A Legend Visits Bloomington

... and we were there to witness it.

Dave Cookson and I travelled to US Cellular Coliseum last Saturday night to see Elvis Costello and Bob Dylan. The show opened with Amos Lee, whom I'd never heard of before; but he put on a good show.

After a quick intermission, Elvis Costello took the stage, with him and only his guitar. The guy can really sing. He engaged the audience between songs with stories about his dad. It was Elvis who provided us with our brush with greatness earlier that evening.

We sat in section 102, which was lower bowl, but close to the stage. For those few sections, there is the Jack Daniels Lounge, complete with easy chairs. As Dave and I sat awaiting for the show to begin, I watched the Coliseum employees go in and out of an adjacent hallway that had glass walls separating it with the lounge. Then I saw an individual dressed all in black, with a black coat, hat and the recognizable horn-rimmed glasses. It was Elvis walking towards an elevator meeting up with someone else. I frantically point and exclaim to Dave, "Check it out, check it out, check it out, check it out.." I couldn't even think of his name and thought Dave might miss out. Dave slowly turned around and asked, "Is that Elvis Costello?"

They got on the elevator and disappeared. Moments later, they reappeared only to discover they were on the wrong floor. I guess that can happen to anyone.

Elvis finished up his set, which featured of course Allison and Peace, Love & Understanding. Bob Dylan then took the stage after another intermission. And as I joked before seeing Bob Dylan, we couldn't understand a word he was singing. Dave and I must have laughed all the way through the first 2 songs he did. I only knew 2 of the songs he performed that night.

I was never a big Dylan fan, but I do respect all that he's done. He is a good songwriter and his band that night was excellent and tight. They proved that they could rock. And there were plenty of energetic fans in the audience. There was a couple, probably around 18 years old, dancing around like hippies from the 60's to most of Dylan's songs. It was entertaining to watch.

Dave and I skipped out on the encore, which I hear was only 2 songs. It was getting late and we were tired of trying to make heads or tails of the unintelligible lyrics that were sung. But in all, a good evening with a living legend.