10/28/1978 Bob Dylan, SIU Arena, Carbondale, IL

 43 years ago today...

October 28, 1978 - Carbondale, IL

Performing with a large band and supporting a live double album, Bob Dylan played a concert at the SIU Arena.

Earlier in the year, Dylan recorded two concerts in Japan for "Bob Dylan At Budokan," a double live album released August 1, just three months before this concert. Unlike most Dylan shows, the singer enlisted a large band with included a saxophone/flute player and pedal-steel guitar/mandolin/violin player along with female background vocalists.

This big band approach was a departure for Bob, and critics thought the song performances were overly produced compared to the acoustic originals. The album was panned by some, but we enjoyed both the record and the show which showcased most of Dylan's best-known "greatest hits" in a big production for the times.

We camped out for a few nights outside the SIU Arena ticket windows for a shot at the best seats, a common practice back in the day for the hottest concerts.

Being the Saturday night of Halloween Weekend, the occasion for the annual street-closing costume party on Southern Illinois Avenue, aka "the Strip," ghouls, goblins and creepy yet sexy nurses were the look of the night. Dylan was the opening act for the biggest college party of the year, an event that got so big the University later established a fall break to discourage the practice. Now in an era of declining enrollment, they embrace the debauchery and encourage students to make the trip to SIU.