It was a dark day in London. 15th October 1987. The night of the hurricane. Winds that blew. Took down trees and other stuff too. My mother apparently said that night that if anything bad happened to me at least I’d got to see my hero. Everyone has their own hero right… I don’t know who yours could be…
I was 17 years old. A year or so earlier the BBC screened Don’t Look Back as part of an Omnibus series. I watched it and was spellbound. Transfixed. I had to find out everything I could about him. Get all his records and read all I could. This guy was it.
I played a bit of guitar then. So I bought a stack of harmonicas and learned all Dylan’s songs. I used to sing and play them every night for hours after school.
As part of an Arena series, Dylan’s concerts with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in Australia (released on VHS later as Hard To Handle) was screened on the BBC later in 1986.
This Dylan, 21 years older than Don’t Look Back’s Dylan was mesmerising in a completely different way. Leather waistcoat and trousers. Ear pierced. Bare arms. That voice though! I was floored. I couldn’t stop watching the recording I took of it. I still maintain the opening Just Like A Woman song performance is one of his best I’ve seen, on video or in person.
Anyway back to 15th October 1987. The concert was in London. Wembley Arena.
After a couple of hours where we’d had Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Roger McGuinn neither of which I really listened to, I was too anxious and excited to see Dylan… and then the moment came
I was a long way back. No screens then. The opening song was Blowing In The Wind. As the band played the intro Dylan just stood there and on the first beat just a single strum. When it came to singing there was this kind of machine gun staccato delivery. I was in a trance. Captured. Like A Rolling Stone next seemed to whiz by… Maggie’s Farm… and then Ballad of a Thin Man a show highlight.
A few other songs and then when he did the ‘solo’ set, just Bob on electric guitar accompanied by Benmont Tench on piano, one of those things happened that I’d read about. It’s as if Dylan immerses himself and everyone in the hall into the song, into a bubble. We’re all in it together. Experiencing wonderment. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll was that moment. It wasn’t just felt by me. There was stunned silence and yeah wonderment.
I’ve seen Dylan live about 50 times since
All in the UK. There’s been extraordinary concerts (the two shows at Portsmouth Guildhall in 2000 for me probably the ultimate. He looked and sounded like 1966 Dylan those nights) and I have so many incredibly moving memories.
If only it really actually is a Never Ending Tour….
At 24 years old, the first Dylan concert I went to was in 1974 at Boston Gardens during the winter I was living a half hour east of Boston That was the first of many years of concerts I went to in Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. I'd been listening to him ever since I first heard his voice on television in August 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Dylan and The Band! I'd been at The Band's first concert in 1969. That was at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. I've been fortunate.
Thank you for sharing this! I am envious of anyone who got to see Dylan and the Band. What a great entry point! Thanks for the link too. I’m going to put it on while I work today.
This is from Bruce Slutsky - Although I was a Dylan fan since 1965 I never went to a concert until July 17, 1986, at Madison Square Garden as part of the True Confessions Tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I went with my wife Karen and friends Herb and Roy. The set list is documented at https://www.bobdylan.com/date/1986-07-17-madison-square-garden/. I would like to add that my son Lee's first Dylan concert was at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ on April 13, 1997. This was a standing-only concert so we brought a little stool for my 9-year-old son to see Dylan. This concert was shortly after the passing of Allan Ginsberg so an image of him was shown on a screen for a while. The set list is documented at https://www.concertarchives.org/concerts/bob-dylan-a04578d0-c0a8-4f82-820a-05e0d4afd3c0
This was so great being included with so many pals. Thanks Erin. Love you so much!
Thanks for being part of it! Love you back!
My first Bob Dylan concert.
It was a dark day in London. 15th October 1987. The night of the hurricane. Winds that blew. Took down trees and other stuff too. My mother apparently said that night that if anything bad happened to me at least I’d got to see my hero. Everyone has their own hero right… I don’t know who yours could be…
I was 17 years old. A year or so earlier the BBC screened Don’t Look Back as part of an Omnibus series. I watched it and was spellbound. Transfixed. I had to find out everything I could about him. Get all his records and read all I could. This guy was it.
I played a bit of guitar then. So I bought a stack of harmonicas and learned all Dylan’s songs. I used to sing and play them every night for hours after school.
As part of an Arena series, Dylan’s concerts with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in Australia (released on VHS later as Hard To Handle) was screened on the BBC later in 1986.
This Dylan, 21 years older than Don’t Look Back’s Dylan was mesmerising in a completely different way. Leather waistcoat and trousers. Ear pierced. Bare arms. That voice though! I was floored. I couldn’t stop watching the recording I took of it. I still maintain the opening Just Like A Woman song performance is one of his best I’ve seen, on video or in person.
Anyway back to 15th October 1987. The concert was in London. Wembley Arena.
After a couple of hours where we’d had Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and Roger McGuinn neither of which I really listened to, I was too anxious and excited to see Dylan… and then the moment came
I was a long way back. No screens then. The opening song was Blowing In The Wind. As the band played the intro Dylan just stood there and on the first beat just a single strum. When it came to singing there was this kind of machine gun staccato delivery. I was in a trance. Captured. Like A Rolling Stone next seemed to whiz by… Maggie’s Farm… and then Ballad of a Thin Man a show highlight.
A few other songs and then when he did the ‘solo’ set, just Bob on electric guitar accompanied by Benmont Tench on piano, one of those things happened that I’d read about. It’s as if Dylan immerses himself and everyone in the hall into the song, into a bubble. We’re all in it together. Experiencing wonderment. The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll was that moment. It wasn’t just felt by me. There was stunned silence and yeah wonderment.
I’ve seen Dylan live about 50 times since
All in the UK. There’s been extraordinary concerts (the two shows at Portsmouth Guildhall in 2000 for me probably the ultimate. He looked and sounded like 1966 Dylan those nights) and I have so many incredibly moving memories.
If only it really actually is a Never Ending Tour….
Thank you so much for sharing this memory! It’s so vivid and well-written. You really put me in the venue with you.
Thanks Erin. Really enjoyed listening to your Infinity Goes Up On Trial podcast
Thank you! ☺️
01.07.1978 Nurnberg Zeppelinfield: “It’s my great pleasure to sing this song in this particular place!” Bam Bam : Come you Masters of War
What a great memory! Thank you for sharing it.
At 24 years old, the first Dylan concert I went to was in 1974 at Boston Gardens during the winter I was living a half hour east of Boston That was the first of many years of concerts I went to in Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. I'd been listening to him ever since I first heard his voice on television in August 1963 during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Dylan and The Band! I'd been at The Band's first concert in 1969. That was at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. I've been fortunate.
Boston Gardens afternoon concert:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvLfqyesz-k
Thank you for sharing this! I am envious of anyone who got to see Dylan and the Band. What a great entry point! Thanks for the link too. I’m going to put it on while I work today.
This is from Bruce Slutsky - Although I was a Dylan fan since 1965 I never went to a concert until July 17, 1986, at Madison Square Garden as part of the True Confessions Tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. I went with my wife Karen and friends Herb and Roy. The set list is documented at https://www.bobdylan.com/date/1986-07-17-madison-square-garden/. I would like to add that my son Lee's first Dylan concert was at William Paterson University in Wayne, NJ on April 13, 1997. This was a standing-only concert so we brought a little stool for my 9-year-old son to see Dylan. This concert was shortly after the passing of Allan Ginsberg so an image of him was shown on a screen for a while. The set list is documented at https://www.concertarchives.org/concerts/bob-dylan-a04578d0-c0a8-4f82-820a-05e0d4afd3c0