Bob Dylan World Tour 1978 Explained

Concert Tour Name:Bob Dylan World Tour 1978
Artist:Bob Dylan
Type:World
Start Date:February 20, 1978
End Date:December 18, 1978
Number Of Legs:4
Number Of Shows:114
Last Tour:Rolling Thunder Revue
(1975–76)
This Tour:World Tour
(1978)
Next Tour:Gospel Tour
(1979–80)

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]

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"
  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
  2. "Changing of the Guards"

Tour dates

DateCityCountryVenueAttendanceBox Office
Asia
February 20, 1978TokyoJapanNippon Budokanrowspan="11"
February 21, 1978
February 23, 1978
February 24, 1978OsakaMatsushita Denki Taiikukan
February 25, 1978
February 26, 1978
February 28, 1978TokyoNippon Budokan
March 1, 1978
March 2, 1978
March 3, 1978
March 4, 1978
Oceania
March 9, 1978AucklandNew ZealandWestern Springs Stadiumrowspan="12"
March 12, 1978BrisbaneAustraliaBrisbane Festival Hall
March 13, 1978
March 14, 1978
March 15, 1978
March 18, 1978AdelaideWestlake Stadium
March 20, 1978MelbourneSidney Myer Music Bowl
March 21, 1978
March 22, 1978
March 25, 1978PerthPerth Entertainment Centre
March 27, 1978
April 1, 1978SydneySydney Show Ground
North America
June 1, 1978Los AngelesUnited StatesUniversal Amphitheatre36,750 / 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, 1978LondonEnglandEarls Court Exhibition Centrerowspan="19"
June 16, 1978
June 17, 1978
June 18, 1978
June 19, 1978
June 20, 1978
June 23, 1978RotterdamNetherlandsFeijenoord Stadion
June 26, 1978DortmundWest GermanyWestfalenhallen
June 27, 1978
June 29, 1978West BerlinDeutschlandhalle
July 1, 1978NurembergZeppelinfeld
July 3, 1978ParisFrancePavillon de Paris
July 4, 1978
July 5, 1978
July 6, 1978
July 8, 1978
July 11, 1978GothenburgSwedenScandinavium
July 12, 1978
July 15, 1978CamberleyEnglandBlackbushe Aerodrome
North America
September 15, 1978AugustaUnited StatesAugusta Civic Centerrowspan="13"
September 16, 1978PortlandCumberland County Civic Center
September 17, 1978New HavenNew Haven Coliseum
September 19, 1978MontrealCanadaMontreal Forum
September 20, 1978BostonUnited StatesBoston Garden
September 22, 1978SyracuseOnondaga County War Memorial
September 23, 1978RochesterWar Memorial Auditorium
September 24, 1978BinghamtonBroome County Veterans Memorial Arena
September 26, 1978SpringfieldSpringfield Civic Center
September 27, 1978UniondaleNassau Coliseum
September 29, 1978New York CityMadison Square Garden
September 30, 1978
October 3, 1978NorfolkNorfolk Scope
October 4, 1978BaltimoreBaltimore Civic Center9,613 / 9,613$89,999[12]
October 5, 1978LargoCapital Centre
October 6, 1978PhiladelphiaThe Spectrum18,800 / 18,800$164,772
October 7, 1978ProvidenceProvidence Civic Centerrowspan="24"
October 9, 1978BuffaloBuffalo Memorial Auditorium
October 12, 1978TorontoCanadaMaple Leaf Gardens
October 13, 1978DetroitUnited StatesDetroit Olympia
October 14, 1978Terre HauteHulman Civic University Center
October 15, 1978CincinnatiRiverfront Coliseum
October 17, 1978ChicagoChicago Stadium
October 18, 1978
October 20, 1978RichfieldRichfield Coliseum
October 21, 1978ToledoCentennial Hall
October 22, 1978DaytonUniversity of Dayton Arena
October 24, 1978LouisvilleFreedom Hall
October 25, 1978IndianapolisMarket Square Arena
October 27, 1978KalamazooWings Stadium
October 28, 1978CarbondaleSIU Arena
October 29, 1978St. LouisCheckerdome
October 31, 1978Saint PaulSt. Paul Civic Center
November 1, 1978MadisonDane County Memorial Coliseum
November 3, 1978Kansas CityKemper Arena
November 4, 1978OmahaOmaha Civic Auditorium
November 6, 1978DenverMcNichols Sports Arena
November 9, 1978PortlandMemorial Coliseum
November 10, 1978SeattleHec Edmundson Pavilion
November 11, 1978VancouverCanadaPacific Coliseum
November 13, 1978OaklandUnited StatesOakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena26,790 / 26,790$237,561[13]
November 14, 1978
November 15, 1978InglewoodThe Forumrowspan="11"
November 17, 1978San DiegoSan Diego Sports Arena
November 18, 1978TempeASU Activity Center
November 19, 1978TucsonMcKale Memorial Center
November 21, 1978El PasoSpecial Events Center
November 23, 1978NormanLloyd Noble Center
November 24, 1978Fort WorthTarrant County Convention Center
November 25, 1978AustinSpecial Events Center
November 26, 1978HoustonThe Summit
November 28, 1978JacksonMississippi Coliseum
November 29, 1978Baton RougeLSU Assembly Center
December 1, 1978MemphisMid-South Coliseum11,868 / 11,868$104,774[14]
December 2, 1978NashvilleNashville Municipal Auditorium9,459 / 9,459$87,985
December 3, 1978BirminghamBJCC Coliseumrowspan="6"
December 5, 1978MobileMobile Civic Center
December 7, 1978GreensboroGreensboro Coliseum
December 8, 1978SavannahSavannah Civic Center
December 9, 1978ColumbiaCarolina Coliseum
December 10, 1978CharlotteCharlotte Coliseum
December 12, 1978AtlantaOmni Coliseum14,660 / 15,962$127,239[15]
December 13, 1978JacksonvilleJacksonville Coliseumrowspan="3"
December 15, 1978LakelandLakeland Civic Center
December 16, 1978Pembroke PinesHollywood Sportatorium

External links

Notes and References

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

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