Dylan visits Neil Young'a old house....

[bold99]

It's not every day that you drive home from grocery shopping to find Bob Dylan rubbernecking in front of your house.

But that's what happened to city employees John Kiernan and Patti Regan, whose Grosvenor Avenue home was the early-1960s domicile of music icon Neil Young.

"It was very neat," says Kiernan, 53, a landscape architect who claims to have spent about 25 minutes chatting with the greatest singer-songwriter in the history of popular music.

"It's a wonderful memory."

Two Sundays ago, the day of Dylan's MTS Centre concert, Kiernan and Regan arrived home between 4 and 4:30 p.m. to see two scruffy men who had arrived by taxi standing on the sidewalk outside their house.

"Oh, oh, Neil Young fan alert," said Regan, who has become accustomed to such incidents in the six years they've lived in the amalgamated duplex at 1123 Grosvenor.

She went to talk to them while Kiernan lugged in the groceries. After he was finished, he walked out to chat, too.

"They were older than your typical Young fans," Kiernan recalls thinking.

Nothing clicked until he noticed that one of the men had his black leather pants tucked into expensive-looking cowboy boots. He glanced up and studied the lined, unshaven face topped by a grey tuque and realized he was looking at Dylan.

Kiernan kept his cool, while Regan, a project manager in the city's permits department, remained oblivious. Dylan, 67, was curious about the house and neighbourhood as they related to Young.

He also made small talk about the weather. Kiernan replied that it was unseasonably mild.

"You're from Minnesota, so you know what's usually like," Kiernan said. "Subtract 10 degrees."

Dylan laughed.

Kiernan asked if they wanted to see inside the house, and Dylan was eager.

"How long do you have for the tour?" Kiernan asked, meaning the tour of the house.

Dylan replied: "We're touring for another two weeks."

They showed him Young's old bedroom, now painted bright pink and occupied by Kiernan's 16-year-old daughter.

"So this is where Neil would have listened to his music," Dylan mused. They took him into the old second-floor kitchen, now a laundry room. "I remember thinking I should have done the laundry before I went out," Kiernan says.

Kiernan explained the whereabouts of the Earl Grey and Crescentwood community centres, where a teenaged Young and bandmates played their first concerts.

"He was introspective and thoughtful," Kiernan said. "He had an interest in music beyond himself."

The encounter lasted more than 20 minutes before they left. Kiernan believes the cab driver did not know who his passengers were.

While Kiernan called him "Bob," Dylan did not formally acknowledge his identity. He didn't have to. "This was a guy who doesn't shake hands or introduce himself."

As the cab drove off, Kiernan said to Regan: "You were pretty cool talking to a huge celebrity."

"What celebrity?" Regan asked.

"Bob Dylan."

"That's why he looked so familiar!" she exclaimed.

She started screaming to neighbours who were raking their leaves: "Bob Dylan's in the cab! Bob Dylan's in the cab!"

Kiernan admits they have no documentary proof of Dylan's visit, nor did they even get an autograph.

"It seemed cheesy to ask," he said. "I was embarrassed that we hadn't bought tickets to the concert."

[Jaimoe]

What that article doesn't mention is where Neil's old house is located: Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Here's a picture of Patti Regan standing in front of Neil's old house - from a related story:

[Jaimoe]

I'll be seeing Bob Dylan on Saturday in Kingston, Ontario, a good 2 hour plane ride from Winnipeg (but only a 3 hour drive east of Toronto). Neil buried his father in Kingston two years ago - Scott Young was a famous author and sports broadcaster in Canada.

[ManNamedTruth]

I'll be seeing Bob Dylan on Saturday in Kingston, Ontario, a good 2 hour plane ride from Winnipeg (but only a 3 hour drive east of Toronto). Neil buried his father in Kingston two years ago - Scott Young was a famous author and sports broadcaster in Canada.

don't expect too much.

[Jaimoe]

I'll be seeing Bob Dylan on Saturday in Kingston, Ontario, a good 2 hour plane ride from Winnipeg (but only a 3 hour drive east of Toronto). Neil buried his father in Kingston two years ago - Scott Young was a famous author and sports broadcaster in Canada.

don't expect too much.

The reviews from friends that have seen him on this tour have been excellent even with Bob playing guitar infrequently. Veteran Toronto bluesman Paul James has sat in with the band for at least 5 songs during the Ontario swing of the tour and his set with Bob is a hightlight, so I've been told.

[aMillionDreams]

I'll be seeing Bob Dylan on Saturday in Kingston, Ontario, a good 2 hour plane ride from Winnipeg (but only a 3 hour drive east of Toronto). Neil buried his father in Kingston two years ago - Scott Young was a famous author and sports broadcaster in Canada.

don't expect too much.

The reviews from friends that have seen him on this tour have been excellent even with Bob playing guitar infrequently. Veteran Toronto bluesman Paul James has sat in with the band for at least 5 songs during the Ontario swing of the tour and his set with Bob is a hightlight, so I've been told.

These days, it really depends on what day you see him.  I've seen him well over ten times since 1995.  Two of the shows were horrible, three of the shows were fucking awesome, and the rest fell somewhere in the middle.  I hope you get a good one.

[bold99]

I'll be seeing Bob Dylan on Saturday in Kingston, Ontario, a good 2 hour plane ride from Winnipeg (but only a 3 hour drive east of Toronto). Neil buried his father in Kingston two years ago - Scott Young was a famous author and sports broadcaster in Canada.

don't expect too much.

The reviews from friends that have seen him on this tour have been excellent even with Bob playing guitar infrequently. Veteran Toronto bluesman Paul James has sat in with the band for at least 5 songs during the Ontario swing of the tour and his set with Bob is a hightlight, so I've been told.

These days, it really depends on what day you see him.  I've seen him well over ten times since 1995.  Two of the shows were horrible, three of the shows were fucking awesome, and the rest fell somewhere in the middle.  I hope you get a good one.

As much as I love Bob I stopped going to his shows about 2 or 3 years ago.  I just don't want to see him anymore the way his shows are now.  It is not very entertaining.   I'd say if you have never seen him go but other than that don't expect too much.

[Jaimoe]

It was a good show last night. It was sold out and the crowd was into Bob's retooled classics and newer stuff. He played lead guitar on a few songs, but stuck to organ and harmonica for most of the 2 hour set. Kingston has a nice new venue (new arena downtown for their Junior A hockey team). Around 6 thousand packed the place; all ages shapes and sizes came out in force on a rainy but warmish November night:


Kingston setlist:

Maggie's Farm
Lay, Lady, Lay
Things Have Changed
Spirit On The Water
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
Just Like A Woman
The Levee's Gonna Break
Make You Feel My Love
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
Ballad Of Hollis Brown
Honest With Me
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
Highway 61 Revisited
Nettie Moore
Thunder On The Mountain
Like A Rolling Stone
All Along The Watchtower