Dylan and Willie Live

Wahconah Park Pittsfield MA Thursday June 23, 2005

Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson preformed at a Historic ball park in Pittsfield Ma on thursday night and
a good time was had by all. This was a very special concert for my hometown and me becuase we
don't get act of this caliber appearing in Pittsfield. Dylan has appeared in Berkshire County before
but not in Pittsfield and not in the ball park in the middle of the neighborhood where I grew up
(Very Cool)8). An estimated 10,000 people attended this event making it the largest crowd in
the history of this park and I must say the every thing seemed to go very smoothly as far as
traffic and crowd control. Anyways on to the show.

The Greencards a Bluegrass group from Austin TX made up of Australian and British
expatriots opened the show in fine fashion with a 35 minute set of upbeat music the
was the perfect warm-up for what was to come. The atmostphere was that of a Town
Picinic and this continiued into Willie's set which followed after a quick stage setup.
As a matter of fact all that moved rather quickly throughout the evening . Willie and
Family took the stage and gave an excellent show. When I say "Willie and Family"
I mean that in the truest sense of the word. Besides sister Bobby and his band( who
are a family of there our)Paul English's brother Billy(drums and precussion) and Willie's sons Lucas ( guitar and vocals ) and Micheal ( drums and precussion) joined in. At one point Lucas did a rousing version SRV's Texas Flood with Micheal on drums.

Some of the highlights for me were Angel Flying to Close to the Ground, Your Were Always
on My Mind, Nightlife and any time Wille put Trigger though her paces. Remember you don't
need a Strat or Les Paul to play great lead if you're Willie Nelson you can do it with a beat up
old nylon sting Martin. I informed my wife after Nightlife that I could die a happy man now
that I've heard both B.B. and Willie play that one live.

If there was one disapointment it was that they moved the tour buses out so fast there was
no chance for a meet and greet. (Boo Hoo) :cry:

After another another short break Dylan and band took the stage as twilight fell and I waited
in the restroom line with my grand son. ( Oh did I forget to mention that we attended with 3
generations of our own family ) In a concert filled with superior mucisianship Dylan's band
was exceptional and I never knew Dylan could blow the harmonica that well. I could sit here
complain about the lack of guitar on Dylan's part or that he didn't the fact that he doesn't
speak to the audience but when the music is this good does it really matter.
If he want to play keyboards with and mumble his lyrics in front of this really hot band
let him. After all he is a living legend so as long as the music doesn't suffer who cares.

I did have a bit of a surreal moment during Dylans set as I walked up to get a closer look
at the stage. As I moved through the crowd this young lady moved to the side so I could
see. As I thanked her I noticed she was Sara Lee Guthrie (daughter of Arlo granddaughter
of Woody and a fine musian herself) I just thought it was cool to be listening to Dlyan
standing next to Woody Guthries granddaughter. I guess it gave a whole different slant
to the "family" feel of the whole evening.

All in all a good time was had and I'm hoping my fair city will host more events of this
type in the future. My compliments to the promoter, the police, emergency workers, crowd
and everybody involved. This was a first class event and it went off without incident.
Good Show !

Celt