This Artist to Rock the Kimmel Center

This folksy artist will bring a new experience to each of the nights he and his band perform at the Kimmel Center from Nov. 21 to 23.

Everybody loves his songs. And everybody’s got at least one that’s connected personally, proving that he’s just like you and me (except that he writes better and still invokes awe). It’s a different matter when it comes to a Bob Dylan performance. Will you get chatty Bob, or will it be turn-sideways-to-the-audience Bob? Will it be guitar Bob, or will it be piano Bob? Will it be an electric piano? An organ? A baby grand? And what exactly is that song he’s singing? “Tangled Up in Blue”? “Blowin’ in the Wind”? Bob loves to reinterpret, and sometimes the mumbles get the best of him.

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That said, experiencing Bob Dylan is a rite of passage. A necessity. A bucket-list check-off. And the band … oh, the band.

Bob’s Never Ending tour comes to Philadelphia for three dates (something he’s doing in a number of cities) Nov. 21, 22 and 23. There are some things that perhaps can be expected. Bob has been staying fairly true, so far, to a setlist of 19 titles. It includes several of the songs everyone knows and loves, like the aforementioned “Tangled” and “Blowin’.” But there will also be plenty of songs the casual listener won’t be able to identify. Some might even stump Dylan aficionados. Fans will have to get past that, just as they’ll have to get past their ideas of how the songs are supposed to sound.

Instead, revel in the way Bob and his band interact. His five-piece outfit includes longtime pal Charlie Sexton on lead guitar, Tony Garnier on bass, George Receli on drums, Stu Kimball on rhythm guitar, and Donnie Herron on all things steel (lap and pedal), violin, mandolin and banjo. The beauty lies in the interpretation: It might be the same setlist as the night before, but what you experience will still be totally different. Every night is a reinvention and a renewal. For Bob, it’s always a work in progress—even those songs put to vinyl 50 years ago. 

Bob Dylan and His Band
Academy of Music
11/21-23
8 p.m.
$54-$139

Tickets available at www.kimmelcenter.org.

Bob Dylan

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