Bob Dylan - Fall Tour Compilation - 2009

Dylan has been on the "never-ending tour" since 1988. At 68-years of age, he plays more than 100 shows a year, criss-crossing the United States and many foreign countries.

During October and November 2009, Dylan performed 33 shows, stopping in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Ontario, Pensylvania, Virginia, Massachusetts, and New Your. In four cities (Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and New York City, he perfomed three consecutive nights. In two (Seattle, and Berkeley) he did two consecutive shows.

This three-disk compilation presents highlights of those performances. Included in this collection, in addition to the requisite crowd-pleasers, are many rarities as well as fresh takes on his newest material. A large percentage of his audience experience bafflement (and anger) that they cannot understand what he says or even recognize famous songs, but most of those appreciate the driving, creative music of the show.

Dylan is famously unconcerned about being misunderstood, and he does little to comfort the uninformed. He rarely speaks on stage (apart from introducing the band), and he obsessively changes the tempo and mood of songs. The result of this is hearing the lyrics afresh. I have seen dozens of Dylan shows and have studied the lyrics for countless hours, but I repeatedly learn something new from those fresh takes on his songs.

Dylan's songs are directly descended from beat poetry. It is helpful to think of his performances as an extension of 1950s coffeehouse readings. Many of his songs are readable as poems, and early in his career Dylan wrote numerous Kerouacesque poems primarily as liner notes for his own and other artists' albums.

Perhaps my favorite song-as-poem is Chimes of Freedom
, a reminder of the youthful idealism of the 1960s.

A great example of a recent song that is given new meaning is Beyond The Horizon (mp3)


This, and many hundreds of other Dylan collections, are available online. The best source for Dylan and related artists is the bit torrent site Hunger City. They provide lossless files, usually compressed by flac.

A great source of MP3s is Croz. Patrick Crosley is a genuine encyclopedia of a wide range of music. Both these sites require registering, and a 20 dollar bill will get you far with Croz. Dylan's lyrics are available at Bob Dylan.com

Following is the setlist for this collection:
The names in parentheses are the tapers, God bless 'em.

1. Introduction - Seattle 4-10 (Spot)
2. Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking - Seattle 4-10 (Spot)
3. Every Grain of Sand - Chicago 30-10 (Romeo)
4. My Wife's Hometown - Berkeley 10-10 (Soomlos)
5. Lay, Lady, Lay - Portland 7-10 (RobertD)
6. Man in the Long Black Coat - Philadelphia 9-11 (Flying Gonz)
7. The Man In Me Boston - 15-11 (Walkin' Dude)
8. Chimes of Freedom - Los Angeles 15-10 (Bach)
9. Million Miles - Kitchener 7-11 (Krewe Chief)
10. It's All Good - New York 18-11 (Taperadvokat)
11. High Water - Salina 23-10 (Midrock)
12. Mama, You Been On My Mind - Berkeley 10-10 (soomlos)
13. Love Minus Zero/No Limit - Canton 5-11 (Jefft)
14. This Dream Of You - Tulsa 24-10 (Cygnus02)

1. Under the Red Sky - Rockford 27-10 (CtfshJohn)
2. I Feel A Change Comin' On - Chicago 29-10 (Roy)
3. I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met) - Seattle 5-10 (Spot)
4. Things Have Changed - Portland 7-10 (Robertd)
5. Love Sick Phoenix - 17-10 (Greenie44)
6. Jesus Gonna Be Here - Chicago 31-10 (Romeo)
7. San Diego Serenade - Bloomington 2-11 (Lukas Olsen)
8. Beyond Here Lies Nothin' - Las Vegas 18-10 (Bach)
9. Shooting Star - Los Angeles 13-10 (JB)
10. Working Man Blues - Boston 13-11 (Romeo)
11. Ballad of Hollis Brown - Boston 14-11 (Walkin' Dude)
12. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall - Canton 5-11 (Jefft)
13. Po' Boy - Philadelphia 9-11 (Flying Gonz)
14. Beyond The Horizon - Springfield 25-10 (Cygnus02)
15. Forgetfull Heart - Los Angeles 14-10 (Bach)

1. Cold Irons Bound - Columbus 3-11 (Jefft)
2. Tryin' To Get To Heaven - Berkeley 11-10 (Soomlos)
3. Jolene - Detroit 6-11 (Statsfax)
4. John Brown - New York 17-11 (JF)
5. Sugar Baby - Los Angeles 14-10 (Bach)
6. To Ramona - Chicago 31-10 (Romeo)
7. Not Dark Yet - Boston 15-11 ((Walkin' Dude)
8. Ballad Of A Thin Man - Berkeley 11-10 (Soomlos)
9. If You Ever Go - To Houston Fairfax 11-11 (Romeo)
10. Ain't Talkin' - Columbus 3-11 (Jefft)
11. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine) - Kitchener 7-11 (Krewe Chief)
12. Band Introductions - New York 19-11 (JF)
13. All Along the Watchtower - New York 19-11 (JF)