Bob Dylan: Madison Square Garden – New York City, New York 8 December 1975

The last show of the 1975 tour @ Madison Square Garden, New York City - 8 December 1975.

The show was a benefit concert for the imprisoned boxer, Hurricane Carter, hence the name of the show: “The Night of the Hurricane.” Special guests for the night: Robert Flack and Muhammad Ali.

The people from the Hurricane Carter movement kept calling me and writing me. And Hurricane sent me his book, which I read and which really touched me. I felt that the man was just innocent, from his writings and knowing that part of the country. So I went to visit him and was really behind him, trying to get a new trial.
~Bob Dylan (to Bill Flanagan, March 1985)

We’re gonna play this song now. This is what this concert, or this show is all about, and this person, he’s a beautiful man, and beauty should never be in prison.
~Bob Dylan (before Hurricane)

Hurricane:

Setlist (Dylan):

1. When I Paint My Masterpiece
2. It Ain’t Me, Babe
3. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
4. Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You
5. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
6. Romance In Durango (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
7. Isis (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
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8. The Times They Are A-Changin’
9. Dark As A Dungeon (Merle Travis)
10. Mama, You Been On My Mind
11. Never Let Me Go (Joseph C. Scott)
12. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
13. I Shall Be Released
14. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
15. Simple Twist Of Fate
16. Oh, Sister (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
17. Hurricane (Bob Dylan–Jacques Levy/Bob Dylan)
18. One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
19. Sara
20. Just Like A Woman
21. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door
22. This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie)

This is Scarlet here, Scarlet Rivera … don’t clap yet! We’re got a new song to play for you. It’s called Romance In Durango. Influenced by the past and a bridge to the future.
~Bob Dylan (before Romance In Durango)

Romance In Durango:

Here’s another new song. This is about the marriage ceremony between man and woman, it’s what happens when you get married, called Isis.
~Bob Dylan (before Isis)

Isis:

The concluding date of Bob Dylan’s legendary 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour doubled as a benefit for wrongly imprisoned prizefighter Rubin Carter, the subject of Dylan’s famed narrative “Hurricane.” An excellent companion to Sony’s official release The Bootleg Series, Vol. 5: Live 1975, this unauthorized two-disc set captures the performance in its entirety, complete with superior sound quality and a beautiful package that mirrors Sony’s own aesthetics. The fiery, sinuous folk-rock sound that defined the Rolling Thunder dates reaches its apex here. Familiar songs like “It Ain’t Me, Babe,” “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” and “Just Like a Woman” radiate new life, galvanized by Dylan’s impassioned vocals and his all-star band’s crackling energy.
~Jason Ankeny (allmusic.com)

Gonna dedicate this song to Mr. Richard Manuel, who does it so well.
~Bob Dylan (before I Shall Be Released)

I Shall be Released:

Gonna dedicate this to all our sisters out there tonight.
~Bob Dylan (before Oh, Sister)

Oh, Sister:

Lots of people make up the Rolling Thunder Revue, a lot of people who make it up you don’t see, and we are the Rolling Thunder Revue, and we shall return! ~Bob Dylan (before Sara)

Sara:

Here is a great article written by Harold Lepidus (examiner.com ):

• Bob Dylan in 1975 – The ‘Night of the Hurricane,’ the tale of the tape

-Egil