BOB DYLAN
In 2015, as the Grateful Dead were preparing to play their last concerts under that name, I put together a post listing all the concerts the band had performed, over the years, in New Jersey. And now that Bob Dylan is approaching another birthday — he’ll be 77 on May 24 — I’ve decided to do the same for him, with the help of setlist.fm, bobdylan.com and the “Still on the Road” section of the web site, bjorner.com.
As you might imagine, New Jersey performances by Dylan were pretty rare in the early days — he performed in the state just two times from 1966 to 1985 — but much more frequent since his “Never Ending Tour” began in the late ’80s. The Grateful Dead performed in New Jersey 55 times, over the years. Dylan has about 10 more New Jersey appearances than that.
Here is the list. I was at (I think) 11 of these. Please let me know how many you attended, in the comments section below, or if you have any more dates or details to add.
February or March, 1961: Not a concert, per se, but a performance at the home of Bob and Sid Gleason in East Orange that was taped. The recording remains one of the first artifacts of his career.
Aug. 3, 1963: Performs at Joan Baez concert at Camden County Music Fair, Haddonfield.
Aug. 10, 1963: Performs at Joan Baez concert at Convention Hall, Asbury Park.
Nov. 16, 1963: McCarter Theatre, Princeton.
Nov. 30, 1963: Mosque Theatre (now Symphony Hall), Newark.
Oct. 16, 1964: Trenton State College, Ewing.
Nov. 7, 1964: McCarter Theatre, Princeton.
Feb. 10, 1965: Gymnasium at Rutgers, New Brunswick.
March 12, 1965: Trenton, venue unknown.
March 13, 1965: Princeton University
March 19, 1965: Symphony Hall, Newark
Oct. 2, 1965: Symphony Hall, Newark.
Oct. 15, 1965: McCarter Theatre, Princeton.
Dec. 7, 1975: A Rolling Thunder Revue concert with Joan Baez, Roberta Flack, Roger McGuinn, Allen Ginsberg and others for boxer Ruben “Hurricane” Carter and other inmates at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women in Clinton, where Carter was temporarily imprisoned.
Oct. 27, 1981: Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford.
July 21, 1986: Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford. With Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Guest appearance by Al Kooper.
July 12, 1987: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford. With The Grateful Dead.
June 24-25, 1988: Garden State Arts Center (now PNC Bank Arts Center), Holmdel. The Alarm opens.
Sept. 10, 1988: Waterloo Village, Stanhope.
July 17, 1989: Waterloo Village, Stanhope. Steve Earle opens.
July 20, 1989: Bally’s Grand Hotel, Atlantic City. Steve Earle opens.
July 21, 1989: Garden State Arts Center (now PNC Bank Arts Center), Holmdel. Steve Earle opens.
Jan. 15, 1990: McCarter Theatre, Princeton.
July 13, 1991: Garden State Arts Center (now PNC Bank Arts Center), Holmdel. Laura Nyro opens.
Sept. 14, 1993: Garden State Arts Center (now PNC Bank Arts Center), Holmdel. Double bill with Santana. Wailing Souls open.
June 18-19, 1995: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford. Opening for The Grateful Dead.
April 13, 1996: Drew University, Madison. Jewel opens.
April 13, 1997: William Paterson University, Wayne.
April 20, 1997: Monmouth University, West Long Branch.
Aug. 15, 1997: Garden State Arts Center (now PNC Bank Arts Center), Holmdel. With Ani DiFranco and BR5-49.
Jan. 31, 1998: Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City.
Feb. 1, 1998: NJPAC, Newark.
Feb. 27, 1999: Sands, Atlantic City.
July 17, 1999: Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Center (now Freedom Mortgage Pavilion), Camden. With Paul Simon.
July 28, 1999: PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel. With Paul Simon.
Nov. 13, 1999: Continental Airlines Arena (formerly Brendan Byrne Arena), East Rutherford. With Phil Lesh & Friends.
Nov. 19, 1999: Sands, Atlantic City.
July 28, 2000: Blockbuster-Sony Music Entertainment Center (now Freedom Mortgage Pavilion), Camden. With Phil Lesh & Friends.
July 30, 2000: Waterloo Village, Stanhope. With Phil Lesh & Friends.
Nov. 17, 2000: Princeton University.
Nov. 18, 2000: Tropicana, Atlantic City.
May 9-10, 2003: Hilton, Atlantic City.
Aug. 9-10, 2003: PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel. With Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.
June 6, 2004: Borgata, Atlantic City.
April 19, 2005: NJPAC, Newark. With Merle Haggard and Amos Lee.
April 24, 2005: Borgata, Atlantic City. With Merle Haggard and Amos Lee.
June 15, 2005: FirstEnergy Park, Lakewood. With Willie Nelson and The Greencards.
June 16, 2005: Campbell’s Field, Camden. With Willie Nelson and The Greencards.
June 24, 2005: Montclair State University. With Willie Nelson and The Greencards.
Nov. 16, 2006: Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford. With The Raconteurs.
June 22-23, 2007: Borgata, Atlantic City.
Aug. 13, 2008: Convention Hall, Asbury Park.
Aug. 16, 2008: Borgata, Atlantic City.
July 23, 2009: FirstEnergy Park, Lakewood. With Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp.
Nov. 14, 2010: Monmouth University, West Long Branch.
Nov. 26, 2010: Borgata, Atlantic City.
Aug. 14, 2011: Convention Hall, Asbury Park. With Leon Russell.
July 26, 2013: Pier A Park, Hoboken. With Wilco, My Morning Jacket and Ryan Bingham. Guest appearance by Peter Wolf.
July 28, 2013: Susquehanna Bank Center (now Freedom Mortgage Pavilion), Camden. With Wilco, My Morning Jacket and Ryan Bingham.
Nov. 26, 2014: NJPAC, Newark.
April 10, 2015: Borgata, Atlantic City.
July 10, 2016: Borgata, Atlantic City. With Mavis Staples.
Nov. 17, 2018: Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Atlantic City.
Nov. 20-21, 2023: NJPAC, Newark.
June 30, 2024: Outlaw Music Festival also featuring Lukas Nelson, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and Celisse, at PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel.
July 4, 2024: Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic also featuring Willie Nelson & Family, Robert Planet & Alison Krauss, Maren Morris, Mavis Staples and Celisse, at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Camden.
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10 comments
Missing from your list:
New Jersey Performing Arts Center
Newark, New Jersey
19 April 2005
Thanks!
Laura Nyro opened the July 13, 1991 show at the GSAC.
Right. I was at that one. Should have remembered that. Will add.
I don’t recall the year–had to be in the ’60s–a concert in Asbury Park, NJ. It was a Joan Baez concert and Bob Dylan was a surprise guest. Does anyone recall that? Hope somebody does.
My then-husband and I went to the concert–all dressed up as young married couples were wont to do back then–me in heels and a pink polka dot dress, precisely made up and coiffed; hubby with a tie and shined shoes. Anyway, Joan Baez comes on stage and says she has a guest–and she introduces Bob Dylan. Don’t recall all the songs he sang–probably Blowin’ in the Wind, Hard Rain. What I remember most is that I got back home, stopped curling my hair, ditched the make-up, the heels, the pink polka dot dress and, of course, the bra. Started looking around, really looking around, understood “Maggie’s Farm,” marched in the ’70s against Viet Nam and for civil rights. I’m 79 now, but still, when I’m at a loss for words to say what’s goin’ on in our world, an old Bob Dylan song’ll pop into my head and lay it all out for me. Anyway, if anybody recalls that long-ago Asbury Park concert, sure like to know the date.
I recall being at Westbury Music Long Island around summer 1968, 1969 or 1970. Joan Baez was featured.
Dylan sang Masters of War.
Not a performance by Dylan but 2 Jersey connections. 1) in 1965(?) Dylan tracked down Levon and the Hawks at Tony Mart in Sommers Point to sign the group that became The Band to back him on his electric tour. 2) About 10 years ago Dylan was stopped by the police in West Long Branch as he was wandering around searching for the house that Springsteen wrote Born to Run in.
Yes, definitely 1965. I wrote a little about that here: https://www.njarts.net/pop-rock/before-they-were-the-band-levon-and-the-hawks-performed-with-bob-dylan-in-newark/
The 2009 concert at First Energy Park was memorable for two reasons;
– the show was mostly played in a monsoon
– it was the day Dylan was picked up and questioned by the Long Branch Police department
https://www.nj.com/news/2009/08/bob_dylan_stopped_by_long_bran.html
There have been numerous stories and theories as to what exactly Dylan was doing in Long Branch that day.
Bob Dylan concert October 16, 1964 at Trenton State College, Ewing, NJ. I pulled the opening and closing curtain for him in Kendall Hall.