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Bob Dylan World Tour 1978
World tour by Bob Dylan
	Rotterdam, Netherlands, June 23, 1978
Location	Asia; Oceania; North America; Europe;
Start date	February 20, 1978
End date	December 18, 1978
Legs	4
No. of shows	114
Bob Dylan concert chronology
	; Rolling Thunder Revue; (1975–76); ; World Tour; (1978); ; 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]

"My Back Pages"
"She’s Love Crazy" Tampa Red
"Mr. Tambourine Man"
"Shelter from the Storm"
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"
"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"
"Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)"
"The Times They Are a-Changin'"
"Rainy Day Women ♯12 & 35"
"It Ain't Me Babe"
"Am I Your Stepchild?"
"One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)"
"Blowin' in the Wind"
"Girl from the North Country"
"We Better Talk This Over"
"Masters of War"
"Just Like a Woman"
"To Ramona"
"All Along the Watchtower"
"All I Really Want to Do"
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)"
"Forever Young"

Encore

"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	Perth		Perth Entertainment Centre
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	Dortmund		Westfalenhallen
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	Gothenburg	Sweden	Scandinavium
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	New York City		Madison Square Garden
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	Chicago		Chicago Stadium
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	Oakland		Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena	26,790 / 26,790	$237,561^[13]
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

^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Dylan's Garden Concert 'Nornal' (PDF). New York: Billboard Magazine. October 14, 1978. pp. 42–44. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
^ Sounes, 2001, Down The Highway: The Life Of Bob Dylan, pp. 314–316.
^ Loder, Kurt (21 June 1984). "Bob Dylan, Recovering Christian". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
^ Maslin, Janet (12 July 1979). "At Budokan". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
^ "When Bob Dylan Revisited His Past on the Confusing 'At Budokan'". ultimateclassicrock.com. Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
^ "Nov 15, 1978 Los Angeles, CA The Forum". bobdylan.com. Bob Dylan. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
^ Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. June 17, 1978. p. 47. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
^ Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. June 24, 1978. p. 84. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
^ ^a ^b Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. October 21, 1978. p. 44. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
^ Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. December 2, 1978. p. 44. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
^ ^a ^b Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. December 16, 1978. p. 44. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
^ Top Boxoffice (PDF). New York: BPI Communications. January 6, 1979. p. 57. Retrieved 25 November 2020.

External links

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