The joint was jumpin '... much to my surprise, really. It had been almost 30 years since I saw any concert at Chicago's historic Aragon Ballroom and 15 since I had seen Bob . Frankly, I had really low expectations in general. I had read the acoustics were worse than ever at the Aragon, that Bob's tour was one big commercial affair and that Bob's voice had "issues". My main objective in going was to give my young daughter the opportunity to see THE legend and fulfilling that objective alone would suffice.

Don't believe everything you read.

Because this venue offers general admission only , we set out for the Aragon in the early afternoon. When we arrived , we were thrilled to see that only a few people had lined up- a pleasant and mellow , but energetic crowd, ages spanning 40 wonderful, Dylan filled years .
A good 2 and half hours before we were even allowed to go into the theatre, Andre' , apparently with the tour , comes out. He greets us all , asks to look at our tickets and begins organizing people according to what they had purchased. I've been to well over 100 concerts in my lifetime and I have NEVER had that kind of personalized , professional, and reassuring treatment. The antithesis of a "commercial" tour. Andre' , you rock!

We had a smooth and pleasant (though self- hurried) entrance to the grand ballroom and easily secured an excellent viewing position that we were hoping to earn with our wait.
Gone are the dingy carpets and metal folding chairs that I remembered from the '80's -replaced by a new hardwood floor ( no doubt what the place originally had). Besides that, the million dollar bash of a building built in 1926 was as interesting , beautiful , and full of character as ever. In my opinion, an acceptable venue for Bob Dylan .

Before we knew it - there they were. There HE was ,Bob, in all his purple suited glory. The joint WAS jumpin' , how could it not be . The band was smokin' . Bob was Hot . I was... stunned ! He sounded GREAT! (playlist can , of course , be seen here on boblinks ( http://www.boblinks.com/102909s.html ).

I have to admit , it's hard not to notice Charlie Sexton . He brings that classic, wild eyed "rockin' roll DUDE extraordinaire element to the band. But there is no question , this is Bob Dylan's band and he commands it wonderfully. I just can't say enough about each and every member of the band - the total, rich , sometimes mystifying sound they manifest as a whole - effortlessly transitioning from one music genre to another, all classified as DYLAN.
What did I like most about the whole experience ? That Bob seemed happy . Grinning like a Cheshire cat throughout a majority of the concert, he was clearly having a good time and made us aware that WE knew what was happening there, even if Mr. Jones hadn't a clue.