Bob starts the 54th concert of his 2008-touring season tonight in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the city of brotherly love. I grew up in Pennsylvania, west of Philadelphia, in the coal seams of the Appalachian Mountains. A place where eastern European émigrés came to feed steel mill blast furnaces and practice their Russian Orthodox religion. A place of hard work, thick accents, and unfiltered Scotch-Irish fiddle music and rhyme.

The Scotch-Irish preceded the eastern Europeans. They explored, trapped, and farmed the Appalachian frontier. They played music and told stories. By the time I came along, a post-world war two child, the stories were legend and music flowed seamlessly along with gaudily clad Christmas trees and church incense.

We were taught those stories: stories of pioneers, stories of the French and Indian War, stories of settlement, and especially stories of independence, and how a group of gentlemen philosophers met in Philadelphia to create a new nation. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the shining city on the hill.

In time, my travels took me to Philadelphia. I imagined myself arriving there, another Ben Franklin, full of hope, arriving in a city of unlimited promise. I am no Ben Franklin and Philadelphia is not the city of my youthful stories. It is an eighteenth century city compressed into a twentieth century frame. It is hot, grimy, and ready to explode. Corporate towers hover over Independence Hall. Walking distance from the glass ensconced Liberty Bell is the street where Benjamin Franklin lived. It is much changed, unrecognizable. Plaques inform you of what was once there. Along a narrow alley, once a street, you can sit and reflect upon the excavation of Franklin’s privy. A privy pit and an unrung bell.

I carry the folklore, legend, and myth of my youth everywhere I go. I expect one thing and discover another. So it is with Bob Dylan concerts. I expect a young Bobbie standing out front in the spotlight by himself, acoustic guitar in hand and harmonica around his neck. What I get is the artist Bob Dylan delivering his music in his own way, in his own time. Reflect upon that.

Tonight, the artist Bob Dylan continues with the 54th concert of his 2008-touring season in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the city of brotherly love.