Category Archives: Bob Dylan Concerts

Bob Dylan – Madison Square Garden – New York City – 17 July 1986

bob dylan tom petty

It is one of the best shows of the tour.
~Clinton Heylin (A Life In Stolen Moments)

..finds him again in very expansive “conquering hero” mood. It’s a terrific concert. I loved watching it.. and I love it now, listening to the superb circulating tape. .. it’s the second set where the magic really starts to happen.
~Paul Williams (BD Performing artist 1974-86)

Madison Square Garden
New York City, New York
17 July 1986

Musicians:

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Tom Petty (guitar)
  • Mike Campbell (guitar)
  • Benmont Tench (keyboards)
  • Howie Epstein (bass)
  • Stan Lynch (drums)
    and with The Queens Of Rhythm:
  • Carolyn Dennis, Queen Esther Marrow, Madelyn Quebec, Louise Bethune (backing vocals)

Setlist (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers songs excluded)

  1. So Long, Good Luck And Goodbye (Weldon Rogers)
  2. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
  3. Positively 4th Street
  4. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me) (Dick Robertson/Nick Cogane/Sammy Myalls)
  5. Shot Of Love
  6. We Had It All (Donny Fritts-Troy Seals)
  7. Union Sundown
    — Heartbreakers 4 songs
  8. Mr. Tambourine Man
  9. One Too Many Mornings
  10. I Want You
    ..one unique to the entire tour: “I Want You” as an acoustic duet.
    .. and Dylan launches into a sheer masterpiece of a vocal performance.. He’s performing like it’s a matter of life and death. He’s inspired. He’s alive.
    ~Paul Williams (BD Performing Artist 1974-86)
  11. Band Of The Hand
  12. When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky
  13. Lonesome Town (Baker Knight)
    I wanna play a real special song here in this special place. This is the very stage where Ricky Nelson got booed off for singing Garden Party, this is the one, the very one. Anyway, it gives me a real great pleasure to sing one of Ricky’s songs in this place. This is one that when I was growing up, called Lonesome Town.
    ~Bob Dylan
  14. Ballad Of A Thin Man

    Heartbreakers 4 songs
  15. Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35
  16. Seeing The Real You At Last
  17. Across The Borderline (Ry Cooder/John Hiatt/Jim Dickinson)
    ..a high point in a great evening.
    Anyway, you might think you know the music of bob dylan, but if you haven’t heard “Across the Borderline” from the 1986 tour (and this July 17 version is as good as it gets), you may be missing the heart of the man. For sure you’re missing a truly rewarding performance.
    ~Paul Williams (BD Performing Artist 1974-86)
  18. I And I
  19. Like A Rolling Stone
  20. In The Garden
    —–
  21. Blowin’ In The Wind
  22. Shake A Hand (Joe Morris)
  23. House Of The Risin’ Sun (trad.)

Check out:

-Egil

Bob Dylan – Early Roman Kings – Different Live Versions (Audio & Video)

bob dylan keyboard

 

All the early Roman kings
In their sharkskin suits
Bow ties and buttons
High top boots
Drivin’ the spikes in
Blazin’ the rails
Nailed in their coffins
In top hats and tails
Fly away, little bird
Fly away, flap your wings
Fly by night
Like the early Roman kings

Early Roman Kings is one of four songs he performed live each night on the “2013 US Spring Tour” (23 performances).  It’s live debut was @ Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, Minnesota on 7 November 2012. And it was played 7 times during this “US & Canada fall tour”.

In this post I have collected videos & Audio clips. There are some really great performances here!

2012 US & Canada Fall Tour

Band:

  • Bob Dylan (vocal, guitar, grand piano & keyboard)
  • Stu Kimball (guitar)
  • Charlie Sexton (guitar)
  • Donnie Herron (violin, mandolin, steel guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • George Receli (drums & percussion)

2012-11-07 – St. Paul, Minnesota:

2012-11-19 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

2012-11-21 – Brooklyn, New York:

Continue reading Bob Dylan – Early Roman Kings – Different Live Versions (Audio & Video)

Today: Bob Dylan played Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, New York – 30 June 1988 – 25 years ago

bob dylan wantagh 1988

A very good 88-concert and the sound on the circulating soundboard tape is incredible.

It is concert #15 of the Never Ending Tour & this tour is “labeled” the Interstate 88 Tour, part 1.

Jones Beach Theater
Jones Beach State Park
Wantagh, New York
30 June 1988

Wantagh, New York

Wantagh New York

Wantagh (pronounced /WAHN-taw/) is a hamlet and census-designated place (an unincorporated section of the town of Hempstead) in Nassau County on Long Island, New York, United States. The population of Wantagh was 18,871 at the time of the 2010 census.

Wantagh is known as “The Gateway to Jones Beach“.

bob dylan wantagh 1988 2

Musicians:

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • G. E. Smith (guitar)
  • Kenny Aaronson (bass)
  • Christopher Parker (drums)

Setlist

  1. Subterranean Homesick Blues
  2. Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
  3. You’re A Big Girl Now
  4. Tangled Up In Blue
  5. Masters Of War
  6. I Shall Be Released
  7. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
  8. Lakes Of Pontchartrain (trad.)
  9. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
  10. Eileen Aroon (trad., arr. Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem)
    I know a valley fair,
    Eileen Aroon
    I know a cottage there
    Eileen Aroon
    Far in the valley shade I know a tender maid
    Flow’r of the hazel glade, Eileen Aroon
  11. Boots Of Spanish Leather
  12. Silvio (Bob Dylan & Robert Hunter)
  13. Gates Of Eden
  14. Like A Rolling Stone
  15. The Times They Are A-Changin’
  16. All Along The Watchtower
  17. Maggie’s Farm

Jones Beach Theater

joneas park theatre

 

Address 1000 Ocean Parkway
Wantagh, New York 11793
Location Jones Beach State Park
Type Amphitheatre
Opened 1952
Renovated 1992
Expanded 1998
Former name(s) Jones Beach Marine Theater(1952-94)
Jones Beach Amphitheater (1994-2000)
Jones Beach Theater (2000-02)
Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theater (2002-06)
Capacity 15,000

 

bob dylan wantagh 1988 3

 

Check out:

 Other June 30

Continue reading Today: Bob Dylan played Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, New York – 30 June 1988 – 25 years ago

Bob Dylan – US Summer Tour 1986 – True Confession Tour part 3 (Videos, Audio, and more)

bob dylan tom petty 1986

Before diving into the music of the “US Summer Tour – 86”, let’s look at some videos leading up to the tour.

Let’s kick off with the Tokyo (backstage Budokan) interview. (It should probably have been included in part 2 of this series, but I didn’t find it till now).

10 March 1986
MTV Interview, Backstage, Budokan Hall, Tokyo

…probably I’d do ANY song that I’d ever written, but to put them in a show is a different thing, because it takes time, and there’s not a lotta time when you play for a few hours.
~Bob Dylan (1986-03-10)

..and same place.. with Tom Petty (talking about touring with Dylan):

Continue reading Bob Dylan – US Summer Tour 1986 – True Confession Tour part 3 (Videos, Audio, and more)

Bob Dylan – Far East Leg – True Confession Tour part 2 (Videos, Audio, and more)

bob dylan auckland_1986_front

Well, I usually… I usually try to put in songs which are different in their own context, either structurally or melodically or uh lyrically, that uh, don’t… so it’s not all the same type of material, I try to fill in a larger picture. I don’t know what the total effect of it is. Umm… How do I go about selecting the material? Well, there’s material that I WANT to play, there’s material that I feel I HAVE to play, and, uh, I try to get the material that I feel I have to play into the frame of mind where I want to play the material that I have to play. The rest of it is just stuff I want to play.
~Bob Dylan (Melbourne – 21 Feb 1986)

True Confession Tour:

Start date February 5, 1986
End date August 6, 1986
Legs 3
Shows 15 in Oceania
4 in Asia
41 in North America
60 in Total

The tour started with two concerts in New Zealand and thirteen concerts in Australia before four concerts in Japan. Both Dylan and Petty took a break after this tour before returning to the road in June to perform a forty-one date tour of the United States and Canada. During the tour the pair performed two concerts at the RFK Stadium in Washington, DC, three concerts at the legendary Madison Square Garden in New York City and two concerts at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. The tour came to a close on August 6 in Paso Robles, California. The pair would tour together the following year on the Temples in Flames Tour.

~Wikipedia

Intro.

Rehearsals (w/Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) took place in December 1985.

Before they flew over to New Zealand.. Dylan gave a couple of interviews.. Here is one:

January 1986
George Negus interview for “60 Minutes”, Malibu, California:

Oh no, no, I can’t do that, because my songs speak for that. I usually say everything I have to say through the songs. I mean it would be pointless for me to go out and say how I feel about this and how I feel about that. I could never articulate this well.
~Bob Dylan (to George Negus – Jan 1986)

Continue reading Bob Dylan – Far East Leg – True Confession Tour part 2 (Videos, Audio, and more)