My Stops On The Never Ending Tour

As Bob Dylan hits 80, I was reminded of the times I've seen Bob on tour. A lot of people criticise his live performances but I enjoyed them. The setlist was always varied and I liked hearing the new mixed with the old.

The Point, Dublin, November 27th 2005

Brought my dad as a gift and ended up getting hooked. I remember being particular impressed with the performance of "Boots of Spanish Leather." My brother got to hear his favourite "It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)." 

1. Drifter’s Escape
2. Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)
3. God Knows
4. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
5. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
6. Cry a While
7. Boots of Spanish Leather
8. High Water (For Charley Patton)
9. Every Grain of Sand
10. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
11. New Morning
12. Til I Fell in Love with You
13. Visions of Johanna
14. Highway 61 Revisited
15. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
16. All Along the Watchtower

Nowlan Park, Kilkenny, June 24th 2006

Convinced my best mate to do a weekend in Kilkenny. Everyone was happy with "Like a Rolling Stone" as you would be. Bob must've been feeling old school as there were only 3 songs from newer albums.

1. Maggie’s Farm
2. She Belongs to Me
3. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
4. Lay, Lady, Lay
5. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
6. Love Sick
7. Watching the River Flow
8. Ballad of a Thin Man
9. Absolutely Sweet Marie
10. Highway 61 Revisited
11. Masters of War
12. Summer Days
13. Like a Rolling Stone
14. All Along the Watchtower

NOTE: Bob didn't play Ireland in 2007 and 2008.

The Point, Dublin, May 5th 2009

I think this is one I brought my dad and middle sister to. My brother was there too, She didn't get her favourite "Tangled Up In Blue" (he played it at every gig I went to after this one ironically) but she was happy enough with the night out. I loved hearing the recent "If You Ever Go to Houston" (I believe it was his time playing it live). 

1. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
2. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
3. Lonesome Day Blues
4. Just Like a Woman
5. John Brown
6. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
7. Under the Red Sky
8. Honest with Me
9. Masters of War
10. Highway 61 Revisited
11. Ain’t Talkin’
12. Thunder on the Mountain
13. Like a Rolling Stone
14. All Along the Watchtower
15. If You Ever Go to Houston
16. Blowin’ in the Wind

The Point, Dublin, May 6th 2009

Me and my brother decided to do a double header. We were rewarded with 8 songs we hadn't heard before (only one of which I would hear again).

1. Wicked Messenger
2. Girl from the North Country
3. Man in the Long Black Coat
4. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
5. Blind Willie McTell
6. Desolation Row
7. It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
8. Po’ Boy
9. Highway 61 Revisited
10. Ballad of a Thin Man
11. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
12. Ain’t Talkin’
13. Summer Days
14. Like a Rolling Stone
15. All Along the Watchtower
16. If You Ever Go to Houston
17. Spirit on the Water
18. Blowin’ in the Wind

Thomond Park Stadium, Limerick, July 4th, 2010

Lads weekend with my dad and brother. I think we called up my sister when "Tangled Up In Blue" played. Bob also played one of my favourites "Workingman’s Blues #2." Ended up meeting David Gray, who was a genuinely nice bloke. It was cool to hear three songs from "Together Through Life."

1. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
2. Lay, Lady, Lay
3. Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
4. Just Like a Woman
5. Beyond Here Lies Nothin’
6. Tangled Up In Blue
7. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven
8. Cold Irons Bound
9. Love Sick
10. Highway 61 Revisited
11. Workingman’s Blues #2
12. Thunder on the Mountain
13. Ballad of a Thin Man
14. Like a Rolling Stone
15. I Feel a Change Comin’ On
16. Jolene
17. Blowin’ in the Wind

Live At The Marque, Cork, June 16th, 2011

Wisely or not, me and my mate did Cork and back in one day. Bob played his Oscar winner "Things Have Changed" (which I loved). He brings his statuette on tour. You can spot it most times. My friend was delighted to hear Bob do a cover until I revealed that "Forever Young" was one of Bob's and that he'd been hearing a cover version for years. Was a nice ending to the show.

1. Gonna Change My Way of Thinking
2. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
3. Things Have Changed
4. Tangled Up In Blue
5. Ballad of Hollis Brown
6. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
7. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
8. High Water (For Charley Patton)
9. Tryin’ to Get to Heaven
10. Highway 61 Revisited
11. Simple Twist of Fate
12. Thunder on the Mountain
13. Ballad of a Thin Man
14. Like a Rolling Stone
15. All Along the Watchtower
16. Forever Young

NOTE: Bob didn't play Ireland in 2012 and 2013

The 02, Dublin, June 17th, 2014

I think I flew solo at this one. A woman in the audience complained that Bob wasn't playing old stuff. "Tangled Up In Blue" (sorry again sis) being a new number of course. She then left before he played "Blowing In The Wind." In fairness, this one leaned pretty new as he played six songs from Tempest (2012).

1. Things Have Changed
2. She Belongs to Me
3. Beyond Here Lies Nothin’
4. What Good Am I?
5. Waitin’ for You
6. Duquesne Whistle
7. Pay in Blood
8. Tangled Up In Blue
9. Love Sick
10. High Water (For Charley Patton)
11. Simple Twist of Fate
12. Early Roman Kings
13. Forgetful Heart
14. Spirit on the Water
15. Scarlet Town
16. Soon After Midnight
17. Long and Wasted Years
18. All Along the Watchtower
19. Blowin’ in the Wind

Bob didn't play Ireland again until 2017 and I think I had been to enough. I do regret missing Kilkenny in 2019 as Neil Young was there and I think they played together.

Quick stats: I've heard 69 different songs live and the most frequent were "All Along The Watchtower" (6 times), "Highway 61 Revisited" (6 times) and "Like A Rolling Stone" (5 times). He played songs from 21 different studio albums (He had 35 studio albums completed up to the last gig I attended. The notable missing album for me is "Desire"). "John Brown" only appeared on "MTV Unplugged". "Blind Willie McTell" appeared on a bootleg series and a compilation album. "Watching The River Flow" appeared on a greatest hits. "Things Of Changed" is his Oscar winner and appears on compilations and a bootleg series. "Waiting For You" hasn't appeared on an album. The most frequent here were "Love and Theft" (7 songs) and "Tempest" (6 songs). 

Some Thoughts On John Paul Leon

 With the recent passing of John Paul Leon, lots of people have been talking about how much of a nice guy he was and how much of a talent he was. I never had the pleasure of meeting him but have enjoyed his work for over 20 years. I have been re-reading some of his work and I thought I'd talk about a few of my favourite works that he was a part of.

EARTH X (1999 - 2000)

In 1999, my best friend discovered that Dublin had a comic shop called Forbidden Planet and I was like a kid in a candy store. One of the first series I was drawn to was Earth X. The Alex Ross covers just caught the eye and I immediately purchased all the issues that had been released up to that point. When I opened the comic, the art inside couldn't be more different. I saw a gritty, shadowy art style that captured the dark atmosphere of this grim future. Alex Ross had designed some great characters but John Paul Leon humanised them. He balanced the cosmic worlds of the Watcher and the Eternals with the street level characters like Captain America and excelled at drawing everything. This was a big story but, with his various character moments, John Paul Leon grounded it.

NEW X-MEN ISSUE 127 (2002)

One of the first series I collected as a fan was X-men. When Grant Morrison took over, it brought a whole new dimension and look to the team. One of his new X-men was a character called Xorn. He was imprisoned by the Chinese government and has to wear a skull-like mask designed to restrain his energy output as he has a "sun" for a brain. Despite his ordeals, he is optimistic, open, and even somewhat naive. In New X-men 127, "Of Living And Dying", he keeps a diary to share his thoughts with Professor Xavier, since Xavier cannot read his mind. This issue was John Paul Leon's first of two guest spots for New X-men (both inked by Bill Sienkiewicz). The street level nature of the story, which sees Xorn looking for a mutant monster in Mutant Town, really plays to Leon's skills as an artist. He is once again able to blend the super people with the regular people and there are some great character moments again.

WEAPON X ISSUE 14 (2003)

I am big fan of books about the bad guys so it was a no brainer that I was going to pick up this series about the new Weapon X program. Written by Frank Tieri, a writer I have since become a big fan of, the series did a great job of using minor characters. The end of issue 13 revealed that Mr. Sinister was using the Weapon X program for his own ends. Issue 14 "Sinister's List" took a break from the ongoing story and looked at Sinister's history during World War II where he came in contact with some of the Invaders. John Paul Leon's art is perfect for this era and looks even better in the World War II scenes which are similar in style to "Schindler's List" down to the touches of red. The story is a great standalone and is probably my favourite of Leon's works.

ANIMAL MAN ISSUE 6 (2012)

"Tights", issue 6 of the New 52 Animal Man series, written by Jeff Lemire, has one of Buddy Baker's kids watching a low budget independent movie he starred in. The film tells the story of Chas Grant, formerly "Red Thunder" a failed street level superhero, who is trying to deal with finding work, his ex-wife and raising a kid. Amazingly, John Paul Leon, who draws all the movie scenes, has managed to get even better over time. Added to his brilliant character work are some amazingly detailed backgrounds. This issue makes me sad that we never got to see him on a longer Daredevil story (he did do a fill-in issue in 1998 for issue 375). You can read Leon's pages as a stand alone story. It ends on a cliffhanger but this is resolved in my next pick.

ANIMAL MAN ISSUE 20 (2013)

 "Tights" part two sees the conclusion of the story of Chas Grant. His life appears to turn around as his finds fame after becoming an internet sensation. More great work from Leon. Just check out the "silent" panels on this page. 

These are just some of my favourites. There are loads more and I will be desperately hunting for a copy of the trade of his creator owned series The Winter Men (with writer Brett Lewis).

Tommy Lee Edwards has started a fundraiser for John Paul Leon’s family to help with funeral expenses and his daughter’s college fund. You can donate here.