Dylanfest 33, no symbolism intended
60 songs, 40 musicians, 8 hours, no repeats
by Garrick Rawlings
From humble backyard beginnings Andy Hill and Renee Safier’s annual Dylanfest has reached its 33rd edition, to be held Saturday, May 27 at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center, from noon to 8 p.m.
Dylanfest was founded in 1991 to celebrate Bob Dylan’s 50th birthday.
“We figured he was so late in his career that we should do something to honor his contributions,” Andy Hill said.
Dylan was coming off a decade of lackluster releases, and tours that did not yet point to his reinvigoration, beginning with his well-regarded 1997 “Time Out of Mind” album, and his highly successful “Never Ending Tour,” which continues to this day.
“I caught him last year touring behind his new album [“Rough and Rowdy Ways” 2020]. At 80 years old, he’s managed to squeeze out a few more shows” Hill adds.
The first Dylanfest was a one-off, four hour, Dylan costume party at the Hermosa Saloon. Hill and Safier got the idea from Cameron Crowe’s liner notes to Dylan’s 1985 compilation, Biograph (widely regarded as establishing the ‘box set’ format), where he described a party in New York City where the attendees dressed as characters from Dylan songs. There was no intention of Dylanfest becoming an annual event, and now it has grown into an eight-hour extravaganza with over 40 musicians performing over 60 songs, from solo and duo acts all the way up to a 10-piece band and everything in-between.
Their key secret weapon these days is LA-based, stringed multi-instrumentalist Marty Rifkin, who is a go to session and live player for Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, Jewel, James Intveld, Carla Olsen, and Elton John.
20th Annual Dylanfest poster, (left) modeled after bob Dylan’s 1963 album cover “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.” (right) 33rd Dylanfest poster.
The last eight Dylanfest shows have taken place at the Arts Center.
“It’s outside on the Torino Plaza. There’s a semi-circular stage, a proceeding march, a big plaza with tables and chairs or people can bring their own beach chairs and there’s shade. Some people come for a few hours, but I would say the majority of people come and stay all day. You are free to come and go throughout the day,” Hill said
“There are no repeats. You won’t hear “Blowin’ in the Wind” three times. We do get a lot of hits in there because we want to make sure people know stuff, but then we get into some deeper cuts, and new material that no one has ever done at previous Dylanfests. It’s cool to think it’s the 33rd show and we’re still hearing songs new to us,” Hill said.
“This is the first year we’ve booked a band popular in the South Bay, called Feed The Kitty. There are three bands that all have the same members, but different names: Dry September, Nextdoors and Pillow Of Wrongness [the band members switch instrumental/vocal roles in each band], and all of them are very good.”
Safier added, “We have a new group, some really young guys, twin brothers called Common Allies. Their sibling vocal blend is great. There’s a guitar player who owns Harbor Music in Redondo named Scott Gerber aka Homer T. He’ll be shredding later in the show, he’s quite a force of nature,” Safier said.
Hill said, “There’s a stunning version of “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” that a guy named Dave Crossland is going to do.” There are also some festival favorite theater involved, recreating Dylan’s early music video (some say it’s the first) of “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” with the hand-written cards being flipped, and ending up landing everywhere, and also “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” (Everybody must get stoned) where they bring out bags of foam stone that get distributed throughout the crowd and then get hurled about, mostly at the band.
Tickets online at andyandrenee.com, or the day of show (ranging from $5 to $100). Food and drink available, including beer and wine at reasonable prices. Food by Chef Michael Shafer of the acclaimed torrance restaurant The Depot. Food and drinks are cash only. No outside food or beverages allowed. Saturday, May 27. 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Torrance Cultural Arts Center, 3300 Civic Center Drive, Torrance. ER
