Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Amos Lee Live

On Friday, Oct. 19, homecoming weekend for Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana was kicked off in a big fashion. IU's Assembly Hall, home to the Hoosiers basketball team, put on a fantastic concert with Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and Amos Lee on the bill.

Singer-songwriter and guitarist, Amos Lee along with Fred Berman on drums and bassist Jaron Olevsky started things off at Assembly Hall. Their mix of blues, soul, fusion, jazz and folk came across loud and clear to the large crowd shuffling in. Amos Lee sang and played with authority along with his band and the sound was lively, original and refreshing to say the least.

Amos Lee has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, Total Request Live and Austin City Limits. Some of the songs have appeared on episodes of: House, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, ER, Six Degrees and in the 2005 movie, Just Like Heaven. Their 2006 album, Supply and Demand jumped to #16 on the Billboard 200. Amos Lee has arrived and is an artist to watch out for, job well done in IU town!

Next on the line-up was music great, Elvis Costello playing solo. Elvis Costello decided to play minus his group, The Attractions, this time around. Costello and The Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003, so the question is why go solo?

Not sure how to answer his reasoning for not having his backing band, but can say Elvis Costello put on one hell of a performance as just one. Some of the songs performed were: "Allison", "Veronica", "Red Shoes" (and had some pretty snazzy shoes himself) and his first recorded single, "Less Than Zero b/w "Radio Sweetheart" (single mix) out in 1977. He also played a song that included references to the ongoing war in Iraq and all of the brave soldiers and definitely hit a sensitive and touching chord with the audience.

Costello had many guitars set up on stage and would utilize them all as his performance went on. He was a one-man band, literally, and showed why he has been such a great performer, artist and musician through the years. Costello has incorporated rock, pop, pub rock, punk rock and new wave into his music over the years and proves to this day that he is still Mr. Eclectic.

His voice was nothing short of amazing, traveling all through Assembly Hall and just seemed so powerful. Costello surprisingly didn't do his big hits like, "Pump it Up", "Watching the Detectives" and "Everyday I Write the Book", but it really didn't seem to matter that night. Elvis Costello brought his A game to IU's Assembly Hall and offered an A-1 overall solo performance to the fairly large crowd.

Drum Roll Please.............Next up, the one and only Bob Dylan! Yes, the king of lyrics graced the stage along with his touring band. Dylan didn't lose a beat, playing to his audience and looked pretty hip as well with black suit and hat. He proved that he can still bring the genius to life in front of a live audience.

Dylan has gone by many aliases and has also been a singer-songwriter, author, poet, artist, actor, screenwriter and disc jockey. This jack-of-all-trades has been going since 1959 to the tunes of folk, rock, blues and country and played guitar, his signature harmonica, keyboards and of course vocals Friday night in Bloomington.

Dylan played many of his classic songs including "Blowin' in the Wind" as well as many songs off his most recent album, Modern Times. The newest album came out last summer and rose to #1 on the U.S. album charts, proving his ongoing longevity in the music world.

Dylan has earned endless Grammies, Golden Globe and Academy Awards through the years and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1999, he was included in TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people of the 20^th Century and in 2004 was ranked #2 in Rolling Stone magazine's list of Greatest Artists of All Time, second only to The Beatles. Bob Dylan is a musical genius and not just with lyrics, but with his recordings and performances as well. Still going strong to this day with the Never-Ending Tour, Dylan and his band have been playing about 100 dates a year since the 90s.

Dylan's signature, raspy voice was in place Friday night at Assembly Hall and just wouldn't be the same without that sound. The rough-sounding element of his voice has been his compliment to outstanding lyrics all these years. It wouldn't be Dylanesque without that patented Dylan sound.

Only surprise was that Bob Dylan did not play such classic songs as: "Like a Rolling Stone", "Lay Lady Lay" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". Just like Elvis Costello though, it didn't seem to matter because Dylan made up for it with an all-around great performance. What would you expect from one of the most inspirational and influential artists in music history? That is the real question and on that note; Bob Dylan is still a legend, end of story.