Bob Dylan World Tour 1978

The Bob Dylan World Tour 1978 was a concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. In 1978, Dylan embarked on a year-long world tour, performing 114 shows in Asia, Oceania, North America and Europe, to a total audience of two million people.[1]

Bob Dylan World Tour 1978
World tour by Bob Dylan
Rotterdam, Netherlands, June 23, 1978
Location
  • Asia
  • Oceania
  • North America
  • Europe
Start dateFebruary 20, 1978
End dateDecember 18, 1978
Legs4
No. of shows114
Bob Dylan concert chronology

Background

For the tour, Dylan assembled an eight piece band, and was also accompanied by three backing singers. Highlights of the European leg of the tour were Dylan's first concerts in Germany where he had never wanted to play because of the Jews' persecution by the Nazis. However, after concerts at Dortmund and Berlin, he performed on July 1 on the Zeppelinfeld at Nuremberg for 80,000 people. Promoter Fritz Rau had convinced him to perform in Germany. It was the spot where Adolf Hitler had appeared prominently on his "Reichsparteitage", the party convention of the NSDAP. Dylan's stage was placed opposite to the rostrum where Hitler had given his speeches. After the concert, Bob Dylan said that it was a very special event for him, which he had marked by appearing in normal street clothes instead of the usual stage clothes. Eric Clapton, who also appeared at Nuremberg, joined him for two songs at the end of the concert. As a live album had been recorded at Budokan Hall, Tokyo, the Nuremberg concert recording was never officially released but only appeared on Bootleg recordings. Two weeks later, both artists performed again at a mass festival at the Blackbushe Aerodrome in England.[2][3]

When Dylan brought the tour to the United States in September 1978, he was dismayed the press described the look and sound of the show as a 'Las Vegas Tour', as the European concerts had been a great success. His performances at Madison Square Garden were given a good review by Rolling Stone.[4] The 1978 tour grossed more than $20 million, and Dylan acknowledged to the Los Angeles Times that he had some debts to pay off because "I had a couple of bad years. I put a lot of money into the movie, built a big house ... and it costs a lot to get divorced in California."[5] It was during the later stages of this tour that Dylan experienced a "born-again" conversion to Christianity, which would become the overriding thematic preoccupation in his music for the next couple of years, such as on the albums Slow Train Coming (1979) and Saved (1980).[6]

Releases

Concerts in Tokyo in February and March were recorded and released as the live double album, Bob Dylan at Budokan. Reviews were mixed. Robert Christgau awarded the album a C+ rating, giving the album a derisory review, while Janet Maslin defended it in Rolling Stone, writing: "These latest live versions of his old songs have the effect of liberating Bob Dylan from the originals."[7][8]

Set list

This set list is representative of the performance on November 15, 1978 in Inglewood, California. It does not represent the set list at all concerts for the duration of the tour.[9]

  1. "My Back Pages"
  2. "She’s Love Crazy" Tampa Red
  3. "Mr. Tambourine Man"
  4. "Shelter from the Storm"
  5. "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"
  6. "Tangled Up in Blue"
  7. "Ballad of a Thin Man"
  8. "Maggie's Farm"
  9. "I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)"
  10. "Like a Rolling Stone"
  11. "I Shall Be Released"
  12. "Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)"
  13. "The Times They Are a-Changin'"
  14. "Rainy Day Women ♯12 & 35"
  15. "It Ain't Me Babe"
  16. "Am I Your Stepchild?"
  17. "One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)"
  18. "Blowin' in the Wind"
  19. "Girl from the North Country"
  20. "We Better Talk This Over"
  21. "Masters of War"
  22. "Just Like a Woman"
  23. "To Ramona"
  24. "All Along the Watchtower"
  25. "All I Really Want to Do"
  26. "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
  27. "Forever Young"
Encore
  1. "Changing of the Guards"

Tour dates
Date City Country Venue Attendance Box Office
Asia
February 20, 1978 Tokyo Japan Nippon Budokan — —
February 21, 1978
February 23, 1978
February 24, 1978 Osaka Matsushita Denki Taiikukan
February 25, 1978
February 26, 1978
February 28, 1978 Tokyo Nippon Budokan
March 1, 1978
March 2, 1978
March 3, 1978
March 4, 1978
Oceania
March 9, 1978 Auckland New Zealand Western Springs Stadium — —
March 12, 1978 Brisbane Australia Brisbane Festival Hall
March 13, 1978
March 14, 1978
March 15, 1978
March 18, 1978 Adelaide Westlake Stadium
March 20, 1978 Melbourne Sidney Myer Music Bowl
March 21, 1978
March 22, 1978
March 25, 1978 Perth Perth Entertainment Centre
March 27, 1978
April 1, 1978 Sydney Sydney Show Ground
North America
June 1, 1978 Los Angeles United States Universal Amphitheatre 36,750 / 36,750 $459,375[10][11]
June 2, 1978
June 3, 1978
June 4, 1978
June 5, 1978
June 6, 1978
June 7, 1978
Europe
June 15, 1978 London England Earls Court Exhibition Centre — —
June 16, 1978
June 17, 1978
June 18, 1978
June 19, 1978
June 20, 1978
June 23, 1978 Rotterdam Netherlands Feijenoord Stadion
June 26, 1978 Dortmund West Germany Westfalenhallen
June 27, 1978
June 29, 1978 West Berlin Deutschlandhalle
July 1, 1978 Nuremberg Zeppelinfeld
July 3, 1978 Paris France Pavillon de Paris
July 4, 1978
July 5, 1978
July 6, 1978
July 8, 1978
July 11, 1978 Gothenburg Sweden Scandinavium
July 12, 1978
July 15, 1978 Camberley England Blackbushe Aerodrome
North America
September 15, 1978 Augusta United States Augusta Civic Center — —
September 16, 1978 Portland Cumberland County Civic Center
September 17, 1978 New Haven New Haven Coliseum
September 19, 1978 Montreal Canada Montreal Forum
September 20, 1978 Boston United States Boston Garden
September 22, 1978 Syracuse Onondaga County War Memorial
September 23, 1978 Rochester War Memorial Auditorium
September 24, 1978 Binghamton Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena
September 26, 1978 Springfield Springfield Civic Center
September 27, 1978 Uniondale Nassau Coliseum
September 29, 1978 New York City Madison Square Garden
September 30, 1978
October 3, 1978 Norfolk Norfolk Scope
October 4, 1978 Baltimore Baltimore Civic Center 9,613 / 9,613 $89,999[12]
October 5, 1978 Largo Capital Centre — —
October 6, 1978 Philadelphia The Spectrum 18,800 / 18,800 $164,772[12]
October 7, 1978 Providence Providence Civic Center — —
October 9, 1978 Buffalo Buffalo Memorial Auditorium
October 12, 1978 Toronto Canada Maple Leaf Gardens
October 13, 1978 Detroit United States Detroit Olympia
October 14, 1978 Terre Haute Hulman Civic University Center
October 15, 1978 Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum
October 17, 1978 Chicago Chicago Stadium
October 18, 1978
October 20, 1978 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
October 21, 1978 Toledo Centennial Hall
October 22, 1978 Dayton University of Dayton Arena
October 24, 1978 Louisville Freedom Hall
October 25, 1978 Indianapolis Market Square Arena
October 27, 1978 Kalamazoo Wings Stadium
October 28, 1978 Carbondale SIU Arena
October 29, 1978 St. Louis Checkerdome
October 31, 1978 Saint Paul St. Paul Civic Center
November 1, 1978 Madison Dane County Memorial Coliseum
November 3, 1978 Kansas City Kemper Arena
November 4, 1978 Omaha Omaha Civic Auditorium
November 6, 1978 Denver McNichols Sports Arena
November 9, 1978 Portland Memorial Coliseum
November 10, 1978 Seattle Hec Edmundson Pavilion
November 11, 1978 Vancouver Canada Pacific Coliseum
November 13, 1978 Oakland United States Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena 26,790 / 26,790 $237,561[13]
November 14, 1978
November 15, 1978 Inglewood The Forum — —
November 17, 1978 San Diego San Diego Sports Arena
November 18, 1978 Tempe ASU Activity Center
November 19, 1978 Tucson McKale Memorial Center
November 21, 1978 El Paso Special Events Center
November 23, 1978 Norman Lloyd Noble Center
November 24, 1978 Fort Worth Tarrant County Convention Center
November 25, 1978 Austin Special Events Center
November 26, 1978 Houston The Summit
November 28, 1978 Jackson Mississippi Coliseum
November 29, 1978 Baton Rouge LSU Assembly Center
December 1, 1978 Memphis Mid-South Coliseum 11,868 / 11,868 $104,774[14]
December 2, 1978 Nashville Nashville Municipal Auditorium 9,459 / 9,459 $87,985[14]
December 3, 1978 Birmingham BJCC Coliseum — —
December 5, 1978 Mobile Mobile Civic Center
December 7, 1978 Greensboro Greensboro Coliseum
December 8, 1978 Savannah Savannah Civic Center
December 9, 1978 Columbia Carolina Coliseum
December 10, 1978 Charlotte Charlotte Coliseum
December 12, 1978 Atlanta Omni Coliseum 14,660 / 15,962 $127,239[15]
December 13, 1978 Jacksonville Jacksonville Coliseum — —
December 15, 1978 Lakeland Lakeland Civic Center
December 16, 1978 Pembroke Pines Hollywood Sportatorium

References
  1. Greene, Andy (2 September 2014). "Flashback: Bob Dylan Sings 'Changing of the Guards' On His 1978 'Alimony Tour'". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  2. Fort, Hugh (15 February 2019). "Take a trip back to an amazing day of music with Bob Dylan in 1978". inyourarea.co.uk. In Your Area. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  3. One Day's Work: $2 Mil Gross Earns Dylan $360,000 (PDF). New York: Billboard Magazine. July 29, 1978. p. 3. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  4. Dylan's Garden Concert 'Nornal' (PDF). New York: Billboard Magazine. October 14, 1978. p. 42-44. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  5. Sounes, 2001, Down The Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan, pp. 314–316.
  6. Loder, Kurt (21 June 1984). "Bob Dylan, Recovering Christian". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  7. Maslin, Janet (12 July 1979). "At Budokan". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  8. "When Bob Dylan Revisited His Past on the Confusing 'At Budokan'". ultimateclassicrock.com. Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  9. "Nov 15, 1978 Los Angeles, CA The Forum". bobdylan.com. Bob Dylan. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  10. Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. June 17, 1978. p. 47. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  11. Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. June 24, 1978. p. 84. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  12. Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. October 21, 1978. p. 44. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  13. Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. December 2, 1978. p. 44. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  14. Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. December 16, 1978. p. 44. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  15. Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. January 6, 1979. p. 57. Retrieved 25 November 2020.

Quotations related to Bob Dylan World Tour 1978 at Wikiquote Media related to Bob Dylan World Tour 1978 at Wikimedia Commons

  • BobLinks – Comprehensive log of concerts and set lists with categorized link collection
  • Bjorner's Still on the Road – Information on all known recording sessions and performances by Dylan
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