The former Eastern Germany is a strange land. I came to Rostock for the first time in my life. It looked like time had stopped there 50 years ago. It had been an important city long ago. Now it was only slowly reviving. Continued my trip through small exotic eastern villages and finally came to Halle. On the general european map it was only a small dot, I thought it would be smaller than my hometown Turku. So arriving there was kind of a shock at start. A huge highway lead to the city, which looked bigger than Helsinki! It must have been a very prosperous town during 19th Century. Big, old ruined palaces everywhere. Very old, beautiful church. Some excotic bierstuben.
It was a extremely hot summer day (must have been over 30C). Freilichtbuhne Peissnitz was an enormous wide park, located some kilometers from the center. I was stupid, I took my camera with me. The guards at the gate where checking everything and said I couldn't take my camera to the concert area. No problem, I thought, they surely have a safe there. But no! They said that I couldn't leave my camera to them, it was not possible! The concert was about to begin. Had to run 3km back to my hotel and leave my expensive camera there! Finally exhausted and swetting all over I got back to concert area. Luckily there was some German artist performing before Dylan, so I didn't miss the start of the concert.
JOKERMAN was a good start for a concert, but very soon I noticed that "Things Had Changed": Dylan's singing wasn't very good anymore and I thought the new band wasn't playing with the same enthusiasm than Smith and Company. But there were some GOLDEN moments too. Acoustic version of MASTERS OF WAR was a very thrilling experience. Bob's performance was superb. It had a cutting-edge. It really got you thinking about the message of the song. Later I heard the Hirosima version from the beginning of 1994 and understood that Bob must have "rediscovered" the song there.
Well, what do I think about the whole concert? Certainly it wasn't as good as Turku 1990 or Helsinki 1989, but there were a few fine moments too. And to be at that beautiful park, sun shining, hippies singing, drinking strong German beer...Would I do it all again? Yes sir and with pleasure.



Set List:
1. Jokerman
2. Just Like a Woman
3. All Along The Watchtower
4. Positively 4th Street
5. Tangled Up In Blue
6. It Takes a Lot To Laugh
7. Mr. Tambourine Man
8. Masters Of War
9. Love Minus Zero / No Limit
10. God Knows
11. I Shall Be Released
12. Maggie's Farm
13. Ballad Of A Thin Man
14. It Ain't Me Babe