Dylan Finishes Europe 2000 with "A Lot of Pride" at Wembley
2000-10-05/6, Wembley Arena, London, England
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The best bit of BobTalk on the tour—a tour sadly lacking in much BobTalk at all—came the second-to-last night in London. After “The Wicked Messenger,” before introducing the band, Dylan told the crowd:
We’re playing over here with a lot of pride. A big honor to play in this country, Great Britain. When I grew up, they used to tell me about the Battle of Britain. RAF. Winston Churchill. All that stuff. Now, we all know that Britain stood alone, and without any allies. That always meant a lot to me and everybody that I grew up with.
(As Ian Woodward noted at the time, The Royal Air Force Museum is quite close to Wembley. Did Dylan sneak a visit during the day?)
The next two times Dylan finished a fall tour in London, he busted out some big surprises. In London 2003, “Romance in Durango,” “Jokerman,” “Dear Landlord,” and “Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread.” In London 2005, “Million Dollar Bash,” “Waitin’ for You,” “London Calling,” and “Rumble.”
London 2000 didn’t get anything shocking like that. Then again, it wasn’t the end of the touring year. He did a second fall tour, in the States, in late October and November (a tour which gets way less attention—maybe one day I’ll investigate it to see why).
What London 2000 did get were two of the best shows of the entire run. As in so many nights this tour, the venue vibe was lacking—giant Wembley Arena is not the ideal place to see Dylan, and many fans complained of crummy sound—but the recording shows Bob and the band firing on all cylinders. Listen to how he bites into every line on “Tombstone Blues” the first night. Maybe my new favorite live version, at least from the Never Ending Tour.
 LISTEN NOW · 5:48 |
Or listen to the Superhuman Crew verse of the final night’s “Desolation Row” (5:25 below). Okay, it starts a little mushmouthed, but a few lines in he finds a staccato vocal rhythm, singing just behind the beat, making you wait that extra millisecond for the lyric like Roger Daltrey in “My Generation.”
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