happy halloween to me

After this picture was taken this afternoon, I headed to Madison for the Dylan concert. That’s me on the far left...in the back...I’m a rock star on the weekends…as far as you know. My kids totally believe me…I’m horrible.


Wisconsin is a beautiful place. I may need to move here someday. But first I think I’ll visit sometime in December. Oh wait, I am visiting sometime in December. There’s this band called the Dirty Shirts that’s playing December 2nd. I think I’ll give them a whirl. I have yet to be at a musical event in Madison that I didn’t love. However, Wisconsin might be too cold, I dunno. I am a wuss when it comes to cold. I guess I’ll find out in December.

I almost didn’t get here. Tons of reasons, but most recent was the fact that my mother and father’s basement flooded yesterday. Yes, seriously. A water main break or something. But my mother, bless her heart, knows how much I really wanted to be here, and insisted that I make the trip. THANK YOU MOM!!


Anyway the drive was pretty good. Uneventful. The best part was the sunset. I should’ve stopped to take a picture, it was glorious.

The big question: Did I find the hotel? Yes, I found the hotel. Free wireless even.

In anticipation of either no parking or just your basic Halloween FREAKS, I decided to take a cab to and from the concert. Good call. You all know how impatient I am, and I think that trying to locate a parking spot may have been….well, it may have put me over the top. ☺

The cab driver dropped me off and I nearly sprinted to the door. It was cold. I got up to the entrance, showed them my ticket and realized that the bar code had fallen off the ticket! Seriously. So they sent me back to the ticket booth and I had to stand there FOREVER (or like maybe 8 minutes) for them to give me a replacement. It wouldn’t have been that bad except they weren’t talking to me and telling me that they WOULD replace it, so I was freaking out inside.


I entered the arena and found my seat. HOLY SHIT. I was way closer than I thought I’d be. The thing about getting a SINGLE ticket is, you can get a decent one!! Two years and two days ago, when I saw Dylan with The Soul Mate ( ☺ ) we weren’t FAR away at all...but today I was closer. If you are reading this Charlie, (yeah right) I would say I was a bit closer to the stage than we were in Carver, and in the center. Keep in mind y’all, I’m 5’0”, so seeing above the crowd is a bit of an issue.

I don’t care what anyone says, I will never admit to calling The Soul Mate from the floor of the arena. The thing that SUCKS about going to concerts alone is the obvious, no one to share it with. Plus, who the hell likes Bob Dylan as much as me anyway??? Only him, as far as I can tell. Ok, so maybe I called him, but I won’t admit to ANY tears afterwards. I know, I shouldn’t have called him. I really needed to see Bob without him for once. I liked Bob before him, I needed this concert to TAKE BOB BACK. LOL, that’s just funny….but true. I’m very disappointed that I made the impulsive decision to dial.

Anyway, The Foo Fighters opened. They didn’t suck. When I say that, it’s not the same as when my daughter says “He’s SO not ugly” (and the guy is hot). I literally mean, they didn’t suck. ☺ They weren’t horrible. But I was so excited for Dylan to get out there and play that I definitely decided that an hour was way too long for them to be on stage. I went to the little girls room, and then bought a pretzel.

He opened with Maggie’s Farm. I love Maggie’s Farm. I stood on my chair. The smell of cannabis filled the air immediately. Funny, She Belongs to Me was next. I always thought I’d buy Charlie a trumpet for Halloween and a drum for Christmas someday. Seriously, I thought about it. I know he’d find a way to use them in his music. And you fucking know he’d learn to play them in about 2.5 seconds.

Of course I made friends. I always make friends. I have no idea what there names are, but there were two not ugly guys that sat behind me that helped keep the don’t-stand-on-your-chair-don’t-take-pictures-
don’t-use-your-cell-phone natzis away from me. I was only asked to get off the chair once. Geeez…what’s up with all the RULES’n’shit????? And were the HELL were the cell phone natzis when some malevolent force of nature was forcing me to dial that phone number???? Ok, I’m done beating myself up about it. We should still be friends, that’s all. I liked him LONG before I loved him….and I’m moving on – get over it and talk to me already. And he’s the only one that I can talk to about music. FUCK.

I only had to wait until song number 5 to hear one of my favorites from Modern Times called Rollin’ and Tumblin’. Have I mentioned how amazing his band is???? The guitar on Rollin’ and Tumblin’ was awesome. That song was immediately followed by a great version of John Brown.

Gosh, I wish everyone I love could’ve been there….and that they would enjoy him even half as much as me. They way he pronounces his words CRACKS ME UP. I love the guy. My brother says that he hates him live. I just don’t get that. (He also votes Republican, which I don’t get, either). Tonight while I was listening I was thinking, “Does he ever get sick of playing Tangled Up in Blue?” And he might….but it’s different every time, so maybe not. ☺ That’s part of his charm, IMHO. And why is it that half the crowd doesn’t even know it’s Tangled Up in Blue until the chorus? WTF? Shouldn’t they be fans??? Maybe that’s just the half that was there to see the Foo Fighters?????

Some others included Highway 61 Revisited, When the Deal Goes Down and Workingman's Blues #2 (the last two are from Modern Times). He also did another of my faves, Blind Willie McTell and ended with Summer Days (which was the last song he did before the encore when I saw him at Carver in Iowa City AND when I saw him at the Kernel’s ball Park last summer, too).

The encore: Thunder on the Mountain (from Modern Times) and Like a Rolling Stone, ending with All Along the Watchtower, of course.

I don’t dance, and it was hard to sit (well stand) still.

This was a very good decision for me to keep the pact with myself and come to this. And Bob is mine again. LOL

As I walked out of the arena, with my two new friends (names unknown, mind you) I realized that I had a voice mail message. Remember the infamous JEFF (my only ‘friend’ in Madison)? Well, it was him and I think we are going to have lunch tomorrow. Don’t worry, I won’t tell him he’s beautiful. ☺

Bob and the band after the encore...pointing to the people in the crowd with costumes.

UPDATE: Here's a link to a review from The Capital Times.