 |
One big difference between Rolling Thunder ’75 and ’76 I’ve mentioned before: The size of the venues. In 1975, for the most part, Dylan played small theaters, and tickets were hard to come by. In 1976, Dylan mostly played giant arenas and stadiums. Tickets were easier to get, and in a few cases the shows sold so poorly they had to be canceled.
Today’s show in Tallahassee is the first I’ve seen with that 1975 ticket energy. After the big outdoor show in Gainesville, Dylan wanted to play the university gym. Tickets, for once, went fast:
 |
The show almost got canceled before it even began anyway. Dylan’s people were apparently pissed that word leaked out in the Tallahassee Democrat a few days early, in an article headlined “Dylan Coming to Town?” The tour’s advance man Josh Shorr was also concerned about a rumor he heard that an FSU fraternity had acquired a large block of tickets to resell. “He was very unhappy,” the local promoter told the paper. “They don’t want the university community to have more of a chance to get tickets than the ‘street people.’”
During the show, a large group of people who couldn’t get tickets sat on a hill outside the gym to try to hear what was happening inside. One fan remembers security opening a side door so they could hear better, and Joan Baez coming to the door to wave. Another remembers Baez actually pulling a speaker to the doorway to let them enjoy the music too.
Strangely, I found not one but two bomb threats connected to the concert. The first is, admittedly, a tangential connection:
No comments:
Post a Comment