Location North America, Europe Legs 3 | Associated album Shot of Love No. of shows 54 | |
Start date June 10, 1981 (1981-06-10) End date November 21, 1981 (1981-11-21) | ||
The Bob Dylan World Tour 1981 was a concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The tour lasted from June 10, 1981 to November 21, 1981 and consisted of 54 concerts in three legs: 31 in North America and 23 in Europe. The tour promoted the release of Dylan's 1981 album Shot of Love.
Background
The tour started on June 10, 1981 in Chicago, Illinois. Dylan performed a further three concerts in the United States before travelling to Europe. The European leg of the tour started on June 21 in Toulouse in France and consisted of twenty three concerts, the largest number of concerts taking place in England where eight shows were performed. All shows from July 1 onwards were recorded by members of Dylan's crew.
The European tour ended in tragedy in Avignon, France where a member of the crowd fell into the electric cables before the first song and caused total power loss. Dylan and the band improvise an unplugged instrumental until the power is restored and ‘Saved’ is started from the beginning. In the accident two people were killed, but the show went ahead despite the incident.
Dylan returned to the United States in October to perform twenty three concerts there. Dylan also performed four concerts in Canada. The tour came to an end in Lakeland, Florida on November 21 after fifty-four concerts.