At 60, Bob Dylan still forging ahead

Bob Dylan doesn't need to do this anymore. The man just turned 60 -- he could easily rest on his considerable laurels, maybe tour every three or four years, and no one could blame him. Instead, he tours constantly, playing mid-sized venues and constantly revising his back catalog to fit the strengths of his band. The evolution that results from these live shows keeps both his performances and the songs themselves as vital as they have ever been.\nDylan's concert at Indiana State University's Hulman Center in Terre Haute Friday proved that the man's message is as relevant today as it has ever been. Clocking in at almost two-and-a-half hours, the show mixed old and new effortlessly, and perhaps most impressively showed how well the songs from his newest album Love & Theft stand up next to old classics like "Maggie's Farm" and "Desolation Row."\nThe two seemingly conflicting sides of Dylan's art -- "serious" poet and old-time song and dance man -- are both brought to the fore in Dylan's live show. Standing in a slight crouch with his guitar pointed at the ground, he initially seems unemotional, but he shows his intensity with the smallest gestures -- a slight bend of his knee, or a small step backwards during a particularly intense guitar solo. The crowd is so tuned in to his every word and movement, they react wildly to the subtle visual cues. When he sticks his arm out to the side during a harmonica solo, you would think he'd just done a Pete Townshend windmill for the cheering he evokes.\nPerhaps the most impressive aspect of Dylan's live show is how completely he updates his old material. Musically, "Tangled Up In Blue" is almost a completely different song from its first showing on 1975's Blood on the Tracks album, and years ago Dylan changed all the pronouns from first to third person. The new pacing offers a completely different perspective on the classic lost-love song. \nDylan's 40-year-old war protest song "John Brown" remains unchanged, but has never seemed more relevant than now, and similarly, "Blowin' in the Wind" prompted peace signs to rise from the crowd.\nIn these complicated and confusing times, we need music like Dylan's more than ever. "I used to care, but things have changed," he sang during the first encore. I don't believe him.