Songwriter Dylan Still Touring Like A Rolling Stone

This week I am previewing a concert that will actually take place, unlike last week’s cancelled Piedmont Charisma show. That is, it will take place unless legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan turns senile or falls out of his walker and can’t perform.

I shouldn’t make fun of Dylan; he is the most influential songwriter of, well, all time. Plus it is unfair to discriminate against people based on their age. My whole qualm with Dylan sprung from that twenty minute song about scrambled eggs on his second to last album. It kind of turned me off to the man who once wrote the greatest protest songs of the 60s.

Though its not quite “Bringing it All Back Home” or “Blood on the Tracks,” Dylan’s latest album, “Love and Theft,” shows that Dylan has not lost his edge or his songwriting prowess. The only things that don’t hold up on “Love and Theft” are the cover and photos in the linear notes. I guess Dylan is into looking like a Mexican gangster/drug lord now. That’s Dylan though. Visionaries see things that we mortals only wish we could see, so therefore we do not understand them.

Dylan is bringing this show on the road and damned if he isn’t hitting every town around Cullowhee. The closest he will be to our good ol’ campus is Greenville, SC. Dylan will be playing the Bi-Lo Center there on Wednesday, Feb. 13. Dylan will also be hitting up Winston-Salem on Feb. 8, Atlanta on Feb. 9, Charlotte on Feb. 10, and Charleston, West Virginia on Feb. 11. Tickets for all shows are $39.50 before Ticketmaster service charges. Tickets are selling fast, so those who want to go had better call up Ticketmaster soon.

If Dylan’s newest tour is as upbeat and entertaining as his latest album, then it will certainly be worth the money and time. When someone let me borrow “Love and Theft,” I thought I was in for a disappointment, but it wasn’t. So if you don’t go see Dylan, then you should consider buying the album. You have already bought your books, so what else are you going to do with your money?

If you aren’t into Dylan, or you just want something closer, try Cake. Cake is coming to the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville on February 6. Tickets are $20. Other stuff to look out for includes Busta Rhymes at Georgia University on Friday, Feb. 1, Angie Aparo at the 10 High club in Atlanta on the same night, and Weezer and Saves the Day playing Charlotte on Feb. 5.

For any information on concerts, or for information on phone numbers and addresses for venues, go to www.pollstar.com or www.ticketmaster.com.