One of the great Bob Dylan concerts is on DVD but only partially

Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert

If there is one Bob Dylan concert to have on video, it’s the 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration from 1992.

I’ll try to thread my way through the various versions available today.

Ironically Bob Dylan only sings on 5 of the 30 plus songs but it’s a who’s who of rock and roll and country singing Bob Dylan.

The Madison Square Gardens Concert

John Cougar Mellencamp, Neil Young, Stevie Wonder, Lou Reed, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristrofferson, Willie Nelson, Johnny Winter, Eric Clapton, the house band from Stax Records – Booker T, Steve Cropper, Donald Duck Dunn, Al Kooper, Anton Fig and Jim Keltner – the list goes on with an all-star cast.

There are classic performances by Neil Young on “Watchtower” and “Tom Thumb’s Blues.”  Ronnie Wood of the Stones romps through the obscure “Seven Days.” Roseanne Cash and Mary Chapin Carpenter nail the definitive country version of “You Ain’t Going No Where.” Stevie Wonder turns “Blowin in the Wind” into a spiritual. Even though he hasn’t memorized the lyrics, Lou Reed is mesmerizing on “Foot of Pride.”

There is something about the night – a magic in the air with the right performers and audience. The only flat moment is Sinead O’Connor doing her protest. She gets booed by the audience, which is an ironic reaction to protest at a Bob Dylan concert. I think she was just looking for attention to revive her flagging career.

A few of the videos are on YouTube.

Eric Clapton “Love Minus Zero/No Limit”

The videos don’t do justice to the concert which works as an event. Take the evening off, put the video on the TV and enjoy yourself. You can watch it over and over. I taught myself how to play most of these songs using the pause button.

I have the full concert on Laserdisc but I’m getting worried some day the Laserdisc player will quit. They don’t make Laserdisc players anymore. When I saw the DVD available on Amazon.com, it was like “Right On, the laser disc replacement is here!”

However, the DVDs are incomplete. Here are some of the known versions of this concert.

DVD Bob Dylan: Tribute to Dylan – Recorded live at Madison Square Garden, New York City, October 16, 1992

Measure twice and put the credit card down once. The DVD Bob Dylan: Tribute to Dylan – Recorded live at Madison Square Garden, New York City, October 16, 1992 is an abridged version with 18 of 34 tracks from the original concert. This has disappointed a few people who bought it.

To keep this simple, I’ll put the Where to buy USA and Where to buy Canada after each version. The first selection is USA unless noted differently. Some versions are not available in all countries.

UPDATE – Bob Dylan – 30th Anniversary Concert (2 DVD Complete Version)

I just found this double DVD on Amazon.ca.

It has all the songs, except the lead in.

The video and sound are better than the Laserdisc and the packaging minimal.

It’s not available from Amazon.com

CD 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration [Live]

This DVD, another released version of the concert, has songs not on the CD 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration – “Boots of Spanish Leather” with Nancy Griffith and Carolyn Hester,
“Gotta Serve Somebody” played as a deep gospel by Booker T and the MGs, “War” by Sinead O’Connor which is a waste of time,
and “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” with Eric Clapton.

Please check out the track listings at the end for the included and missing songs from each version.

Also available in Canada as 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration.

Laserdisc- Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert

The CD is still the most complete record of the concert, other than the Laserdisc. There actually are several copies of the Laserdisc on eBay as of this moment.

Vinyl

Somebody else has the vinyl LP for $250 landed which would be a cool collector’s item. The sound was mastered from the digital so it won’t be any better than the Laserdisc or a well mastered DVD.

You can buy the original concert program on eBay.

It would be a super DVD or Blu-Ray release but I suspect so many artists means more problems than it’s worth to get copyright releases.

Check the review on Amazon.com about DVD quality.

Still, the concert in audio CD or short DVD is worth it. It’s one of those magic concerts.

Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Interactive

For the ultimate collector, the interactive CD “Bob Dylan: Highway 61 Interactive from Graphix Zone (1995)” has out-takes and green room interviews with many of the performers at the 30th Anniversary Concert.

“Highway 61 Interactive” is a Windows/Mac mutli-media romp through Bob Dylan at the very beginning in Greenwich Village along with coverage of the 30th Anniversary Concert.

The interactive CD was one of those experimental projects meant to demonstrate how cool interactive CDs could be.

Track list by CD and DVD