Bob Dylan dropped out of college in the 1960s, but he will make his way back to a college town and to the IU Auditorium on Oct. 29, and IU students are ready to see him.
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are on sale at the IU Auditorium website for $55 and on Ticketmaster for a little more than $80.
Dylan, born as Robert Allen Zimmerman in 1941, released his debut studio album in 1962 and has been going almost nonstop since then. In March 2017, Dylan released his newest album, “Triplicate.”
Shows are like a ritual for Dylan, who usually sticks to very similar set lists rather than changing it every performance. An article written for popmatters.com detailed how fans following Dylan’s tour in 2015 were frustrated with the unchanging songs across Dylan’s sets.
Alex Meyer, a first-year student a the IU School of Optometry, said while his sets may contain the same songs, Dylan has different lyrics so no two songs ever sound the same.
“It is amazing that he constantly changes up his song lyrics, not simply doing the same songs the same way over and over again," Meyer said. "He is also such a mysterious character. You can never assume the meaning behind a song on the first listen. You have to keep coming back to it to find the true meaning.”
People often talk about Dylan's lyrics, for which he won a Nobel Prize in 2016. The list of awards Dylan has received for his writing doesn't stop there.In 1982, Dylan was inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
“I think with his lyrics, with every song it can range from one phrase to about a dozen phrases that just burn in your head because of how vivid and how powerful and how symbolic they can be,” said Mitchell Banks, an IU sophomore planning to attend the concert. “That’s the No. 1 reason why Dylan is so cool and so important, at least to me.”
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In addition to wooing crowds with his knack for lyrical writing, Dylan’s music has inspired many people in more ways than one, Meyer said.
“His songs have inspired the important social and political revolutions of generations from the 1960s to the present — for example the Civil Rights movement of the '60s where he sang at the Washington Monument during the March on Washington," Meyer said. "He has been true to himself and a great observer of humanity, writing songs about life and what he sees as important.”
Not only do Dylan’s lyrics inspire change, they also manage to push boundaries with honesty, IU junior Luke Klage said.
“The music contains an honesty that is hard to find anywhere else,” Klage said. “He is always pushing boundaries and not conforming to any notion of what kind of music he is expected to be making.”
Dylan, now 76, is making his way across the United States. After performing with his band and Mavis Staples at the IU Auditorium on Oct. 29, Dylan will continue to share his music in other cities including New York City, Boston and Washington, D.C.
