
  • Tryin' to Get to Heaven
  • High Water (For Charley Patton)
  • Visions of Johanna
  • Highway 61 Revisited
  • Simple Twist of Fate
  • Thunder on the Mountain
  • Ballad of a Thin Man
  • Like a Rolling Stone
  • All Along the Watchtower
Encore:
  • Blowin' in the Wind
Selist courtesy setlist.fm.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012