Bob Dylan Big As Ever In Gorge Return

It was 10 years ago that Bob Dylan last performed at The Gorge in George, Wash.

Back then the amphitheater overlooking the Columbia River held half the people it does today. And Bob Dylan was the biggest act ever booked.

Needless to say, the show more than sold out.

“They sold 17,000 tickets to a place that was really probably made to hold about 10,000,” says Jeff Trisler, vice president of Universal Concerts, which now owns The Gorge. “The people that came had a very memorable experience.”

Certainly a good many things have changed in the decade since that concert.

The amphitheater has grown to a capacity of 20,000. It’s hosted acts that range from Yanni to Lollapalooza. It’s also become one of the best outdoor concert venues in North America. Bob Dylan, a music icon who embodies constant change, has watched his career slump and then return to Grammy-winning heights.

He’s performed before The Pope, bringing an end to the rock-music-is-devil’s-music credo. He’s watched his son usher in a new era of Dylan influence.

Now, a decade later, Dylan returns for two nights at the outdoor amphitheater in Central Washington. He’ll be joined by Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell.

For The Gorge Amphitheater, Dylan’s show again represents the biggest show the Gorge has booked to date. Biggest not so much in terms of crowd numbers but in sheer musical density - biggest in terms of the rock and roll history these artists embody.

“I think it’s the most powerful and interesting multiple-act show that we have ever produced,” Trisler says.

“We’re looking at three artists, each of whom has a 30-plus year career. It’s a phenomenal body of music.”

These artists are counted among the most influential in the history of rock and roll music. Their work and their lives have shaped droves of artists to follow.

There is Mitchell, the singer/ songwriter whose highly respected career played not only a momentous role in the pop-folk of the ‘60s and ‘70s, but continued through the decades to be innovative in the realm of jazz and rock.

There is Morrison, the Belfast-born bard whose influence as a songwriter is rivaled only by the likes of Bob Dylan. With his deeply personal poetry set to a rugged, emotive vocal style, Morrison has spent three decades blending soul, blues and folk rock into a highly original music form.

And then there is Dylan himself, part rock ‘n’ roll legend, part cult figure. The most influential pop folk musician of the ‘60s, his music has changed the face of popular music time and again over the last four decades.

And although Dylan’s career and personal life have swung from high to low and back again, when he plays this weekend it will be on the heels of long-deserved finally-received recognition of his work. Earlier this year he was awarded three Grammys for his latest album “Time Out of Mind.”

In what seems one of the monumental oversights in music history, prior to the latest Grammy Awards Dylan had received only three of those awards during the previous 35 years of his career.

Fortunately, it seems, things do change with time.

Bob Dylan, Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell perform Saturday and Sunday at The Gorge. The Saturday show begins at 7 p.m. and is sold out. The Sunday show begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are $84, $63, $47.25, and are available through Ticketmaster.