Ned Kelly writes,
 I taped this show on a cassette recorder with a hand held microphone, "borrowed " from my father. This mic was used to record family greetings onto reel to reel tape & which
were then sent overseas to relatives. Who after listening to our exciting family news would then tape over it with their own recordings & sent them back to us.

 This brings back uncomfortable memories of a mic being thrust in my face
while my father incessantly mimed the actions of "say something, hurry up"
& the foul look on his face when he had to keep rewinding the reel back when 
I remained silent.

 Before any lineage freaks ask I can no longer remember the make nor model of
either the cassette recorder (might have been a Phillips) or the microphone.
The cassettes I used were Sony C90’s.

 This was Dylan's first tour of Australia since 1966 so it was greatly anticipated. 
The majority of punters had no idea of what to expect but us Dylan fans were already aware that it was a big band type of affair & that many songs had new arrangements. 
This was one of the first outdoor gigs I'd been to were the prices were staggered plus had reserved (seated) & unreserved sections. The reserved section which was on the grass in front of the stage consisted of row upon row of single cheap white plastic seats.
The exact same ones uses for balcony & patio settings.

 I can't remember how far back this section stretched but I assume right back to the grass  in front of the grandstands. There was even unreserved grass sections for poorer folks to stand on ;-) Nor can I remember how it was sectioned off, but I do I have a vague collection of a picket fence. 
 
 Anyway it has rained heavily that day before, over night & perhaps that morning as well, so the reserved & unreserved grass sections were incredibly swamp like, the seats sinking in the mud, with or without people sitting on them. Plus with umpteen thousand people trekking to & from their seats this swamp was quickly turned into a quagmire after a period of time. Folks were caked with mud from the soles of their feet up to various 
parts of their legs.
 

 Dylan's return to Sydney was a freebie for me, not that I had free ticket or pass etc for it. Nor did I have to climb over a fence or go under one. At that time some security companies were hiring off duty servicemen for concert security, especially for bigger outdoor rock concerts. I was working on a RAAF  (Royal Australian Air Force) base at the time & some airman friends of mine were hired to do security at the Dylan show.






 So it was pre arranged to meet them at a certain time,  it was a case of Hey Presto, Bob's Yer Uncle, Open Sesame & my mate & myself were in the reserved seating section.
The down side was because we didn't have tickets we had to walk around a fair bit till the concert started which turned us into mud versions of tar babies. But it became easier to blend in as many people choose to stand in the mud than sit on a lop sided chair in it. When Bob came on everybody stood up & rushed forward anyway.

 Not long after Dylan came on many people were perplexed (as was I) by the  instrumental & unknown song he chose to open with. Noticed many people looking at each other wondering what the fuck was Dylan up to.

Overall  I was pleased to have seen Dylan that April Fools Day back in 78.
Enjoyed some of the new arrangements to old songs. One song I was looking forward to was Like A Rolling Stone but IMHO a very lacklustre version was unfurled at the showground. Not a big fan of ladies backing vocals at a Dylan concert I must say.
At the end of the day I have to say I thought the performance as a whole with the big band was a bit cabaret - ish, even if it was held outside in a mud filled field.
 
This recording did come out on a 2LP set called "Bob Dylan Live In Sydney 1978" but is missing some songs. It was also issued on a Japanese CD a decade or so (title unknown) 
but from an unknown generation of my recording.
These CD's were made from the master tapes.