On Saturday, November 10th, 2001, I was able to view a concert of Bob Dylan at Nationwide Arena in downtown Columbus, OH. My seat was located on the floor approximately one hundred and fifty feet away from the stage. To gain a better understanding of the artist and the concert, it is necessary to take a look at the background of Bob Dylan. While attending the University of Minnesota in 1959, Dylan became attracted to folk music and artists such as Woody Guthrie and Peter Seeger. Folk music is a simple, acoustic style of music about common people and everyday events. Guthrie and Seeger began to add political elements into their music and greatly influenced Dylan, who is credited with pioneering the modern era of folk. Poignant songs like "Blowin' in the Wind"ÃÂ and "The Times They are A Changing"ÃÂ brought Dylan to the limelight. The lyrics for "Blowin' in the Wind"ÃÂ struck a cord with people as they so aptly discussed the civil rights struggle.
English: Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. cl...
Bob Dylan performing at St. Lawrence University in...
English: Bob Dylan at the Air Canada Centre, Toron...Released in 1963, "The Times They are A Changing"ÃÂ became an anthem for young people beginning to resist a government which they viewed as unresponsive and increasingly authoritarian. However, Dylan soon became tired with being a civil rights and counterculture icon and attempted to add new elements into his music. Drifting from the strictly acoustic performances, Dylan added the electric guitar to many of his songs and began a new era of Folk Rock. To this day, Dylan has continued to evolve as a musician and stamp his mark in the evolution of music. The concert at Nationwide Arena reflected Bob Dylan's success as a musician and his constant struggle to rid himself of the labels placed on him, but failed to evoke the response his music garnered earlier in his career.
As this...