Bob Dylan vs. Jimmy Buffett

Bob Dylan and Jimmy Buffett are playing Portland the same night. One is the poet laureate of the '60s, a bard of social upheaval and one of most crucial all-around figures of the 20th century. The other wrote the definitive song about tequila-based beverages (aside from, of course, "Tequila"). Other than being roughly of the same generation, they seem to have nothing in common. But are these two boomer icons really that different?

Current Sound

Bob: If an ethnomusicologist recorded your grandfather's barely coherent grumblings and set them against arrangements of pre-rock-'n'-roll folk and country.

Jimmy: If Toby Keith, Jack Johnson and a can of Bud Lime-a-Rita formed a supergroup to record albums to be played exclusively in the SeaWorld food court.

Career High Point

Bob: Opened for Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1963 March on Washington.

Jimmy: Opened a chain of Margaritaville restaurants in the mid-'80s.

Career Low Points

Bob: Being ostracized by the '60s folk community after going electric; becoming a recluse following a motorcycle accident in 1966; the '80s, basically.

Jimmy: His other restaurant chain, Cheeseburger in Paradise, got bought out in 2014, and several locations are being converted into Fuddruckers.

Fan Base

Bob: Dylanologists, hippie academics who study every lyric as if they were wheezed from the nasal cavity of Moses himself.

Jimmy: Parrotheads, a legion of drunken uncles in cabana wear who treat every show like the family barbecues they're no longer invited to.

Hobbies

Bob: Painting, writing, welding, golfing, watching baseball, collecting shoestrings and inoperable telephones, admiring ladies' headwear.

Jimmy: Writing, sailing, aviation, watching the New Orleans Saints and Miami Heat, swearing in the vicinity of children at sporting events.

Most Recent Album

Bob: 2012's Tempest, a set of ragged-throated songs about death etched with charcoal-black humor.

Jimmy: 2013's Songs From St. Somewhere, a set of dad jokes about Twitter, karaoke and Pussy Riot.

Definitive Lyric

Bob: "How many roads must a man walk down/ Before you call him a man?"

Jimmy: "Not too particular, not too precise/ I'm just a cheeseburger in paradise."

SEE IT: Bob Dylan plays Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St. 8 pm. $50-$125. All ages. Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band play Moda Center, 1 N Center Court St. 8 pm. $39-$149. All ages. Both shows are Tuesday, Oct. 21.

WWeek 2015