Bob Dylan Includes ‘Visions of Johanna’ In Sydney Theatre Show

Bob Dylan’s one-off theatre show on his Australian tour included a performance of ‘Visions of Johanna’.

Dylan has been mainly playing arenas on his 2018 tour of Australia but Sydney was treated to the additional theatre performance at the Enmore Theatre.

‘Visions of Johanna’ was a surprise for the fans. Bob last performed the song 16 July 2015 at the Stimmen Festival in Germany.

‘Visions of Johanna’ first surfaced on Dylan’s seventh album ‘Blonde on Blonde’. Dylan wrote the song in 1965 while living at the Chelsea Hotel in New York, the same hotel where 13 years later Sid Vicious’ girlfriend Nancy Spungen was found stabbed to death. Arthur C. Clarke also wrote ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ at the Chelsea.

Bob Dylan’s original version of the song was called ‘Freeze Out’. He first performed the song on 17 October, 1965 in Baltimore.

On the 2015 Dylan archive release ‘The Bootleg Series Vol. 12: The Cutting Edge 1965-1966’ 11 takes of the recording sessions were released.

Dylan returned to his usual setlist the following night in Wollongong, removing ‘Visions of Johanna’ and putting ‘Desolation Row’ back in the set.

REVIEW: BOB DYLAN IN MELBOURNE

Bob Dylan setlist Melbourne 14 August 2018

Things Have Changed (from The Wonder Boys soundtrack, 2000)
It Ain’t Me Babe (from Another Side of Bob Dylan, 1964)
Highway 61 Revisited (from Highway 61 Revisited, 1965)
Simple Twist of Fate (from Blood On The Tracks, 1975)
Duquesne Whistle (from Tempest, 2012)
When I Paint My Masterpiece (from Greatest Hits Vol II, 1971)
Honest With Me (from Love and Theft, 2001)
Tryin’ to Get to Heaven (from Time Out of Mind, 1997)
Make You Feel My Love (from Time Out of Mind, 1997)
Pay in Blood (from Tempest, 2012)
Tangled Up in Blue (from Blood On The Tracks, 1975)
Early Roman Kings (from Tempest, 2012)
Visions of Johanna (from Blonde on Blonde, 1966)
Love Sick (from Time Out Of Mind, 1997)
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right (from The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, 1963)
Thunder on the Mountain (from Modern Times, 2006)
Soon After Midnight (from Tempest, 2012)
Gotta Serve Somebody (from Slow Train Coming, 1979)