Bob Dylan: 5 Brilliant live performances from the year 1987

Posted on by Egil Mosbron

Howlin’ Wolf, to me, was the greatest live act, because he did not have to move a finger when he performed – if that’s what you’d call it, “performing.” I don’t like people that jump around. When people think about Elvis moving around – he didn’t jump around. He moved with grace.
-Bob Dylan (Kurt Loder interview for Rolling Stone, 1987)

Facts from Wikipedia:

Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead 1987 Tour

Start date July 4, 1987
End date July 26, 1987
Legs 1
No. of shows 6

Temples in Flames Tour

Start date September 5, 1987
End date October 17, 1987
Legs 1
No. of shows 30

Area Ex Autodromo
Modena, Italy
12 September 1987

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar) with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
  • Tom Petty (guitar), Mike Campbell (guitar), Benmont Tench (keyboards), Howie Epstein (bass), Stan Lynch (drums)
  • The Queens Of Rhythm: Carolyn Dennis, Queen Esther Marrow, Madelyn Quebec (backing vocals).

Joey

Born in Red Hook, Brooklyn, in the year of who knows when
Opened up his eyes to the tune of an accordion
Always on the outside of whatever side there was
When they asked him why it had to be that way, “Well, ” he answered, “just
Because.”




..as strong as the song starts in Modena, it does get better -band and singer and song go on inspiring each other and sustain that Homeric fire right through to a very colorful and striking evocation of the “town of Brooklyn” in that last verse and chorus. In the hands (and vocal cords) of a great performing artist, songs do indeed have a life of their own. “Joey” at Modena, and the Modena concert as a whole, stand as excellent examples of this gratifying and intriguing phenomenon.
-Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist Volume 3: Mind Out Of Time 1986 And Beyond)

Westfalenhalle 1
Dortmund, West Germany
15 September 1987

Shelter From the Storm

‘Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
Come in, she said
I’ll give ya shelter from the storm



..by listening to Dortmund´s “Shelter” and Dortmund´s “Highway 61” back to back with selections from Live 1966 and finding that they stand up well to both the beauty of ´66 acoustic set stuff and the excitement of ´66 electric set performances.
-Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist Volume 3: Mind Out Of Time 1986 And Beyond)

Jäähalli
Helsinki, Finland
23 September 1987

Simple Twist of Fate

They sat together in the park
As the evening sky grew dark.
She looked at him and he felt a spark
Tingle to his bones.



Perhaps the version that reignited the song came early in the 1987 Temples in Flames tour, when he was again finding it hard to stop his libido a-wanderin’. At a show in Helsinki (September 23), he seemed to remember everything about the song that mattered, in that moment demonstrating the full restoration of his performing powers.
-Clinton Heylin (Still On The Road)

Olympiahalle
Munich, West Germany
30 September 1987

Forever Young

May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you


Wembley Arena
London, England
October 1987

Tomorrow Is A Long Time

If today was not a crooked highway
If tonight was not a crooked trail
If tomorrow wasn’t such a long time
Then lonesome would mean nothing to you at all


Recommended concerts from 1987

  • September 12 – Modena, Italy
  • September 15 – Dortmund, West Germany
  • September 23 – Helsinki, Finalnd
  • October 5 – Locarno, Switzerland
  • October 17 – London, UK
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