Live Grains

EVERY GRAIN OF SAND

LIVE PERFORMANCES
OF
EVERY GRAIN OF SAND

BOOT NAMES (If any)

1981
Lakeland, Florida sees the song's live debut at the last concert of the 1981 Shot of Love tour.
Dylan messes up the last verse repeating "Then onwards . . " line from verse four instead of "I am hanging in the Balance . . ." line.

1988
The song appears in the setlists for the June - October 1988 tour only four times out of seventy one shows. Its first appearance in the Never Ending Tour is at Dallas, Texas on July 28th.
In all of the versions I have heard, Dylan sings "the perfect finished plan". At Dallas July 28 he appears to sing "leaves of yesteryear" though he sings "weeds" at Syracuse and Upper Darby. He sings "sometimes I look, there's someone there" at Dallas but sings "turn" at Syracuse and Upper Darby.

1989
The song is played at only two of the twenty one concerts during this years's summer tour in Dublin and Athens.
In Dublin he sings "I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man" the album version rarely sung live. The Athens performance also sounds as if he is singing the same "reality of man" line though it is less distinct and may represent a confusion of the two versions.

1990
In 1990 he plays the song once during the January-February Fastbreak tour. He ignores it during the spring North American tour and the summer European festival tour but sings it five concerts in a row during the late summer North American tour and three times during the US fall tour.

1991
There are only two live performances during the 101 concerts this year both in the US fall tour in October. At Tulsa he sings all the verses but muddles the last two lines repeating "Then onward in my journey I come to understand" from verse four and something like "Every hair is mumble-mumble like every grain of sand" as the last line.

1992
In 1992 there are six live performances of the song, two during the west coast spring tour, one during the summer European tour and three during the US late summer/fall tours.
In San Francisco he sings only verses 1 to 4. In Merano, Italy he sings the whole song with the "perfect finished plan" version.

1993
The song was played at three concerts during this year, once in London during the European winter tour
and twice during the US fall tour with Santana.

1994
Nine outings for Every Grain of Sand this year, three during the US April-May tour, two during the summer tour of Europe and the others during the US summer and fall tours. The Washington version is a poor attempt with Dylan using his "declamatory voice" which adds nothing to the song.

1995
Only five appearances this year, each one a slow stately version not unlike the album version. With long intros, a long instrumental section before the last two verses and a long instrumental finish these are lengthy tracks, the Munich version taking just over 10.30mins. All are sung without mistakes and have the "perfect finished plan" penultimate line. All also seem to have "Sometimes I look" rather than "Sometimes I turn" in the last verse.

The song appears just once this year in the set-lists at Birmingham, Alabama in November.

1997
Three appearances this year, one in each tour leg. The Bangor, Maine version in April is shorter than the 1995 version.
The Dayton version is the most chaotic live version I have heard. He starts "In the time of my indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear" and continues with verses three and four. He then tries to sing verse one but starts line three with a mumble mumble and continues with the last two lines of verse three (again!). He likewise confuses the next verse starting with verse four but singing the last three lines from verse two. Verse five (I have gone from rags to riches) is sung faultlessly but he sings the first two lines from verse four (gazing into the doorway of temptation's angry flame again) followed by the last two lines of verse six. If this sounds confusing just try listening to the live performance.

1998
Four appearances this year, in Europe, Australia and US/Canada. The Stockholm June version is one of the shortest on record, coming in at 5.40 mins. No prolonged instrumental section is played before the final two verses. Wollongong returns to a more usual length, just over seven minutes.

2000
Played only twice this year, once at Cologne rightly described by Andrew Muir as "passionate crafted" and a highlight of the show. It is not however without problems. In verse four he seems to improvise, singing:
"And every time I look in there I always hear my name
Then onward in my journey I mumble mumble man
Every hair is numbered like every grain of sand".
Columbia, on the other hand, also a passionate performance, seems to be word perfect.

2001
None of the three outings this year is without its problems. At Hamamatsu the first line of the last verse is sung thus: "I gaze into the doorway mumble-mumble sea" but he manages to get the rest of the verse correctly. At Grand Rapids it's the second line of the last verse that causes trouble. He sings "Every time I mumble-mumble other times, other times it's only me"
At Detroit in verse three he sings "The sun beats down upon the mumbles of time to light the way" and in verse five he sings "I have gone from rags to riches mumble mumble might".

2002
Four outings this year, the Stuttgart version appears to be word perfect but at Oberhausen he starts the last verse "I gaze into" realises his mistake and sings the correct "I hear the ancient footsteps . . . ."
The final two performances of the year are very different but each is excellent. The St. John version has a wonderful harp intro and is an edgy insistent performance. At Berkeley the performance is beautifully understated with Dylan almost appearing to adopt the role of the onlooker rather than the deeply involved.

2003
This year starts out as other years with one appearance during the US Spring tour and two during US Summer tour. Of these two are word perfect, the Asheville performance has "I gaze into the doorway . . . the motions of the sea" as the first line of the last verse.
The New York performance is the best, a wonderfully edgy, intense rendition, over a minute longer than the other two.
Then in October the European tour starts and everything changes . . .

The Point, Dublin, Ireland

"'Every Grain of Sand' is one of those songs that should never be played live because the studio versions are so perfect" says Andrew Muir in his excellent account of the Never Ending Tour (Razor's Edge: Bob Dylan and the Never Ending Tour; London 2001). Be that as it may it is one of those songs which though not performed very often has been performed every year of the Never Ending Tour. It is remarkable that in reviews by concertgoers this song, when performed, is very often chosen as a highlight of the evening. There have been no rewrites of this song and little variation in the text. I have heard only two live versions (Dublin & Athens 1989) which has the "Shot of Love" album penultimate line with "the reality of man" rather than "a perfect finished plan". In the first line of verse three "the weeds of yesteryear" is very often rendered as ""the leaves of yesteryear" and in the last verse "Sometimes I turn, there's someone there" often has look instead of turn. An air of uncertainty is often added to the song ending by the use of the phrase "some perfect finished plan" instead of "a perfect finished plan" Usually the full version of the song is sung and where this does not happed it usually appears as a mistake rather than a conscious decision. As with many Dylan songs errors are sometimes made and this often happen in the last verse where the second last line appears to cause the most confusion. 2006/07/08/09/11/12 Live Performances
Bill Pagel Tour Guides			Olof's Yearly Chronicles
DATE	POSITION	VENUE	BOOT NAMES (If any)
1981 Lakeland, Florida sees the song's live debut at the last concert of the 1981 Shot of Love tour. Dylan messes up the last verse repeating "Then onwards . . " line from verse four instead of "I am hanging in the Balance . . ." line.
November 21		Lakeland, Florida
1984 In the rehearsals for the 1984 tour, May 23, Los Angeles, Dylan fluffs the last two lines singing something delightfully confused like: "I have onward in my journey I hope to understand I am hanging in the balance like every grain of sand". The song is sung at twenty five of the twenty six concerts on the 1984 European tour being "recast as a rock anthem" as Paul Williams puts it. The exception is the middle night at Rome, June 20th. It is normally at 15th on the setlist. In all the boots of 1984 I have heard he sings the "perfect finished plan" second last line with no mistakes. He appears to sing "and the leaves of yesteryear" rather than "the weeds of yesteryear".
May 28, 1984		Verona, Italy
May 29, 1984	15	Verona, Italy
May 31, 1984	15	Hamburg, West Germany
June 2, 1984	15	Basel, Switzerland
June 3, 1984	16	Munich, West Germany	Jokerman has just left the Stadium
June 4, 1984	15	Rotterdam, The Netherlands	His Master's Voice
June 6, 1984	16	Rotterdam, The Netherlands
June 7, 1984	15	Brussels, Belgium	Standing on the Waters
June 9, 1984	15	Göteborg, Sweden	Don't Think Twice
June 10, 1984	15	Copenhagen, Denmark
June 11, 1984	15	Offenbach, West Germany
June 13, 1984	15	West-Berlin, West Germany	Just the Girls
June 14, 1984	15	Wien, Austria	Jokerman in Europe
June 16, 1984	15	Cologne, West Germany
June 17, 1984	14	Nice, France
June 19, 1984	15	Rome, Italy	Live at Palaeur
June 21, 1984	15	Rome, Italy
June 24, 1984	15	Milano, Italy
June 26, 1984	15	Madrid, Spain
June 28, 1984	15	Barcelona, Spain	Barcelona 84 (Dylantree)
June 30, 1984	15	Nantes, France
July 1, 1984	15	Paris, France	Les Temps Changent
July 3, 1984	15	Grenoble, France	Fury of the Moment
July 5, 1984	15	Newcastle, England	Dancing on the Rooftops
July 7, 1984	15	London, England	*What's Real*
July 8, 1984	16	Slane, Ireland
1988 The song appears in the setlists for the June - October 1988 tour only four times out of seventy one shows. Its first appearance in the Never Ending Tour is at Dallas, Texas on July 28th. In all of the versions I have heard, Dylan sings "the perfect finished plan". At Dallas July 28 he appears to sing "leaves of yesteryear" though he sings "weeds" at Syracuse and Upper Darby. He sings "sometimes I look, there's someone there" at Dallas but sings "turn" at Syracuse and Upper Darby.
July 28, 1988	4	Dallas, Texas	*Mudplex*
August 2, 1988	12	Los Angeles, California	*The Critic's Choice Vol 4 (?)*
August 31, 1988	5	Syracuse, New York	*Blown Out On The Trail*
October 13, 1988	21	Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
1989 The song is played at only two of the twenty one concerts during this years's summer tour in Dublin and Athens. In Dublin he sings "I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man" the album version rarely sung live. The Athens performance also sounds as if he is singing the same "reality of man" line though it is less distinct and may represent a confusion of the two versions.
June 3, 1989	5	Dublin, Ireland
June 28,1989	8	Athens, Greece
1990 In 1990 he plays the song once during the January-February Fastbreak tour. He ignores it during the spring North American tour and the summer European festival tour but sings it five concerts in a row during the late summer North American tour and three times during the US fall tour. At London in February he sings the usual "perfect finished plan" in the penultimate line. At Milwaukee in November he sings verses 1, 2, 5, 4 in that order omitting the last verse and thus finishing with the "temptation's angry flame" verse.
February 8, 1990	19	London, England	Staying Here With You
September 4, 1990	12	Tulsa, Oklahoma
September 5, 1990	13	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
September 6, 1990	13	Dallas, Texas
September 8, 1990	13	San Antonio, Texas
September 9, 1990	13	Austin, Texas
October 25, 1990	13	Oxford, Mississippi
November 10, 1990	15	Milwaukee, Wisconsin	Getting Harder and Harder to See a New Sunrise
November 18, 1990	6	Detroit, Michigan
1991 There are only two live performances during the 101 concerts this year both in the US fall tour in October. At Tulsa he sings all the verses but muddles the last two lines repeating "Then onward in my journey I come to understand" from verse four and something like "Every hair is mumble-mumble like every grain of sand" as the last line.
October 27, 1991	13	Lubbock, Texas
October 30, 1991	13	Tulsa, Oklahoma	Answer Me
1992 In 1992 there are six live performances of the song, two during the west coast spring tour, one during the summer European tour and three during the US late summer/fall tours. In San Francisco he sings only verses 1 to 4. In Merano, Italy he sings the whole song with the "perfect finished plan" version.
May 1, 1992	2	Red Bluff, California
May 4, 1992	2	San Francisco, California	From Springtime into Autumn
July 7, 1992	4	Merano, Italy
September 3, 1992	13	Minneapolis, Minnesota
November 3, 1992	13	Cincinnati, Ohio
November 13, 1992	14	Sunrise, Florida
1993 The song was played at three concerts during this year, once in London during the European winter tour and twice during the US fall tour with Santana.
February 9, 1993	2	London, England
September 5, 1993	4	Scranton, Pennsylvania
September 23, 1993	5	West Palm Beach, Florida
1994 Nine outings for Every Grain of Sand this year, three during the US April-May tour, two during the summer tour of Europe and the others during the US summer and fall tours. The Washington version is a poor attempt with Dylan using his "declamatory voice" which adds nothing to the song.
April 27, 1994	4	Lincoln, Nebraska
April 30, 1994	4	Springfield, Missouri
May 3, 1994	4	Evansville, Indiana
July 14, 1994	4	Graz, Austria
July 21, 1994	4	Dresden, Germany	Exclusive Series '94
August 24, 1994	6	South Bend, Indiana
October 4, 1994	4	Portland, Maine
October 30, 1994	11	Washington, D.C.
November 10, 1994	11	Jackson, Tennessee
1995 Only five appearances this year, each one a slow stately version not unlike the album version. With long intros, a long instrumental section before the last two verses and a long instrumental finish these are lengthy tracks, the Munich version taking just over 10.30mins. All are sung without mistakes and have the "perfect finished plan" penultimate line. All also seem to have "Sometimes I look" rather than "Sometimes I turn" in the last verse.
March 30, 1995	5	London, England	*F* The Playlist***
May 27, 1995	11	Monterey, California	*Guided by the Eternal Light*
July 8, 1995	11	Munich, Germany	*Germany Summer Tour 1995 Vol 1*
October 6, 1995 Review	4	Jacksonville, Florida
December 17, 1995	4	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Paradise Regained
1996 The song appears just once this year in the set-lists at Birmingham, Alabama in November.
November 2, 1996	4	Birmingham, Alabama
1997 Three appearances this year, one in each tour leg. The Bangor, Maine version in April is shorter than the 1995 version. The Dayton version is the most chaotic live version I have heard. He starts "In the time of my indulgence and the weeds of yesteryear" and continues with verses three and four. He then tries to sing verse one but starts line three with a mumble mumble and continues with the last two lines of verse three (again!). He likewise confuses the next verse starting with verse four but singing the last three lines from verse two. Verse five (I have gone from rags to riches) is sung faultlessly but he sings the first two lines from verse four (gazing into the doorway of temptation's angry flame again) followed by the last two lines of verse six. If this sounds confusing just try listening to the live performance.
February 24, 1997	4	Sapporo, Japan
April 9, 1997	4	Bangor, Maine	Bathed in a Stream of Pure Heat
November 8, 1997	4	Dayton, Ohio
1998 Four appearances this year, in Europe, Australia and US/Canada. The Stockholm June version is one of the shortest on record, coming in at 5.40 mins. No prolonged instrumental section is played before the final two verses. Wollongong returns to a more usual length, just over seven minutes.
June 9, 1998	4	Stockholm, Sweden	At the Globe Arena
September 5, 1998	4	Wollongong, Australia
October 29, 1998	10	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
November 5, 1998	11	College Park, Maryland
1999 Five well-spread outings for the song this year, all shorter than the 1995 version at c. 7.30 mins each. All appear to have "leaves" instead of "weeds" in verse three, "look" instead of "turn" in the last verse and the "perfect finished plan" last verse. At Ljubljana, Slovenia in April Dylan sings the last two lines from verse four "then onward on my journey . . . " again as the the final two lines of the last verse.
February 19, 1999 Review	11	Binghamton, New York	*The Lonely Graveyards of my Mind (Filler)*
April 28, 1999 Review	9	Ljubljana, Slovenia	*Roadmaps for the Soul*
July 26, 1999 Review	9	New York City, New York	*Ace of Clubs: Tramps*
October 30, 1999 Review	7	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
November 17, 1999 Review	11	Durham, New Hampshire
2000 Played only twice this year, once at Cologne rightly described by Andrew Muir as "passionate crafted" and a highlight of the show. It is not however without problems. In verse four he seems to improvise, singing: "And every time I look in there I always hear my name Then onward in my journey I mumble mumble man Every hair is numbered like every grain of sand". Columbia, on the other hand, also a passionate performance, seems to be word perfect.
May 11, 2000 Review	10	Cologne, Germany
July 29, 2000 Review	8	Columbia, Maryland
2001 None of the three outings this year is without its problems. At Hamamatsu the first line of the last verse is sung thus: "I gaze into the doorway mumble-mumble sea" but he manages to get the rest of the verse correctly. At Grand Rapids it's the second line of the last verse that causes trouble. He sings "Every time I mumble-mumble other times, other times it's only me" At Detroit in verse three he sings "The sun beats down upon the mumbles of time to light the way" and in verse five he sings "I have gone from rags to riches mumble mumble might".
March 13, 2001	5	Hamamatsu, Japan
November 6, 2001 Review	6	Grand Rapids, Michigan
November 9, 2001 Review	6	Detroit, Michigan
2002 Four outings this year, the Stuttgart version appears to be word perfect but at Oberhausen he starts the last verse "I gaze into" realises his mistake and sings the correct "I hear the ancient footsteps . . . ." The final two performances of the year are very different but each is excellent. The St. John version has a wonderful harp intro and is an edgy insistent performance. At Berkeley the performance is beautifully understated with Dylan almost appearing to adopt the role of the onlooker rather than the deeply involved.
April 16, 2002 Review	7	Stuttgart, Germany
April 27, 2002 Review	13	Oberhausen, Germany
August 9, 2002	13	St. John, Canada
Oct 12, 2002 Reviews	7	Berkeley, California
Nov 16, 2002 Reviews	11	Boston, Massachusetts
2003 This year starts out as other years with one appearance during the US Spring tour and two during US Summer tour. Of these two are word perfect, the Asheville performance has "I gaze into the doorway . . . the motions of the sea" as the first line of the last verse. The New York performance is the best, a wonderfully edgy, intense rendition, over a minute longer than the other two. Then in October the European tour starts and everything changes . . .
May 14, 2003 Reviews	8	Asheville, North Carolina
July 25, 2003 Reviews	11	Kelseyville, California
August 13, 2003 Reviews	11	Hammerstein Ballroom, New York
October 9, 2003 Reviews	11	Hartwall Areena, Helsinki, Finland
October 11, 2003 Review	11	Globe Arena, Stockholm, Sweden
October 12, 2003 Review	11	Löfbergs Lila Arena, Karlstad, Sweden
October 13, 2003 Review	11	Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
October 15, 2003 Review	11	Göteborg, Sweden.
October 16, 2003 Review	11	Copenhagen, Denmark
October 20, 2003 Review	13	Berlin Arena, Berlin, Germany
October 22, 2003 Review	13	Leipzig Arena, Germany
October 23, 2003 Review	11	Prague, Czech Republic
October 24, 2003 Review	13	Budapest, Hungary
October 26, 2003 Review	13	Graz, Austria
October 27, 2003 Review	11	Vienna, Austria
October 29, 2003 Review	12	Munich, Germany
October 30, 2003 Review	11	Bolzano, Italy
November 1, 2003 Review	11	Rome, Italy
November 2, 2003 Review	13	Milan, Italy
November 3, 2003 Review	13	Zürich, Switzerland
November 5, 2003 Review	10	Freiburg, Germany
November 6, 2003 Review	11	Frankfurt, Germany
November 10, 2003 Review	13	Amsterdam, The Netherlands
November 11, 2003 Review	11	Amsterdam, The Netherlands
November 12, 2003 Review	12	Brussels, Belgium
November 13, 2003 Review	15	Paris, France
November 15, 2003 Review	11	London, England
November 17, 2003 Review	11	Dublin, Ireland
November 20, 2003	11	Sheffield, England
November 21, 2003	13	Birmingham, England
2004
February 28, 2004	11	Cain's Ballroom, Tulsa, Oklahoma
March 3, 2004	11	St. Louis, Missouri
March 5, 2004	13	Chicago, Illinois
March 6, 2004	13	Chicago, Illinois
March 13, 2004	13	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
March 17, 2004	13	Detroit, Michigan
April 7, 2004	10	Boone, North Carolina
June 5, 2004	13	Uncasville, Connecticut
June 23, 2004	13	Glasgow, Scotland
June 26, 2004	11	Belfast, Northern Ireland
July 3, 2004	13	Cernobbio, Italy
July 5, 2004	13	St. Etienne, France
July 7, 2004	13	Barcelona, Spain
August 18, 2004	11	Sevierville, Tennessee
October 14, 2004	9	Santa Clara, California
October 20, 2004	10	Irvine, California
October 27, 2004	13	Columbia, Missouri
October 30, 2004	4	Kenosha, Wisconsin
November 4, 2004	13	Columbus, Ohio
November 10, 2004	13	Toledo, Ohio
2005
March 16, 2005	11	Oakland, California	Review
March 25, 2005	11	Los Angeles, California	Review
April 6, 2005	13	Chicago, Illinois	Review
April 16, 2005	11	Boston, Massachusetts	Review
June 23, 2005	8	Pittsfield, Massachusetts	Review
July 28, 2005	11	Missoula, Montana	Review
October 17, 2005	13	Stockholm, Sweden	Review
November 13, 2005	8	Zurich, Switzerland	Review
November 17, 2005	7	Glasgow, Scotland	Review
November 24, 2005	11	Brixton, London	Review
November 27, 2005	9	The Point, Dublin, Ireland
2006-12 Live Performances
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