Bob Dylan
Convention Hall
Asbury Park, NJ
August 14, 2011

It was a warm, rainy summer evening in Asbury Park. Waiting in the line before the doors were opened, my new friend Marty was of the opinion that the mood on the boardwalk and in Convention Hall felt conducive to a good Dylan show. I was inclined to agree.

We were not wrong. This was a fine show, pretty much as good as they get these days. Dylan was animated and appeared to be enjoying himself more than usual. He was singing well. High points for me were probably Mississippi, High Water, and above all, Blind Willie McTell. It was the best show of the four I have been at in the last couple years, certainly better than the recent Atlantic City show which prompted the Wall Street Journal to suggest, rather ridiculously, that it was time for Bob to be thinking about retirement soon.

This was my first effort at recording a Dylan show. I was in the General Admission section, at the center of the stage, roughly four people from the front line. Due to a quick turnover by the stage crew after Leon Russell's set, Dylan came on earlier than I expected, and I missed the intro and the first verse and chorus of Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat. The crowd was noisy, with one guy in particular yelling loudly and frequently, especially towards the beginning of the show. You can also hear a young woman proclaiming her love for Bob. (I wonder what he thinks about that kind of thing. Does he care, on any level?) Apart from this crowd noise, which becomes relatively less intrusive after about the third song, I think it sounds decent for an audience recording. If anybody has any tips or feedback for me, please do let me know. MP3 samples can be found below.

I have left this alone in terms of audio tweaking. Feel free to do whatever you want with it.

Hope you enjoy.

Recorded by Jackson Banks.

Lineage: Bob>AT831b>Olympus LS-11>WAV>CDWave>Nero>FLAC>DIME>you

Setlist (from Expecting Rain):

1. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat (Bob on keyboard) (cuts in during 2nd verse)
2. To Ramona (Bob on keyboard)
3. Things Have Changed (Bob center stage with harp)
4. Tangled Up In Blue (Bob center stage with harp)
5. Beyond Here Lies Nothin' (Bob on guitar, Donnie on electric mandolin)
6. Mississippi (Bob on keyboard, Donnie on electric mandolin)
7. High Water (Bob center stage with harp, Donnie on banjo)
8. Summer Days (Bob on keyboard)
9. Blind Willie McTell (Bob center stage with harp, Donnie on banjo)
10. Highway 61 Revisited (Bob on keyboard)
11. Simple Twist Of Fate (Bob on guitar)
12. Thunder On The Mountain (Bob on keyboard)
13. Ballad Of A Thin Man (Bob center stage with harp)

(encore)

14. Like A Rolling Stone (Bob on keyboard)
15. All Along The Watchtower (Bob on keyboard)