Election night with the master

By Michael Fraase

Wednesday, 05 November 2008 11:37AM CST

Section: Politics

Bob Dylan 2008Bob Dylan played the University of Minnesota last night for the first time ever. While the front-of-house sound was a mixed bag—the guitars were clear as a bell; Dylan’s vocals were incredibly mushy—it was an historic, yet vaguely predictable night.

Dylan’s shows are usually either spectacular or spectacularly lackluster. The US election night show was more erratic than John McCain’s campaign. Chalk it up to constantly different arrangements for the old chestnuts, I suppose. The mushy vocals were attributable to a crooner with a croak and bad microphone selection. But Masters of War, It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding), and Blowin’ In The Wind were exceptionally well done.

Last summer, Dylan told the Times of London, “We’ve got this guy out there now who is redefining the nature of politics from the ground up: Barack Obama. He’s redefining what a politician is, so we’ll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I’m hopeful that things might change. You should always take the best from the past, leave the worst back there and go forward into the future.” So you just had to know this show was going to be a political statement.

The setlist was carefully selected for US election night:

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