Bob Dylan’s a-changin’ just a bit too much

RE the review of Bob Dylan at the Long Beach Arena [“Forever a Folkie, and Now a Little Funky,” by Randy Lewis, Oct. 23]: “Thundering performance”? I don’t get it. I was there. That was the most quiet and subdued crowd I think I have ever seen. The spectators are more raucous at Disney Hall.

I looked forward to this show for five weeks, and was completely disappointed. He never addressed the crowd, never said hello, never said thank you, never said good night, didn’t come out for an encore, never acknowledged his fans.

He never touched a guitar -- which, I believe, every spectator wanted to see. His voice is gone, not enabling him to reach the melodies of the songs that we did recognize. Furthermore, it was all blues; if the rest of the spectators were like me, we came to see folk ballads, perhaps a little rock ‘n’ roll, and some solos.

Now, Bob has always done things his way, and his philosophy is probably, “I’m the performer and this is what I am doing,” but I think he should have given more to the people who purchased tickets to go see him.

MICHAEL MAJCAN

Torrance

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I just returned from having one of my heroes, Bob Dylan, perform at me. What a disappointment. As hoped, he played some great, familiar songs. Unfortunately, the way he chose to arrange those songs made them almost unrecognizable. Maybe he has grown tired of performing his songs as they were recorded, but I never grow tired of hearing them that way. It was like a boob job on the Mona Lisa.

BILL LAWRENCE

Hawthorne