The couple of times I saw Pete Seeger live ~ both at Newport, way back in the mid-60s ~ were very memorable. Pete's unique ability to engage an entire large crowd and get everyone singing together was an experience like no other.

I've witnessed about 10-12 Bob Dylan shows over the years, and they included some of the best and some of the worst indvidual live perfomances I've witnessed, at least to my taste.

The first time was a good one, at Rutgers University fieldhouse shortly before the release of "Bringing It All Back Home"; this was part of Bob's final tour as a solo act, and he performed some unexpecedly strange new songs ("Gates of Eden," "Mr. Tamborine Man," "It's All Right Ma," etc.) without backing musicians. The recordings of most of these new pieces would soon be released with studio accompaniment (i.e., at least Bruce Langhorne on 2d guitar, if not with full bands), and would always be performed with groups ever afterwards.

The last time I saw Bob was pretty damn good, too. Although I understand that there are many folks out there who just don't "get" Bob's singing, many of us do, and most of us seem to agree that he has finally, after many years, become consistently good at what he does.

My other favorite live-music experiences have included many Grateful Dead shows. I don't expect very many Mudcatters to have shared this experience, but I'm sure some of you reading this know, as I do, that there is nothing like a Grateful Dead show. Er, make that "was," not "is." R.I.P., Jerry, it'll never be the same without you.