The heavyweight music press was full of praise for the Wembley show. “Oh yes: this was a rejuvenated Dylan,” Melody Maker’s Allan Jones concluded, “the master in all his raging glory. Unforgettable, unsurpassable.” NME’s Gavin Martin enthused: “Tonight all the images of Dylan fused into the crucible of his raw genius …. Poet, seer, mystic, iconic rocker, ravaged salvationist, virulent misanthrope – such descriptions are paltry. The meaning of the songs weren’t simply buried in nostalgia or in the lyrics, it was in the way he played with inflections and the sounds of the words, the way he changes the timbre of his voice
to exact the most from the frazzling guitar cauldron or the weird, disfigured acoustic interludes … tonight he proved that on form he was still unimpeachable, miles ahead of pretenders both young and old.”
~Andrew Muir (One More Night)
Dylan prepares for his first European tour in 12 years with the first of seven dates at the Universal Amphitheatre. Dylan introduces two songs from his forthcoming album, “Baby Stop Crying” replacing “I Threw It all Away,” and “Senor” replacing “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright, Ma” Also introduced are the two arrangements that come in for such critical praise on his European visit, the torch ballad version of “Tangled Up in Blue” with just guitar, saxophone, and keyboard; and the hard-rock version of “Masters of War,” the fury of the backing for once matching the venom of the words. “Tangled Up in Blue” replaces a similar arrangement of”Girl from the North Country,” “Masters of War” replaces “Oh Sister.” The set’s finale is condensed down to: “The Man in Me,” “It’s Alright, Ma,” “Forever Young,” and a single encore, “The Times They Are a-Changin’.”
~Clinton Heylin (Bob Dylan: A Life in Stolen Moments Day by Day 1941-1995)
Universal Amphitheater Los Angeles, California 1 June 1978
Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
Billy Cross (lead guitar)
Alan Pasqua (keyboards)
Steven Soles (rhythm guitar, backup vocals)
David Mansfield (violin & mandolin)
Steve Douglas (horns)
Jerry Scheff (bass)
Bobbye Hall (percussion)
Ian Wallace (drums)
Helena Springs, Jo Ann Harris, Carolyn Dennis (background vocals)
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