in early 1974 i was living in a group home in the kitsilano neighbourhood in vancouver with a group of teenagers that had been involved mostly in car jacking and break and enters.most of the kids were from the east side and i was one of the only west siders in for marijuana possesion.turned out that all the counsellors were hippies and they introduced us to books and films that i hadnt previously encountered.we went to art movies,where i saw my first fellini film and i remember the books by carlos casteneda were passed around.but not long after moving in,one of the councillors named mike, found out about my love of bob dylan and he told me if i didnt cause any trouble he would let me accompany him and his friends to the show in seattle.it was the planet waves tour with the band and it was one of the biggest tours of the year.dylan hadnt been playing live since his motorcycle accident in the late 60's, so it was bound to be a momentous occasion.
we piled into an old van with a few of mikes friends and headed to the border crossing where we got a good going over.once inside the arena the smell of marijuana hung over the audience like a warm blanket.to be honest i dont think i experienced that much pot smoke at a show until a cypress hill concert in toronto 30 years later. my only remembrance of the show was the beautiful carpets and the lampshades that hung over the band members.very subdued.i was surprised that according to the set list i found online that the band didn't do a set by themselves. other than the song"the night they drove old dixie down"i probably didnt know the band.and i might have only heard the joan baez version on the radio at that point.not seeing the band later in the seventies would be one regret.they are definitley one of my favourite rock bands, but getting to see dylan in his prime was a delight.his voice is pretty frayed now but back then i always wondered why some people would denigrate his singing.i always thought he sounded great.
i never got to smoke anything at that show btw.my chaperone,mike,played by the book and got me home to my group home bedroom in one piece.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/bob-dylan-and-the-band/1974/seattle-center-coliseum-seattle-wa-4bd653ba.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawIonVRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHTkBWl-IKV5DEHlam9MEMw0x2DQHCr50W5QiwL-B7kvwSklg0G-f2aG7uQ_aem_fHUlOOLnktT0zlS2cksMBg