Cheese Curds and Levon Helm

This weekend I had one of the my best ever music experiences ... and a lot of fun. I took Amtrak up to Milwaukee, checked myself into a hotel on Wisconsin Avenue, and walked to Summerfest where I people watched (lots of Rush t-shirts), drank beer, ate several kinds of food that was dipped in, brushed or fried in butter/oil. And I saw Levon Helm.

In addition to the expected old geezer crowd there were two kids in front of me (maybe they were 17?) who were so excited to be there. They kept jumping, yelling "Oh My God" and hugging each other at the beginning of each song. I'm not great at memorizing set lists (unlike my Grateful Dead and Phish following friends) so I can't remember exactly what songs and in what order things were played, It was a real treat for anyone who loves The Band though.

They opened with Ophelia and then did The Shape I'm In. I know Long Black Veil was in there before they went off into Deep Elum Blues and Tennessee Jed. In the middle somewhere they definitely played It Makes No Difference and toward the end we heard The Weight. There was an incredible encore of I Shall Be Released.

You can't go back in time. It's not 1976 and far from being Winterland it was Summerfest. So many Band songs could have made the show a lame and cheesy substitute for a time past. Instead, it was a different but incredibly talented group of musicians playing music I love. Larry Campbell and Brian Mitchell were great.

Rick Danko is always going to be my favorite-favorite but Levon Helm is my other favorite-favorite.

Why am I up at 11:38?

Because now it is Bob Dylan night and I'm into Planet Waves and Forever Young and Last Waltz.



For the record:
Love the pimp hat
Have I posted yet about the pleather, 70s car coats?
Love the crazy facial hair but glad I don't have to kiss it
The Band order of preference: Rick Danko; Levon Helm; Garth Hudson/Richard Manuel (won't pick); Robbie Robertson.
While we're at it Beatles order of preference: George/John (won't choose); Ringo; Paul.
4:57 or 2:49? 4:57

Evangeline

My friend P. said she was not sure she'd know Emmylou Harris if she heard her. I know she deserves a song all her own her, but I'll be honest, I don't love Emmylou's voice. I tend not to like those "she sings like an angel" voices. So I'm going to go with an old favorite and add in The Band.

Bob Dylan Day!

My friend J. just told me that her upstairs neighbor was blasting Bob Dylan and she was enjoying it and singing along. Unfortunately, it turned out the upstairs neighbor only wanted to blast Like A Rolling Stone.

Over and over.

I admit I like to do things like that sometimes and likely drive my neighbors crazy. I'm the woman who loves to do the "comparathon" after all and can never listen to Renegade just once. I also have some college memories of smoking pot (well, friends were, pot always made me unpleasantly paranoid), eating Doritos and listening to Charlie's Enormous Mouth a few times in a row too.

But I'm not feeling OCD today so I think I'm going to go for my full catalog of Dylan. According to my iTunes, I have 1.4 days worth of music (if I include The Band) to fit into my Saturday. I'm going to have to be selective.