"THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" was recorded early in 2006 for 'Modern Times', released in August of 2006. It was not performed until the penultimate show of 2006. The live debut of "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" in Philadelphia was the seventh song from 'Modern Times' performed on stage during the fall tour of 2006. It must have been the first time since 1979 that Dylan opened a show with a song he had only just recorded in the same year. Two days later, in New York City, "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" also opened the last show of the year.

During the fine European tour in the spring of 2007 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" appeared in 10 of the 28 shows. Descriptions would not do justice to the energy of those European live performances of this gem, so I refer to the mp3 links below. Listen for yourself. During two of these European versions, in Düsseldorf and in Frankfurt, I had the pleasure to be a part of the audience.

During the North American summer tour of 2007 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" was performed in ten of the 27 shows; and during the New Zealand and Australia tour in August 2007 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" appeared in six of the 12 shows. During the USA fall tour of 2007 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" was performed in 12 of the 30 shows.

In 2008 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" was performed six times during the (mainly Latin American) tour in February and March; and then 25 times during the (mainly European) tour from May to July 2008, at first during all seven warmup shows in North America, and then during eighteen of the thirty European shows.

The last two of these European performances, in Jaén and in Jérez, I had the privilege to witness from the rail, and they were both smoking. Especially the last one in Jérez (which was followed by an awesome rendition of the third ever European appearance of "MISSISSIPPI") was as good as it gets. This song remains for me the most outstanding rock song by far in Bob Dylan’s current concert repertoire.

From August 2008 to November 2008 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" was performed in 22 more shows in North America. In the spring of 2009 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" appeared eleven times in Europe, and in the summer in the US another 13 times. During the fall tour of 2009 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" was performed not until the twelfth show, and then ten days after that at the first of the three shows in Chicago. Once more it appeared during the first show in November, in Indiana.

The first eight performances of "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" in 2010 were in March, seven in Japan, and one in South Korea; and during the European tour of 2010 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" appeared in five of the 25 shows. In the US "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" was performed three times in the summer, and thirteen times in the fall of 2010.

In April 2011 Dylan chose to perform "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" in China, in Vietnam, in Hong Kong, and five times in Australia. In June 2011 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" appeared during a wonderful show here in Cork, and then in Milano and Mainz. In July and August 2011 it was performed nine times in the US; and in October and November of 2011 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" appeared twelve more times in Europe, starting with an amazing version in Dublin, where I had the pleasure to be a part of the audience.

In April and May of 2012 Bob Dylan chose to perform "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" six times during his Latin America tour; and during his European summer tour of 2012 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" appeared another six times, the second of which I had the pleasure to see for myself in the second row in Bad Mergentheim, with Dylan playing his new grand piano. During the North American summer tour of 2012 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" appeared five times; and during the North American fall tour of 2012 "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" was performed another eight times.

The one and only appearance of "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" during the "static set list year" 2013 was during the first of the two "mix up" shows in Rome in November, in the middle of Dylan's fine European autumn tour. (for mp3 link see below)

The next six performances of "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" were in the summer of 2014, in Europe, during most of the open air festival sets of the tour. The next three appearances of "THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK" were not until one year later, during the last three shows of the European summer tour of 2015, the last of which I witnessed myself from the rail in Lörrach.






~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ PHILADELPHIA ~ NOVEMBER 18, 2006 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ NEW YORK ~ NOVEMBER 20, 2006 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ DÜSSELDORF ~ APRIL 19, 2007 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ FRANKFURT ~ APRIL 21, 2007 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ FLORENCE ~ JUNE 26, 2007 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ BETHEL ~ JUNE 30, 2007 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ DALLAS, TEXAS ~ FEBRUARY 3, 2008 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA ~ MARCH 15, 2008 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ CORK ~ JUNE 16, 2011 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ DUBLIN ~ OCTOBER 6, 2011 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ SAO PAULO, BRAZIL ~ APRIL 21, 2012 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ BAD MERGENTHEIM, GERMANY ~ JULY 6, 2012 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ ROME, ITALY ~ NOVEMBER 6, 2013 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ KRISTIANSAND, NORWAY ~ JULY 12, 2014 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN ~ JULY 15, 2014 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ PORI, FINLAND ~ JULY 17, 2014 ~


~ MP3 ~ THE LEVEE'S GONNA BREAK ~ LÖRRACH, GERMANY ~ JULY 16, 2015 ~








Biblical references:


~ Psalm 118:24 ~

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.


~ Mark 13:32-37 ~

“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake — for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or in the morning — lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”


~ 1 Thessalonians 5:6 ~

... let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake ...


~ Revelation 16:15 ~

Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake.