Who: Near Dead Experience, Philosophers, Chest Fever
What: Concert celebrating Robert Allen Zimmerman’s eighty-second birthday
Where: Brooklyn Bowl, 61 Wythe Ave.
When: Wednesday, May 24, $15, 8:00
Why: In July 1987, Bob Dylan teamed up with the Grateful Dead for a half dozen stadium shows in the United States. Last month, Dylan’s Never Ending Tour traveled to Tokyo, where Bob surprised everyone by adding slot to his otherwise iron-tight setlist for covers of the Dead’s “Truckin’,” “Brokedown Palace,” and “Not Fade Away” (originally by Buddy Holly and the Crickets). So it’s only fitting that GD tribute bands Near Dead Experience and Philosophers (aka Phil and the Osophers) will be at Brooklyn Bowl on May 24 for a bash celebrating Dylan’s completion of his latest revolution around the sun. In addition, Chest Fever, which plays the songs of the Band with Robbie Robertson’s blessing, is on the bill, focusing on the songs Dylan and the Band recorded together, primarily on Before the Flood and The Basement Tapes, as well as their own tunes.
It also happens to be my birthday, so I’m requesting Jerry’s version of “Tangled Up in Blue”; meanwhile, Dead & Company have announced that they’re hanging it up following their summer tour, with their last shows ever July 14-16 in San Francisco, adding a bittersweet tinge to the birthday bash, which will also feature surprise guests. I was at the above show, at the Meadowlands on July 12, 1987, where the camaraderie between Dylan and the Grateful Dead is clearly evident, so evident that Bob asked to join the group in 1988 and maybe again in 1995.