Dylan Finishes Europe 2000 with "A Lot of Pride" at Wembley

2000-10-05/6, Wembley Arena, London, England

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.

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.”

I could list a dozen such highlights. Practically every song both nights. Hell, practically every song all tour! Which brings us back to where we began. Is this the best leg of the Never Ending Tour ever?

I’ll say this: It might be the most consistently great leg of the Never Ending Tour ever. But, as I wrote about a few days ago, that consistency is a double-edged sword. Even though he’s busting out different songs left and right, it can feel very polished. I’d be curious to do the same exercise with some of the other legs people have suggested to compare to this one.

Here’s maybe the highest praise I can give it. I’ve listened to 18 consecutive shows. Same band, same sound, same Bob, many of the same songs. And I’m not even a little bit sick of it. I’d happily listen to one of these shows again tomorrow.

That’s not always the case. I like a lot of things about Tour ’74, but after my deep dive when the box set came out, I needed to take a long break from those tapes. It’s a year later now, and I still haven’t listened to another 1974 show. I will eventually, but I felt definite burnout listening to every single show.

Not so here. I just listened to my 18th consecutive “Country Pie”—more, really, since most of these tapes I listened to a few times—and I still dig it just as much! The “Blowin’ in the Wind” harmonies haven’t gotten old, nor have the gospel-bluegrass covers, the Time Out of Mind ballads, or the “Tangled Up in Blue” acoustic-guitar jams. I do wish this tour had more harmonica, and more BobTalk, but those are small quibbles. This is about as good as it gets.

In a few days we’ll travel to a very different era, one that’s as bad as it gets…

2000-10-05, Wembley Arena, London, England
2000-10-06, Wembley Arena, London, England

Thanks to James Adams, Dag Braathen, Angus Gibson, and Ian Woodward for their research help with this Europe 2000 series! Find the full 18-show series here