The Bob Dylan World Tour 1978 marked Dylan’s first international tour since the famed 1966 tour and his first live shows since the Rolling Thunder Revue across North America in 1975-76.
The year-long tour found Bob Dylan performing 114 shows in Asia, Oceania, North America and Europe, to a combined audience of two million fans.
The tour launched on February 20, 1978, with 11 historic performances: Dylan’s first-ever concerts in Japan included eight shows at the revered Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo. Two of the Budokan shows — February 28 and March 1 — were recorded on 24-channel multi-track analog tape with 22 performances excerpted from those shows appearing on Bob Dylan At Budokan, a 2LP set first issued on Columbia Records as a Japan-only release in November 1978, followed by a global release in April 1979.
A 2023 release, Complete Budokan, marks the first time any of Dylan’s complete performances from his 1978 world tour have been officially available.
For his 1978 performances, Dylan led an ensemble featuring
- Billy Cross (lead guitar)
- Ian Wallace (drums)
- Alan Pasqua (keyboards)
- Rob Stoner (bass, vocals)
- Steven Soles (acoustic rhythm guitar, vocals)
- David Mansfield (pedal steel, violin, mandolin, guitar, dobro)
- Steve Douglas (saxophone, flute, recorder)
- Bobbye Hall (percussion)
- Helena Springs (vocals)
- Jo Ann Harris (vocals)
- Debi Dye (vocals)
The original Bob Dylan At Budokan album was produced by Don DeVito, who also helmed Dylan’s Street-Legal, recorded and released during the 1978 world tour and featuring the same musicians.
The 1978 tour concluded on December 16, 1978, in Hollywood, Florida.
