Musical Costumes I'd like to Wear

If I possessed infinite musical talent and an uncanny ability to change musical costumes, this is what I would like to do on a stage in front of a hopefully live audience:

Recreations:

Bob Dylan: 1966 – Mod clothing, hostile audiences, a fuck you attitude, and on top of everything the most freewheelin’ music of all time with killer harmonica.  Sounds like a good time.

Bob Dylan 1975 – Rolling Thunder Revue, rollicking adaptations, haunting acoustic songs, and a carnival atmosphere.  Playing “Isis” would be a trip.

Bob Dylan 1976 – Rolling Thunder Revue in a bitter, angry, punk tone.  It was a beautiful cathartic bitterness that has never been matched on any future Dylan tour.    

Bob Dylan 1980 – The songs may be one dimensional, but Preacher Bob is powerful stuff filled with conviction.  The 80 Gospel tour had some covers and songs never released on any album.  A tour filled with unparalleled conviction and fervor, with some great backing vocals and strange, born again ramblings.  Nothing says fun like yelling about “going down in the pit with Kiss”.

Bob Dylan 1988 – Dress like a bum and play old classics with a tight, three piece band:  sign me up.

Bob Dylan Present – Dressed on stage like a mix between a civil war general and a bluesman while dancing like an old vaudevillian playing a crazy harmonica while growling his way through old classics and new masterpieces, a Bob Dylan show in 2013 is a show unlike anything out there.  This is a true in the moment style of performance that I’d love to imitate. 

Lou Reed 1973 – Full glam rock mode (with the Frankenfurter make up) playing great songs.  Who could complain?

Lou Reed – Take No Prisoners – One of my favorite live albums of all time.  Lou plays the vulgar stand-up comedian, taking long riffs and monologues through his old favorites to expose whatever is on his mind at the time.  “Walk on the Wild Side” last almost 17 minutes and most of it is Lou calling Robert Christgau a toe fucker.  His monologues would be the best to perform in front of an unprepared audience.

Chuck Berry – Leg kick and roll.  Pure rock and roll. 

Rolling Stones 1972 – One of the most legendary tours of all time.  Who doesn’t want to do the rooster and sing some classic songs?

Sex Pistols – Punk music to angry crowds ready to kill you.  Can you say energy!

David Bowie 1976 – The Thin White Duke.  A perfectly dressed, detached alien who feigns love and feels nothing inside.  Plus Station to Station is a fantastic album.  A strange excursion for the master of reinvention.

Other:

Singing classic girl band songs with an all-women backing band.  The lead singer is a man who plays no instruments and just sings the songs.  An interesting gender studies ploy.

Playing a bloated, washed up pop star trying to win back his fans and wife.  A man on the edge of desperation, with his suit askew, playing his old standbys out of a new found power and conviction.  Somebody who has been down and out for so long and is fighting his way out of the abyss.  Nothing says thrilling like a comeback special.