Visions of Johanna - Grateful Dead - 3-18-1995 The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA, set 2-08

A pure un-edited segment from the great "Monkeyface" video.

I just love this "Visions of Johanna" and hence the re-uppost but all credit goes to them ! (This song was played a total of 8 times (2 in 1986 and 6 in 1995). This one was the 5th overall and 3rd during 1995).

Total played :
03/19/86- Hampton Coliseum - Hampton, VA
04/22/86- Berkeley Community Theater - Berkeley, CA
02/21/95- Delta Center - Salt Lake City, UT
02/24/95- Oakland Coliseum Arena - Oakland, CA
03/18/95- The Spectrum - Philadelphia, PA
03/30/95- The Omni - Atlanta, GA
04/07/95- Tampa Stadium - Tampa, FL
07/08/95- Soldier Field - Chicago, IL

"Visions of Johanna" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. Noting how popular "Visions of Johanna" remains among "hardcore Dylanophiles," Andy Gill writes that the song begins by contrasting two lovers, the carnal Louise, and "the more spiritual but unattainable" Johanna. Ultimately, for Gill, the song seeks to convey how the artist is compelled to keep striving to pursue some elusive vision of perfection.

Written around the time of Dylan's marriage to Sara Lownds, Clinton Heylin describes it as "one of the oddest songs ever written by a man who has just tied the knot and is enjoying a brief honeymoon in the city". Noting that the song is an elegy for a past lover, Heylin speculates that "it is awfully tempting to see Johanna as his muse," who, in the song, is "not here".

Dylan critic Michael Gray also praises the subtlety of the song. Gray acknowledges that it is difficult to say what this song is "about", since it is at once indefinable and precise. For Gray, its principal achievement lies in the way it confuses categories, using language to be simultaneously serious and flippant, delicate and coarse, and mixing up "abstract neo-philosophy and figurative phraseology".

'Visions of Johanna' is asking different sorts of questions. Such as: Where are you? Who are you? What are you doing here?" Evoking the drugged, urban milieu of the song, Marcus writes of "People wandering from one corner of a loft to another, doped, drunk, half-awake, fast asleep, no point to the next breath, let alone the next step." For Marcus, "'Visions of Johanna' makes a narrative solely out of atmosphere."
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A Monkeyface Production (Video)

Camera, Recording, Capture, Edit, Encode & DVD Authoring: Markiki
Audio Synchronization: Kevin Tobin

Video: AUD (Tripod) ~ Master
Master: JVC Single Tube Camera ~ 0 Decks ~ Panasonic AG-7400 ~
Audio: Soundboard [LPCM, 16 Bit, 48 kHz, 1.5 Mbps]

Set Two
It's All Too Much
Aiko Aiko ~
Playing in the Band ~
Uncle John's Band ~
drums ~
space ~
The Last Time ~
Visions of Johanna ~
One More Saturday Night
Rain (encore)
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Jerry Garcia - Guitar
Mickey Hart - Drums
Bill Kreutzmann - Drums
Phil Lesh - Bass
Bob Weir - Guitar
Vince Welnick - Keyboards