Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan Concerts

Bob Dylan: Temples of Flames 1987 playlist





Then, in October 1987, playing Locarno. Switzerland, “and Tom Petty’s band and the female singers he now says he used to hide behind, Dylan had his breakthrough. It was an outdoor show – he remembers the fog and the wind – and as he stepped to the mike, a line came into his head. “It’s almost like I heard it as a voice. It wasn’t like it was even me thinking it. I’m determined to stand, whether God will deliver me or not. And all of a sudden everything just exploded. It exploded every which way. And I noticed that all the people out there – I was used to them looking at the girl singers, they were good-looking girls, you know? And like I say, I had them up there so I wouldn’t feel so bad. But when that happened, nobody was looking at the girls anymore. They were looking at the main mike. After that is when I sort of knew: I’ve got to go out and play these songs. That’s just what I must do … He’s been at it ever since.
~From “Dylan Lives” Newsweek 1997 cover story (David Gates)

Temples in Flames Tour
START DATE September 5, 1987
END DATE October 17, 1987
LEGS 1
NO. OF SHOWS 30

I love the “Temples of Flames Tour” and have created a soundcloud compilation with 22 wonderful performances from this tour.

  1. Ballad of a Thin Man – Jerusalem, Israel – 7 Sept. 1987
    The music [Ballad of a Thin Man] is wonderful, the band is at its best (not at all rehashing the 1986 version, but responding to the frontman’s leadership by creating something completely new and fresh and spontaneous). In particular, please notice Stan Lynch’s drumming after the words “Thanks for the loan” and during the “something is happening” chorus that follows. Drummer and singer are clearly getting energy from each other (and the other musicians and singers are responding to both of them). It’s like call-and-response between Bob and Stan. Wow. Please also notice the beauty and inventiveness of the guitar solos and other elements in the instrumental break before the last verse … one discovery after another, by singers and musicians who’d thought they were pretty familiar with this song and are now grateful that it’s making itself so new tonight, and taking them along for the ride.
    -Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist Volume 3: Mind Out Of Time 1986 And Beyond)
  2. When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky – Basel, Switzerland – 10 Sept. 1987
  3. When I Paint My Masterpiece – Basel, Switzerland – 10 Sept. 1987
  4. Joey – Modena, Italy- 12 Sept. 1987
    ..as strong as the song starts in Modena, it does get better -band and singer and song go on inspiring each other and sustain that Homeric fire right through to a very colorful and striking evocation of the “town of Brooklyn” in that last verse and chorus. In the hands (and vocal cords) of a great performing artist, songs do indeed have a life of their own. “Joey” at Modena, and the Modena concert as a whole, stand as excellent examples of this gratifying and intriguing phenomenon.
    -Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist Volume 3: Mind Out Of Time 1986 And Beyond)
  5. Tangle Up in Blue – Modena, Italy- 12 Sept. 1987
  6. Pledging My Time – Modena, Italy- 12 Sept. 1987
  7. Lenny Bruce – Turin, Italy – 13 Sept. 1987
  8. The Wicked Messenger – Turin, Italy – 13 Sept. 1987
  9. Shot of Love – Turin, Italy – 13 Sept. 1987
  10. I Want You – Dortmund, West Germany – 15 Sept. 1987
  11. Senor – Dortmund, West Germany – 15 Sept. 1987
  12. Shelter From the Storm – Dortmund, West Germany – 15 Sept. 1987
    ..by listening to Dortmund´s “Shelter” and Dortmund´s “Highway 61” back to back with selections from Live 1966 and finding that they stand up well to both the beauty of ´66 acoustic set stuff and the excitement of ´66 electric set performances.
    -Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist Volume 3: Mind Out Of Time 1986 And Beyond)
  13. I’ll Remember You  – Dortmund, West Germany – 15 Sept. 1987
  14. Simple Twist of Fate – Helsinki, Finland – 23 Sept.1987
    Perhaps the version that reignited the song came early in the 1987 Temples in Flames tour, when he was again finding it hard to stop his libido a-wanderin’. At a show in Helsinki (September 23), he seemed to remember everything about the song that mattered, in that moment demonstrating the full restoration of his performing powers.
    -Clinton Heylin (Still On The Road)
  15. Forever Young – Munich, West Germany – 30 Sept. 1987
  16. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right – Munich, West Germany – 30 Sept. 1987
    ..the shock of recognition I feel when I hear the unique melody played and evoked by the opening piano notes of this Munich ´87 “Don´t Think Twice” and from every moment of Dylan´s singing here, and when I listen to the remarkable interplay of organ and melodic guitar and rhythm guitar in the between-verse breaks, is the shock of being deeply touched by a musical creation that seems to understand me and illuminate my inner life in ways I didn´t think were possible.
    -Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist Volume 3: Mind Out Of Time 1986 And Beyond)
  17. Seeing The Real You At Last – Rome, Italy – 3 Oct. 1987
  18. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine – Milan, Italy – 4 Oct. 1987
  19. House Of The Risin’ Sun – Paris, France – 7 Oct. 1987
  20. John Brown – Birmingham, England – 11 Oct. 1987
  21. I’ll Remember You – Birmingham, England – 11 Oct. 1987
  22. Tomorrow Is A Long Time – Birmingham, England – 11 Oct. 1987




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-Egil