The Genuine Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration

The 30th Anniversary concert on American Pay Per View television was a momentous. fitting tribute to one of the true living legends of our time. The line up was a dream, Neil Young, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Roger McGuinn & many more backed by Booker T & The MG's. Bob Dylan played last & seemed humbled by the 4 hour extravaganza. The show was not without drama. Sinead O'Conner was roundly booed by the New York City audience because of a television appearance where she tore up a picture of the pope a week earlier. Neil Young was next up and used the raw emotional nerve that OConner had opened to just sleigh the audience with "Tom Thumb Blues" & "Watchtower". The all star finale was not to be believed. "My Back Pages" featured Clapton's frenzied soloing cast against Neil's mournful guitar wail painting a rich musical collage. Bob, center stage, seemed in heaven. A sublime blissful memory.

This set (D487) with rehearsals and pre-broadcast momemts is a must have & a worthwhile document of "Bobfest".

Blake
OnTheBeach

Outstanding. Although I have watched these dvds at least 20 times, I am still excited when I watch them again. The quality of the video and sound is suburb!!. As you sit and watch, you get the feeling that you are there. This set is a MUST have for any one's collection. Rock on, Kid Dylan

I remember watching this originally broadcast on PBS years ago and was lucky enough to make a copy on VHS. After many years of playing, the VHS is nearing the end of it's days unfortunately. Finding this and getting a copy made my year. The G.E. Smith performances were somewhat of poor quality but for the most part, this is a must have for any music collector, Dylan or otherwise. Sophie B. Hawkins with her haunting voice in the rendition of "I Want You" is one my personal favourites of the entire concert, this alone makes this DVD a keeper on it's own. Neil Young with his show-stealing performance I can watch all night long. The list goes on and on with so much talent all gathered here at the peek of their careers. All I can say is Wow!!

This is a Godsend. I have downloaded about five different versions of various .avi files that won't play. Not sure why. And, of course, they, no doubt, don't include the rehearsal footage shown here. Amazing. Think of the talent arrayed in this video. (Sadly, one of the last appearances of) George Harrison and Johnny Cash, plus Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Roger McGuinn, Tom Petty, Johnny Winter, Chryssie Hynde, Stevie Wonder, etc. Thank you so much for a digital version of the proceedings that doesn't exist anywhere else! (There's only the VHS version for sale, which I already taped myself when it was broadcast, thank you very much. This is quite an achievement, probably unprecedented and certainly not known by the general public. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) Thanks!

Bob fest is a wonderful document.
We've got the chance to watch the rehearsals and the pré broadcasts.
Then comes this great night with Bob, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Willie Nelson,
Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Ron Wood, Tom Petty, Kris Kristofersson, Pearl Jam, The band...
My favourites are "Boots of spanish leather" by Nanci Griffith and Caroline Hester,
"The times they are a changin'" by Tracy Chapman, "When the ship comes in"
by The clancy brothers, "Mr Tambourine man" by Roger Mc Guinn.
Thanks very much to Jozef to get this one !

(This item has now been reviewed 10 times with only one (off-site) reviewer assigning fewer than 5 stars. It is one of the most frequently rated and requested items in the catalog with 49 members giving an average rating of 4.57.

The lengthy effort that went into collecting the best resources, coupled with the unparalleled excellence of the editing, authoring, screen shots, and artwork, surely merits this remarkable set at least a top 10 ranking. It was envisioned and produced in the spirit of the "Genuine" Basement Tapes and Bootleg Series CD-R compilations. Thus, while the Disk 1 rehearsals and extras may not be as entertaining as the rest of the set, these items had to be included for the sake of completeness. While three of the disk 2 pre-broadcast performances are of inferior technical quality, they are the best that could be obtained and will have to do until the master tapes are made available. Moreover, since it is a four-disk set and not just a singleton like the others above it in the current pro-shot rankings, perhaps a special category or individual rankings for each disk should be considered.

Having played my VHS copy of this unique event to death, when I saw it was available as a 4 DVD set with rave reviews I wooped with delight.
The set is a fantastic piece of musical history giving the viewer a front seat to witness the behind the scenes pass card into what realy goes on to produce such a spectacle.
The viewer is presented with a magnificently designed front end which enables easy navigation through the chapters and menus of the artists performances on each disc.
The complete 4 DVD set is presented in a truly professional package which earns my grateful thanks and much respect.
The first set I obtained was not of very good quality but I now have the genuine article courtesy of a member of our fraternity!
Many of the additional performances seen on this set which were missing off the official release fill in the blanks and complete the party - there is not a bad performance of any of Dylans master pieces even the Sinead Oconnor fiasco captures the mood and atmosphere of the occasion.
When Dylan makes his appearance on stage he still commands the attention of the crowd and viewer alike and gives us a masters demonstration of captivating a crowd playing solo with only an acoustic guitar.
Any Dylan fan or lover of good music and sence of occasion will warm to this production - playing it time after time. If like me you want to relive and share the splender of a day when time stood still to pay homage to the man himself - this set is defenate must have - and a solid five star rating.

I might be wrong, but I don't believe that Sony/Columbia has made their own watered-down version of "Bobfest" available on DVD. Their VHS/laser disc and double CD releases capture some of the highlights of this event, but the fan-made four DVD set, "The Genuine Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Celebration," is easily the most comprehensive document available. Disc one features two versions of Dylan and Eric Clapton rehearsing "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry." Because this was a live pay-per-view event, the show had to end by a certain time, so this song was cut. The first rehearsal run-through of this 1965 classic is awe-inspiring and should have been included on the official CD release. Clapton soulfully shares vocal duties with Dylan and of course contributes some of his mythological guitar playing. The first disc also contains interviews with some of the participating musicians. Clapton's anecdote about playing with Dylan is amusing, and it is moving to see the late Rick Danko express his admiration.
Disc two shows G.E. Smith playing a couple Dylan covers before the actual broadcast began. His guitar playing on "From a Buick 6" took the top of my head right off. This pre-broadcast footage is in very poor video quality, but I'm sure it was the best available to the producer(s) of this set. This particular disc also has Lou Reed turning Dylan's "Foot of Pride" into a weapon of mass destruction. In one of the night's many surreal moments, Lou introduces Willie Nelson, whose performance of "What Was it You Wanted" is superior to Willie's Don Was produced studio version.
Disc three has a wonderfully jaunty version of "When I Paint My Masterpiece" by the Band. The official audio CD left off Clapton's interpretation of "Love Minus Zero/ No Limit." Thankfully it's included on disc three, and we can enjoy the comically intense stare G.E. gives Clapton at the song's end. Ron Wood's raucous version of "Seven Days" is also a treat for fans of this tune Dylan hasn't performed much himself.
Disc four has George Harrison doing "If Not For You," a song absent from both the official audio and video releases. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' joyous and irreverent rendition of "Rainy Day Women" is one of my favorite Dylan covers of all time. Watch and listen to the late Howie Eptein's incredible lap steel guitar playing on this. The final disc also includes Dylan's entire performance, including "Song to Woody." This tune is missing from all official releases because I don't think his acoustic guitar was plugged into the soundboard. His vocal microphone picks up enough of his strumming and this "tribute within a tribute" is sung with squinty-eyed conviction.
There is something on here for everyone, and your own favorite parts can be quickly accessed by the user-friendly menu. The menu has a unique, three-dimensional cube design which I find exceedingly cool. I tip my Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat to those responsible for this tremendous DVD set, and I recommend it to anybody who wants to take the full tour of "Bobfest."

This set is absolutely a must have for any Dylan DVD collector.
The authoring, sourcing, artwork, menus, and meticulous compilation are all professional grade to be sure. This set looks good on the shelf, and even better on the screen. We are certainly indebted to the hard work of all involved. Bravo!
Personally, I won't be watching discs 1 and 2 more than once or twice. The line up reflects a wonderful display of Dylans influence and a moving show of respect, and of course drips with talent. However, few of the performances are really too special to me. I will mention a swinging 'Emotionally Yours' from the O'Jays as a highlight for me. I like Willie Nelson on 'What was it you wanted'. Cool choice, Willie. Also, I have to mention the greats Stevie Wonder.
Discs 3 and 4 have already seen repeated viewing at my house, and I'll watch em again and again I expect.
The interviews are really nice, sometimes moving, and fun to watch. The rehersal stuff is very interesting and so much nicer than my old VHS version. I'm a big fan of the 'behind the scenes' footage that is around, and this cast cant be beat.
Back to the stage: George, Roger Mcguin, and Tom Petty are OK but forgetable. Then the Man of the Hour returning triumphant, 'back to New York City'.
A great mini set, each song full of feeling and obviously carefully chosen. All excellent performances. The ensemble on My Back Pages is great, as are all the acoustic tunes. Hell, its all great.
Again, my thanks and admiration to everyone involved in bringing this set together. This is one of the most professional, tasteful, and elegant fan projects I've seen and, if Dylan DVDs are your sort of thing, a 5 star must have.

This is a very special set of DVD's. It is a real labour of love, compiling the best available footage, and presenting it in an immaculately and attractively authored form. The no longer available "Official" release had several important ommisions from the running order, and some overdubs. Here we get everything, from rehearsal footage to interviews - even wonderfully designed covers. (Some of the footage is of lesser quality than the excellent stuff that probably comes from the Laserdisc release). So, technically, this is as good as it will get, because you can be sure that if they ever get round to re-releasing this, an awful lot of the stuff on here will be missing...
As to the artistic content, well it was an amazing concert. Dozens of stars in the same venue, but with no clashes of ego's as everyone was there for Bob. When they got their brief moment in the spotlight each and every act gave a special, heartfelt performance. (My personal highlights would be Neil Young's blistering "Watchtower" and "Tom Thumb", Levon leading The Band through "Masterpiece" and George Harrison's "Sweet Marie") The Houseband comprising Booker T and the M.G.'s, supplemented by Jim Keltner and G.E.Smith, is astounding in it's own right!
In summation, then, this is an absolutely "Must Have" set for any Dylan acolyte, and everyone connected with it's construction is to be congratulated on their achievement , and thanked profusely for their efforts...