Upcoming Bob Dylan show garners mixed opinions

Junior Jared Lance says he was surprised to hear that an artist like Bob Dylan will be playing at the university.

 “It’s not something you associate with college kids now,” Lance says. “It’s more like something you associate with the hippie generation.”

Eric Hartman, manager of Rainbow Music & Books, says students who are truly fans of legendary folk artist Bob Dylan won’t mind paying higher ticket prices to attend Dylan’s upcoming concert at the Bob Carpenter Center. He says students do not usually have the opportunity to see an artist of Dylan’s caliber within walking distance.

He will be performing on April 12 with Dawes as his opening act. Unlike most concerts at the university, an outside group called the Larry Magid Entertainment Group is sponsoring the show.

Since the Student Centers Programming Advisory Board is not hosting the event, ticket prices are higher. Tickets cost $55 at the Trabant box office and $65.50 on Ticketmaster.com. On Wednesday, a presale took place in Trabant University Center with tickets being sold at a  rate of  $33.50 for students only
The higher price caused senior Emily Anderson to question whether she should purchase a ticket. Anderson says she is currently deciding if she will attend.

In addition to the ticket prices, Anderson says she does not think the university has not been promoting  the concert. As a result, ticket sales may be lower than expected, she says.

“I only saw it by chance on Twitter, and they haven’t done any advertising that I’ve seen,” Anderson says. “So if I didn’t happen to see that then I wouldn’t know.”

Sophomore Amanda Espinal says another reason students may not attend the concert is the current age group of students may not be familiar with Bob Dylan.

“I think more adults will go but probably some college students [will attend],” Espinal says. “I have some friends who didn’t even know who Bob Dylan was.”

Dylan, 71, gained his fame in the early 1960s playing folk music. Many of his early compositions addressed political or social issues such as peace, justice and equality.

Dylan’s age may make him less relevant to the college students, but Hartman says students are still very much aware of him and his music. He says Dylan’s records are still a popular choice at Rainbow Music & Books.

“Students come in all the time looking for his stuff,” Hartman says. “Bob Dylan is someone that we sell a lot of.”

Anderson says since the upcoming Dylan concert is being sponsored by an outside group, she hopes the university will host more concerts at the Bob Carpenter Center that are not featured through SCPAB. 
In addition to having interest in more outside groups sponsor university concerts, Anderson says she thinks the university is in an appealing area for artists to play on their national tours.

“To be honest, the last couple SCPAB concerts I wasn’t interested because of the artists, if you can call them that,” Anderson  says. “If more people put [the Bob] in their concert tour it’d be an easy place to get to, because going to Philly isn’t always easy for students.”

Lance  says he would be interested in the university having more artists stop here on their tours, but he doubts that it is very likely to happen.

“It would be nice, but it’s tough when you’re sandwiched between Baltimore and Philly, so I’m not sure they could get many people to come and play here especially when the venue is such a small size,” Lance says.

Due to the Bob Carpenter Center’s limited amount of seating, Hartman says he hopes the concert will not sell out before he is able to purchase tickets.

Espinal says having artists such as Dylan play at the university is a great idea. She says it exposes students to different types of music that are not necessarily currently popular amongst college students.

Hartman says when he saw Dylan perform in 2008, he played many tracks from “Blonde on Blonde.”  He says while he enjoyed the set list at the concert, he will like anything Dylan plays.

The legend may not be an up-and-coming artist or the newest national sensation, but Hartman says he thinks Dylan is still a valid voice in the music industry.

“I love all his early work through ‘Blonde on Blonde’ and his recent stuff like ‘Modern Times,’ that’s a great record, and ‘The Tempest’ too,” Hartman says. “So yeah, I think he’s still relevant.”