Bob Dylan Newcastle Telewest Arena 20 June 1998
Support from Van Morrison
This was a standing gig, with support from Van Morrison. The arena was far from full, as I recall. From a newspaper of the time: “Bob Dylan and Van Morrison, two genuine legends of rock, kick off a short national tour today. As they’re so moody and unpredictable, this pair can often disappoint, but when they rise to the occasion, it can be one of those all-time great nights. Well worth a risk, if only to say that you’ve seen them.” On the night Van was quite moody, as the newspaper suggested; however Dylan seemed in better spirits. The set included quite a few acoustic songs, and several tracks that were unfamiliar to me. The highlight for me was the last encore of Rainy Day Women, during which Dylan and the crowd really lit up. Setlist: Gotta Serve Somebody; If Not for You; Cold Irons Bound; Simple Twist of Fate; Silvio; To Ramona; Masters of War; Love Minus Zero/No Limit; Tangled Up in Blue; Forever Young; A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall; Highway 61 Revisited. Encore:Love Sick’ Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Archive for the ‘Bob Dylan’ Category
16 Oct
Bob Dylan Newcastle Telewest Arena 20 June 1998
15 Oct
The Who play Quadrophenia with Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Alanis Morissette Hyde Park 29th June 1996
The Who play Quadrophenia with Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Alanis Morissette Hyde Park 29th June 1996
This was a great gig, with a very strong line-up. The concert was in support of the Princes Trust and was the first time that The Who had played in the UK for some years. I went with Marie, largely to see The Who; however the presence of Dylan and Clapton on the bill made the event all the more attractive, and the price of £8 seemed a bargain. We spent the weekend in London, staying at a Hotel close to Hyde Park Corner. Around 150,000 people were at this concert, and the weather wasn’t great; it was quite a cold day. I don’t remember much about Alanis Morissette, but do recall seeing Dylan who played a short set. His normal band was augmented by Ron Wood and Al Kooper; we were sitting on the grass somewhere in the middle of the park, and the sound was murky, blowing around in the breeze.
Bob Dylan’s setlist was: Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat; All Along the Watchtower; Positively 4th Street; Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues; Tangled Up in Blue; Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right; Silvio; Seven Days; Highway 61 Revisited 
Quadrophenia has grown on me over the years, and I’ve seen The Who perform it three times; once on the original tour, this show in Hyde Park, and more recently at the Albert Hall Teenage Cancer Trust gig. The Hyde Park show featured a cast of special guests playing the various parts of the rock opera: Phil Daniels (Narration), Trevor McDonald (Newscaster), Ade Edmundson (Bell Boy), Gary Glitter (Rocker), Stephen Fry (Hotel Manager), and Dave Gilmour (Guitar on Dirty Jobs, Love Reign O’er Me). The band was introduced by Jools Holland. It was a fun show, although I was a little disappointed that they didn’t pay any Who classics; I thought we might get one or two as an encore, instead we got a reprise of 5.15. The Who setlist was: I Am the Sea; The Real Me; Quadrophenia; Cut My Hair; The Punk and the Godfather; I’m One; The Dirty Jobs (with David Gilmour); Helpless Dancer; Is It in My Head?; I’ve Had Enough; 5:15; Sea And Sand; Drowned; Bell Boy; Doctor Jimmy; The Rock; Love, Reign O’er Me (with David Gilmour). Encore: 5:15. After The Who, we watched some of Clapton’s set, but left before the end. At the time I’d lost a little faith in Eric and was somewhat tired of seeing him play live. However my interest in him has become renewed in recent years, and I also feel that he has returned to form.
14 Oct
Bob Dylan Palais des Sports Toulouse France 30 June 1993
Bob Dylan Palais des Sports Toulouse France 30 June 1993
I came to be at this Dylan gig purely by chance; I was at a conference in Toulouse through work, and spent a few days in the city. I’d been to Toulouse once or twice before and knew my way around the city. On my first day there, I spent a few hours looking around the open air market, rummaging through piles of 60s EPs and picture sleeve singles, and spotted a poster advertising a Dylan concert for the following evening. So I went into a nearby record shop and bought myself a ticket. This meant I would miss one of the conference evening receptions, but I couldn’t pass up the chance of seeing Dylan. The Palais des Sports was an indoor venue of a reasonable size, within walking distance of my hotel. French star Johnny Hallyday was in concert the night before Dylan, but that gig was sold out, unlike the Dylan concert. In hindsight I wish I’d made more of an effort to try to get a ticket for Johnny Hallyday as well. There was a support act for Dylan; I can’t recall who they were, but I think they were a local band. Dylan’s set was a little shorter than the gigs I had seen in the late 70s and early 80s, with a good selection of songs, but no Like a Rolling Stone! I remember enjoying the gig, but that it was spoilt a little because I knew I had to get up at 4am to get to the airport for a 6am flight. I walked back to the hotel after the gig, and had a few hours sleep before I got up to start my journey home. The ticket for this gig is pretty cool, with a nice picture of Dylan. Setlist: Hard Times; Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again; All Along the Watchtower; Just Like a Woman; Tangled Up in Blue; Born in Time; Watching the River Flow; Little Moses; Tomorrow Night; The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll; Gates of Eden; Cat’s in the Well; I and I; What Good Am I?; Maggie’s Farm; Man in the Long Black Coat; It Ain’t Me, Babe
12 Oct
Bob Dylan St James Park Newcastle 1984
Bob Dylan St James Park Newcastle 1984
Support from Santana and Lindisfarne
Dylan was back in the UK in 1984 for a couple of concerts, one at Wembley Stadium and this time he also visited the North East for a massive gig at St James Park, with support from Santana and local heroes Lindisfarne. I went along with a group of friends. I remember Lindisfarne going down well with the crowd (well they would, wouldn’t they!). I can’t remember a lot about Santana, to be honest. Dylan played a set of classics and got a good reception from the Toon crowd. He was sporting a strong band with Mick Taylor on guitar, and Ian McLagen on keyboards. I think Carlos Santana also joined the band on guitar. 
Looking back on those shows, we didn’t know how lucky we were at the time. Dylan was singing well, and performing long sets which covered his entire back catalogue.
Setlist: Highway 62 Revisited; Jokerman;;All Along The Watchtower; Just Like A Woman; Maggie’s Farm; I And I; License To Kill; A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall; Tangled Up In Blue; It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding); Simple Twist Of Fate; Masters Of War; Ballad Of A Thin Man; Enough Is Enough; Every Grain Of Sand; Like A Rolling Stone; Mr. Tambourine Man; Girl From The North Country; It Ain’t Me, Babe; Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat; Tombstone Blues; Blowin’ In The Wind; Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door; The Times They Are A-Changin’
11 Oct
Bob Dylan Birmingham NEC 1981
Bob Dylan Birmingham NEC 1981
Dylan returned to the UK in 1981, playing two nights at Birmingham NEC, and several at Earls Court which was the venue of his 1978 triumph. I bought two tickets for the Birmingham gig, but none of my mates fancied coming along. So I drove down to Birmingham on my own, and swapped my two not so good seats for one ticket in the front block. I was still around 20 rows from the front, but hey that was a lot better view than at the back of Earls Court or sitting among 250,00 people at Blackbushe. By 1981 Dylan was heavily into religion and some of the new songs reflected this. However, there were still quite a few Dylan classics in the set. 
I enjoyed being relatively close to the great man for the first time. It wasn’t the best time I have seen Bob, but nonetheless was a good gig. After the gig I made the 200 mile drive home. I recall witnessing an awful mutli-car pile up on the M6, which really shook me up. Setlist: Gotta Serve Somebody; I Believe In You; Like a Rolling Stone; Till I Get It Right; Man Gave Names to All the Animals; Maggie’s Farm; Girl From the North Country; Ballad of a Thin Man; Simple Twist of Fate; Watered Down Love; Slow Train; Lenny Bruce; Mr. Tambourine Man; Solid Rock; Just Like a Woman; Heart of Mine; What Can I Do for You?; Masters of War; When You Gonna Wake Up?; In the Garden; City of Gold; It Ain’t Me, Babe; Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
10 Oct
Bob Dylan Blackbushe Aerodrome 1978
Bob Dylan Blackbushe Aerodrome 1978
Support: Eric Clapton and Band, Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker and The Rumour, and Lake
Demand for Dylan’s run of concerts at Earls Court in 1978 was so high that a massive open air show was added. At first I wasn’t sure whether to go and see him again, but in the end I couldn’t resist going along. I travelled down on my own, but ran into a group of friends when I arrived at the gig. They had a spot pretty close to the front, so I joined them there. The attendance at this event was huge. I think it was something like 250,000 people. There were people everywhere. And the line up was very strong indeed. Dylan was supported by Eric Clapton and Band (I think Clapton also played with Dylan for part of the set?), Joan Armatrading, Graham Parker and The Rumour, and Lake. I don’t recall much about the supports, other than Clapton, who went down well with the crowd. It was a hot day, and a great atmosphere. 
Dylan performed a set which was similar to that he performed at Earls Court. I remember him wearing a top hat, and that there was a long wait before he took to the stage. The sound wasn’t too great, and if you were at the back of the arena, I suspect you will have seen very little, particularly as there were no screens. We were quite close to the front, and had a good view, so I really enjoyed the event. After the gig I spent hours in queues to get the train back across London, and start my journey home. I later learnt that my friend John had also gone down to the gig on his own, neither of us realising that the other was going. Setlist: My Back Pages (Instrumental); Love Her With A Feeling; Baby Stop Crying; Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues; Shelter From The Storm; It’s All Over Now Baby Blue; Girl From The North Country; Ballad Of A Thin Man; Maggie’s Farm; Simple Twist Of Fate; Like A Rolling Stone; I Shall Be Released; Is Your Love In Vain?; Where Are You Tonight?; A Change Is Gonna Come (Carolyn Dennis vocal); Mr. Tambourine Man (Helena Springs vocal); The Long And Winding Road (Jo Ann Harris vocal); What Would We Do If No One’s Dreams Came True? (Steven Soles vocal); Gates Of Eden; True Love Tends To Forget; One More Cup Of Coffee; Blowin’ In The Wind; I Want You; Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power); Masters Of War; Just Like A Woman; Ramona; Don’t Think Twice (It’s Alright); All Along The Watchtower; All I Really Want To Do; It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding); Forever Young. Encores: Changing Of The Guards; The Times They Are A-Changin’
9 Oct
Bob Dylan Earls Court London Sat 17 June 1978
Bob Dylan Earls Court London Sat 17 June 1978
This was a big event for me. It had been a long time since Dylan had played in the UK, and I was determined to see him, as I hadn’t done so before. It was clear that there was going to be massive demand for tickets for these gigs, which were a string of concerts at the vast Earls Court Arena in London. Buying tickets in those days was very different than it is today with the use of the internet. It was announced that tickets would be on sale by personal application only, with a limit of four tickets per person. The tickets were to be sold at various box offices around the country and went on sale of a Sunday morning. Sadly, there was no box office in the North East of England, the nearest being Leeds, Glasgow or Sheffield. So I decided to go to Leeds to queue for tickets. I figured that I would need to arrive early so I drove to Leeds on Saturday morning, one day before tickets were due to go on sale, to buy tickets for Marie and I to see the great man. Tickets were on sale from a music shop (think it was called Barkers?) in the Headrow, which is the main street in Leeds. When I arrived at the shop, there was already a queue, as some fans having arrived on Friday night. At some point during the day, the shop decided to give us all numbered tickets to mark our place in the queue, and asked us to move on, to prevent crowding and return later to form the queue when the shop closed. This meant I was more or less guaranteed a ticket! So I had a look around Leeds and returned to join the queue around 6pm. We then got ourselves in order according to our number on the ticket (looking back it seems amazing that this worked!). It was a cold, long night queuing outside the shop, but everyone was friendly and the time passed quite quickly, although I didn’t get much sleep. There was evidence of touts, who were staying the night in hotels, and had some young kids queueing for them. By the morning the queue was massive, and curled round and round the streets. I bumped into a couple of mates from town, and agreed to buy their tickets as I was only buying two. We were soon in the shop and bought the tickets. There was some disappointment because the tickets which were sent to Leeds were for seats way up the back of the arena, but hey hey at least we were in. Also they had only sent a small number of tickets (around 1,000 or so I think) so only the first couple of hundred of people in the queue got tickets, leaving hundreds disappointed. I later talked to some friends who went to Sheffield to buy tickets, and the queue was much smaller, and they got better seats! Some others went to Glasgow and there was hardly any queue, with tickets left some days after they went on sale! 
Come the night of the show Marie and I took our seats up the back of Earls Court. The friend how I had bought tickets for kindly bought me a cassette copy of Street Legal, which was good (I still think it is a great album). Dylan was wonderful, and much better than I had hoped. The sound and the view weren’t great from our seats; sounds systems weren’t so good in those days, and video screens weren’t widely used (I don’t think there were any for this gig, but can’t be certain). Dylan was this tiny figure in a waistcoat singing those great songs. He was playing long sets at this point in his career and covered all of his classic songs, along with a selection from the Street Legal album. His voice was strong, and every time he played his mouth organ there was a great cheer from the crowd. This gig started me as a lifelong Dylan fan, and this was the first time of many I was to see the guy in concert. I will review those other gigs over the next few days.
Setlist: A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall; Love Her With a Feeling; Baby, Stop Crying; Mr. Tambourine Man; Shelter From the Storm; Love Minus Zero/No Limit; Tangled Up in Blue; Ballad of a Thin Man; Maggie’s Farm; I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met); Like a Rolling Stone; I Shall Be Released; Going, Going, Gone; Rainy Day Women #12 & 35; One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later); You’re a Big Girl Now; One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below); Blowin’ in the Wind; I Want You; Señor (Tales of Yankee Power); Masters of War; Just Like a Woman; Simple Twist of Fate; All Along the Watchtower; All I Really Want to Do; It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding); Forever Young; The Times They Are A-Changin’
9 Oct
Bob Dylan (& Mark Knopfler) Braehead Arena Glasgow 8 Oct 2011
Bob Dylan (and Mark Knopfler) Braehead Arena Glasgow 8 Oct 2011
This was a great great show. Dylan was much better, in manner and voice, than I’ve seen him for years. For the early songs he stood centre stage with a hand mike, grinning and doing little leg moves. He looked great with a big black hand a moustache. He was really enjoying it, in a way I don’t think I’ve ever seen; certainly not for a long long time. And his voice was very strong. Gone are the days where I thought he was just going through the motions and everyone around me was asking what song it was, and saying how bad he was singing. Last night everyone I saw thought he was great. At last I saw Dylan being true to his legend and getting the best out of his songs. I’d given up hope that he could ever be this good on stage again. Highlights for me were It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue; Tangled Up In Blue; The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll; and A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.
Special guest Mark Knopfler is clearly a great guitarist, but has never been my cup of tea. This was the first time that I’ve seen Mark since Dire Straits. I used to love Sultans of Swing, but tired of them in their later years. I’d set off late and had a cup of coffee in a service station, purposely trying to miss Mark’s set, as I knew I wouldn’t enjoy it. I arrived at around 8pm and Mark was on stage. It was red hot in the arena, difficult to breathe, so I went outside for some fresh air. I came back in around 8.40pm only to find that Mark was still onstage and that the crowd gave him an encore. What I saw seemed OK, but to be honest pretty dull for me. As a result of Mark’s long(ish) set Dylan was late on stage at around 9.20pm or later, and finished close to 11pm. The drive home was foggy through pouring rain; I got back around 2am.
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat; It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue; Things Have Changed; Tangled Up In Blue; Honest With Me; The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll; Summer Days; A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall; Highway 61 Revisited; Tryin’ To Get To Heaven; Thunder On The Mountain; Ballad Of A Thin Man
Encore; Like A Rolling Stone; All Along The Watchtower
I hate printed tickets
10 May
Bob Dylan Edinburgh Playhouse 3 May 2009
Bob Dylan Edinburgh Playhouse 3 May 2009
This was Laura’s first Dylan experience and my 14th. David decided to pass this time, and Laura was keen to claim the ticket so she could see the legend in concert and see what he was like for herself. I’d prepared her for the show and told her that he sings the songs somewhat differently to the album versions which she has heard. I even played her a CD of the last Manchester Arena show that David and I went to.
The Edinburgh Playhouse is a lovely venue and the smallest in which I have ever seen Bob. We drive up the A1 (Laura doesn’t like the bumps and turns on the A68) and arrive in time for something to eat in the Slug and Lettuce close to the venue. We say hello to Mike and Maureen who are also in there.
Laura buys her customary t-shirt (a small, but still too large for her) and we take our seat in the circle. Bob comes on stage at aorund7.40 and starts withLeopard Skin Pill Box Hat, and then into Lay Lady Lay and Tangled up in Blue. His voice is strong and he is singing a lot better. Unfortunately, the songs that follow are all in a similar blues vien to me, and not some of his best tracks. Things pick up again towards the end when we get Highway 61 and Like a Rolling Stone. The encores include All Along the Watchtower and Just Like a Woman, with Dylan playing some pretty good guitar. Not the best time I’ve seen Dylan, but by no means the worst. Laura has enjoyed it but is disappointed that he didn’t play I want You which is her favourite. The A1 seems to go on forever on the way back (too many speed cameras) and we get home at 12.30pm; not too late at all.
Set list:
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat; Lay, Lady, Lay; Tangled Up In Blue; When The Deal Goes Down; Rollin’ And Tumblin’; Tryin’ To Get To Heaven; Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again; Sugar Baby;High Water (For Charley Patton); I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met); Po’ Boy; Highway 61 Revisited; Ain’t Talkin’; Summer Days; Like A Rolling Stone
Encores: All Along The Watchtower; Just Like A Woman; Blowin’ In The Wind
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