Bob Dylan & Neil Young, Kilkenny July 14th

Sleeper12

For anyone interested. There is an act/artist called The Tallest Man On Earth and he's quite like Dylan. He's playing in Vicar Street in the Autumn. I saw him a few years ago and he is pretty good.

Layne

Great day.
The buzz around the city before the gig was fantastic, weather helped obviously.
Missed Glen Hansard, anybody catch his set??
Neil was really good. Really enjoyed Old Man, Over and Over and Love to Burn.
He nearly made a mess of Cortez the Killer I thought but managed to salvage it by the end.
Don't know what was going on with Rockin in the Free World, he repeated the chorus over and over again. Was like he was informed he had another 5 mins to play when he thought he was done. Killed the buzz a little.
First time seeing Bob Dylan live. Had braced myself for a trainwreck of a gig but it was actually okay. His band were really tight.
Won't tread over old ground. His arrangements and phrasing are what they are. Didn't recognise Blowin in the Wind until it was almost over!!
Was great to have seen him play live though and he got a really good reception from the crowd.
All in all a very enjoyable day.

loadwire

Layne wrote: »

Don't know what was going on with Rockin in the Free World, he repeated the chorus over and over again. Was like he was informed he had another 5 mins to play when he thought he was done. Killed the buzz a little.

No it's just a thing he does with that song, he did it in the O2 last time too. I think he's just having a bit of fun with it. Awesome gig. Cortez and F*cking Up were great. Enjoyed Piece of Crap too, that album was kind of my intro to Neil. Stayed for all of Bob, I thought he was great too. Loved blowing in the wind.

mcdaids69

amazed the sposed dylan fans havent been complaining yet...my uncle calls them the "i got a best of album of bobs once he should be playing those songs" type...saw him couple of years ago in O2 .great gig for a guy who does 100 dates a year..might add rolling thunder revue is a great show for even beginner dylan fans..puts it into context why he changes the flow of his songs

mystic86

mcdaids69 wrote: »

amazed the sposed dylan fans havent been complaining yet...my uncle calls them the "i got a best of album of bobs once he should be playing those songs" type...saw him couple of years ago in O2 .great gig for a guy who does 100 dates a year..might add rolling thunder revue is a great show for even beginner dylan fans..puts it into context why he changes the flow of his songs

What's the weather like up there?

mcdaids69

mystic86 wrote: »

What's the weather like up there?

great cant u see the smile i have on my face for ur comment or am i spose to fall to ur level?

mgkelly

Thanks for pointers beforehand about parking. Was p*ss easy! Short walk to gig. Neil Young was great, tho' my recollection was that Malahide was better. Bob Dylan was actually really excellent! I was prepared for a bit of a meh performance, but I actually thought he was quite engaged! His voice is pure mad! I've recorded a bit to play for the wife (who wouldn't come with me!) and the teenagers (who's Bob Dylan or Neil Young?!). He has a weird way of uttering some words! Wonderful. He was lovely and clear. Even recognised some tunes! Glad I went. Both were excellent for lads in their 70s! Might never see either again. Bob was a bit of a revelation to me! I think Thomond Park was a mumble-thon?
Also, quite a scorchio day.
Finally, at 49, for the first (and probably last) time I felt young at a gig!
In T2, Dublin Airport for my early morning flight to Rome and Umbria Jazz!

fafy

After a dodgy queuing start, in blistering heat, got to the front rail to the left a bit, Hansard was unreal, and definitely made some fans, very direct jab at Simon Coveney, over housing crisis, which he did with Eddie Vedder recently also.

Neil did about 2 hours, nice mixed up setlist, threw a few Harvest bones out there, but Love To Burn, Piece Of Crap, Cortez were some of the highlights.

Was not expecting much from Dylan, but i enjoyed him a lot more than i thought i would. Special moment when Neil joined him, without any introduction, which i thought odd. Neil was delighted to be there all smiles, didn’t recognize the track they did, an old Johnny Cash number.

Great gig overall, it was as fine up front, good venue to get out quick. A few people had to be pulled out, due heat/drunk etc, all over 50 !

Great Dylan setlist- something for everyone

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bob-dylan/2019/nowlan-park-kilkenny-ireland-339ef409.html

Sleeper12

fafy wrote:

After a dodgy queuing start, in blistering heat, got to the front rail to the left a bit, Hansard was unreal, and definitely made some fans, very direct jab at Simon Coveney, over housing crisis, which he did with Eddie Vedder recently also.

Spent almost 30 minutes queuing to get in only to find out that we had wasted our time as it was for standing. It wasn't signposted well at all. Not the end of the world. We were still in good form by the time we got in.

I thought the sound was good. Some outdoor venues can lose the sound. RDS outdoor & Croke Park can be terrible.

greenspurs

Great day out.

A complete balls up of a Q 'system' though..
It took me from 5.00 until 5.40 to get into the pitch.
I missed all of Glen Hansard, I could hear him from outside, but surely to god it shouldn't take 40mins to get in ffs!!!

Neil Young rocked it! Rocked it .
Loved every minute of seeing a rock monolith 30 foot in front of me.
Great setlist, great performance from the band, and Neil was well on form !

Left right after Neil, and was sitting at home watching the Sunday Game an hour later.

Strange seeing 60ish year olds smoking some weird looking, and smelling , sh1t, and openly taking coke while standing in the crowd..... Anyway, different strokes …….


It was great to see Neil Young still rockin , 26 years after I saw him in Slane !
Rock on sir !


*ps Sound was excellent !! Kudos to the 'Sound Guys' !!

The Nal

Deskjockey

Hadn't seen either act before in the flesh...was absolutely blown away by Neil Young, amazing show and absolutely rocked the place. Wouldn't have known half the songs - really only know the tracks on "Decade"- but didn't matter, the attitude and craftsmanship was first class, and the band seemed to be having the crack rocking it out. Plenty of room up at the front and had a great view.

Had skimmed over the guardian review of the hyde park gig where they noted Bob Dylan was playing "jazzy rearrangements" or somesuch of some of his songs, but have to say was really disappointed that all of his best loved hits were changed beyond recognition and all in all left me cold. I should have gone home to watch the Sunday Game, but stayed to the bitter end as friends were enjoying him.

Brilliant buzz around Kilkenny anyway - the town was hopping, and great to see such a legend as Neil Young in Nowlan Park

Sleeper12

greenspurs wrote:

A complete balls up of a Q 'system' though.. It took me from 5.00 until 5.40 to get into the pitch. I missed all of Glen Hansard, I could hear him from outside, but surely to god it shouldn't take 40mins to get in ffs!!!

I must have been right beside you outside.

I was wondering if it takes this long to get people in to the grounds, what happens in an emergency? I'm surprised that they can get planning permission for this sized crowd if they can't get them in & out in a smart manner.

greenspurs

Sleeper12 wrote: »

I must have been right beside you outside.

I was wondering if it takes this long to get people in to the grounds, what happens in an emergency? I'm surprised that they can get planning permission for this sized crowd if they can't get them in & out in a smart manner.

Why didn't you say hello !?? :P:D

1 gate open at the start, then they opened the stiles ….. Ar$e about face ….

TheDocMan

Yea, 45mins in a totally unstructured queue. Only bit of info came from a bicycle garda- ( who I'm sure his brief isnt organisation crowd management for the promoters).
When inside the toilet queues were a disaster too. Another 30mins of concert time gone. Maybe they should consider adding some extra toilets when 28000 people, most drinking, are in a stadium for 6-8 hrs. But hey they dont give a toss do they." We've you're money so f... off and put up with it"
Missed Glen Hansard. Neil Young was excellent ( minus 15mins in toilet queue). Dylan was ****e - no problem with reinterpretation of songs if they add something but these were murdered. Think hes not capable of delivering a decent gig anymore. Same rubbish last time in Kilkenny

Ivefoundgod

Enjoyed the show but the queues for food were ridiculous. I was in the stand and we got in quickly enough, arrived at 4.45ish and queued for about 10 minutes or so. Bar queues were fine in the section behind the stand, we waited until Neil Young finished and ventured out for food. Gave up due to the queues. After Dylans 2nd song we went out again and queues were still crazy. due to sheer desperation for food we ended up up getting hot dogs after 35+ minute queue. Missed almost half of Dylans set (including duet with Neil) which put a serious dampener on the day for me.

As for the music;

Hansard - not really my thing but he put on a good show I think and probably would appreciate him more in a smaller venue.

Neil Young - Loved it, much better than my recollection of Malahide though the first half clearly frustrated a lot of people in my section who hadn't a clue what the songs were. They got their moment with the acoustic section anyway. Loved Throw Your Hatred Down, Mansion on The Hill, From Hank to Hendrix, Hey Hey and Cortez. Great set.

Dylan - missed 35 minutes of this. Not the best I've seen him but definitely an above average performance from him. Loved Blowin in the wind, Love Sick, Girl from the North Country. He definitely wasn't a crowd pleaser and as expected the majority in my area weren't impressed by him. Always the way with him these days.

Mentioned it already in this thread but I can't understand people who expect a greatest hits Dylan show when they see him. He's been doing these reinterpretations for years, if you don't like them that's fine but its pointless expecting anything else.

Cazale

The new arrangement of The girl from the north country was worth the admission price alone. Dylan seemed in great spirits and put on a great show for the fans. The duet with Young was the icing on the cake. Thought Young put on a great show but the set list wasn't his best. Glen Hansard got the crowd going early.

The organisation of the gig left a lot to be desired. Took ages to get into the stadium and we were there before four. My wife is pregnant and has diabetes so needed water but they had sold out of it at the main bar by 17:30 while Hansard was still playing. I ended up having to get her water from a tap in the toilets. We were at the front of the stage so you had to walk to the bottom of the stadium to the toilet and when you were finished they expected you to join the end of the queue of people entering the stadium to get back from the toilets which took ages. The crowd surged at the security when I was there and they had to stand aside and let people onto the pitch.

I went to buy some merchandise and the credit card system wasn't working but luckily I had cash. I heard the whole stadium struggled to accept credit cards for the entire gig. As I said my wife is pregnant so we asked could we sit in the stand when Young had finished for a rest. The security wouldn't let us back onto the pitch area then when Dylan came on and it was only the intervention of a guard that got us through.

We parked in the yellow car park and it took us 50 mins to get out of there. All in all a great performance by Hansard, Young and Dylan but getting in, around and out of the stadium left a lot to be desired.

PTH2009

Didnt get near a merch stand what was there ??

Sleeper12

Cazale wrote:

I went to buy some merchandise and the credit card system wasn't working but luckily I had cash. I heard the whole stadium struggled to accept credit cards for the entire gig. As I said my wife is pregnant so we asked could we sit in the stand when Young had finished for a rest. The security wouldn't let us back onto the pitch area then when Dylan came on and it was only the intervention of a guard that got us through.

Saw a young guy who is a member of the cashless society left high and dry. This was early, before Neil young. Card machines were down and his ticket was scanned. If he left to go to a cash machine they wouldn't let him back in. He couldn't even buy a bottle of water & it was 22 to 24c.

My phone had full coverage and the 4g logo but I struggled to get online. I thought that maybe tens of thousands in this tiny area was suckling up what little Internet there was. I wonder was the card machine disaster to do with the poor to no Internet in the park.

Cazale

PTH2009 wrote:

Didnt get near a merch stand what was there ??

Got a rolling thunder t shirt for €35. They had a load of different styles for both Dylan and Young. I think Neil Youngs stuff was slightly dearer. They had tour posters, hats, bags etc There was a savage blowin in the wind knitted flag for wall for €100. There was more stuff but it was hard to see with all the people queing.

argentum

The organisation of the gig left a lot to be desired. Took ages to get into the stadium and we were there before four. My wife is pregnant and has diabetes so needed water but they had sold out of it at the main bar by 17:30 while Hansard was still playing. I ended up having to get her water from a tap in the toilets. We were at the front of the stage so you had to walk to the bottom of the stadium to the toilet and when you were finished they expected you to join the end of the queue of people entering the stadium to get back from the toilets which took ages.

If you don't mind me saying so you should have taken a bit more time to check out where exactly everything was in the stadium.
Water taps were available on the pitch to refill bottles.
Front of stage only had to walk left of the stage to enter an area with shops toilets and bars without having to go all the way to the back but as I said you might have just missed all the signage but it was there

Cazale

argentum wrote:

If you don't mind me saying so you should have taken a bit more time to check out where exactly everything was in the stadium. Water taps were available on the pitch to refill bottles. Front of stage only had to walk left of the stage to enter an area with shops toilets and bars without having to go all the way to the back but as I said you might have just missed all the signage but it was there

I was directed to the toilets and bars at back of the stadium by security as were anyone else who asked them. We were to the right of the stage at the front so I never saw the ones you mention. There was a load of stalls selling rockshore beside us but none of them had water.

sanjose1

What was the crowd there, I reckon more than 30k ?

corm500

For those who made it to the gig, they witnessed a piece of history. Variety is reporting that Kilkenny was the first time Dylan and Young have duetted in 25 years. Something for Ye to tell the grandchildren.

Sleeper12

corm500 wrote:

For those who made it to the gig, they witnessed a piece of history. Variety is reporting that Kilkenny was the first time Dylan and Young have duetted in 25 years. Something for Ye to tell the grandchildren.

My grandchildren will say, who's Bob & Neil?

Sleeper12

sanjose1 wrote:

What was the crowd there, I reckon more than 30k ?

Google says maximum capacity is 27,800. Tickets were still available during up to last night. I'd definitely didn't sell out but I would think it was only one or thousand shy of sell out if even that.

fafy

While i have criticized already the entry q for early people(we were in line at2:15pm). ,it went fairly well from there. Got to the front rail, just after 4pm, and didn’t leave that spot, until 3rd last Dylan song, off to the side, watched the end from there to get out quick, as we were travelling home. We always bring in snacks etc, and a good lunch in before we head in.

At the front rail, water available constantly on tap, security dealt quickly with the usual messers that go to these things, and a few had to be pulled out.


Its like every time, there is a large outdoor gig, its like a repeat of a lot of the same queries. People complain about toilet queuing after several pints consumed, people don’t check information, which was all available months before the gig (and the colour coded route was on all tickets and clearly signposted)and say they didn’t know which route, which entrance, people arrive at the same time, and expect to get in quick( maybe they should have showed the Kilkenny match there, might have helped this, but thats not normally done- only exception i experienced was in 2nd Slane U2 gig 2001 where the Ireland world cup match was shown at the gig) people complain about food q’s, as a good chunk of people, have to have a burger and hot dog ! And we all know the grub is usually dire at these things, there is never an issue bringing in snacks, fruit, & juices not in bottles. Not ideal i know, but better than nothing, and will keep ya going.

Have been to a good few-outdoor gigs, and if i’ve learned one thing, its about controlling your own experience, i’m there for music, not anything else, so to do that, you have to get in reasonably early, probably stay off the pints, and bring in your own snacks. Do that you won’t miss anything, don’t do that and you probably will.

Plenty time for pints post gig, or the night before in my case.

PTH2009

I don't know how I missed the 2 of them on stage together. Gutted now

Great gig by both men. Jesus that opening song for young went on way too long. Himself and the band were amazing and was so cool hearing Rockin in the free world

Dylan is good and seemed in decent form. Loved Ain't me babe and Like a rolling stone.

Those toilets near the terrace were a joke and some ended up pissing against the wall ha. Yeah missed Hansard cause of the bloody que but heard it outside. Similar set too the 3arena one supporting Vedder

So happy I have the great Bob Dylan and Neil young off the bucket list. It's hard too knw will we see them here again

weser777

Cazale wrote: »

The new arrangement of The girl from the north country was worth the admission price alone. Dylan seemed in great spirits and put on a great show for the fans. The duet with Young was the icing on the cake. Thought Young put on a great show but the set list wasn't his best. Glen Hansard got the crowd going early.

The organisation of the gig left a lot to be desired. Took ages to get into the stadium and we were there before four. My wife is pregnant and has diabetes so needed water but they had sold out of it at the main bar by 17:30 while Hansard was still playing. I ended up having to get her water from a tap in the toilets. We were at the front of the stage so you had to walk to the bottom of the stadium to the toilet and when you were finished they expected you to join the end of the queue of people entering the stadium to get back from the toilets which took ages. The crowd surged at the security when I was there and they had to stand aside and let people onto the pitch.

I went to buy some merchandise and the credit card system wasn't working but luckily I had cash. I heard the whole stadium struggled to accept credit cards for the entire gig. As I said my wife is pregnant so we asked could we sit in the stand when Young had finished for a rest. The security wouldn't let us back onto the pitch area then when Dylan came on and it was only the intervention of a guard that got us through.

We parked in the yellow car park and it took us 50 mins to get out of there. All in all a great performance by Hansard, Young and Dylan but getting in, around and out of the stadium left a lot to be desired.

By reading your comments, I think you would have a gripe no matter what - - I've never been there before yesterday, but found the parking, location etc to be very handy.

And I was standing, but got a pain in my hole cos my misses isn't the tallest, so we asked could we sit in the stand - the steward let us in no problem..the steward didn't have to let us into the stand, but he did out of niceness -