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Bob Dylan Tickets on Sale Friday for “Rough and Rowdy Ways” Tour 

Bob Dylan tickets are on sale this week for the first leg of his “Rough and Rowdy Ways” World Tour, covering U.S. dates in the fall of 2021. Dylan, who turned 80 in May, plans to tour into 2024 in support of his 2020 Rough and Rowdy Ways album, resuming touring in November after being forced to halt his “Never Ending Tour” due to COVID.

Dylan’s tour dates for the Rough and Rowdy Ways run begin on November 2 at the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee, and run through December 2 at The Anthem in Washington D.C. In between, stops include Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre, Palace Theatre in Louisville, and multi-night stops at the Beacon Theatre in New York, Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York, and The Met in Philadelphia.

Tickets for this first leg of the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour are on sale for the general public beginning on Friday, October 1. Presale opportunities are already open for those with access to venue or artist-based offerings.

Rough and Rowdy Ways was the 39th studio album put out by Dylan, and the first of original material since 2012. It was preceded with the release of Murder Most Foul on YouTube in March 2020, followed by the launch of I Contain Multitudes  in April and False Prophet in May before the album was launched in June. The album was strongly reviewed, with Rolling Stone’s Rob Sheffield writing “While the world keeps trying to celebrate him as an institution, pin him down, cast him in the Nobel Prize canon, embalm his past, this drifter always keeps on making his next escape. On  Rough and Rowdy Ways , Dylan is exploring terrain nobody else has reached before—yet he just keeps pushing on into the future”

Bob Dylan “Rough and Rowdy Ways” Tour Dates

NOVEMBER Tuesday 2 – Milwaukee, Riverside Theatre Wednesday 3 – Chicago, Auditorium Theatre Friday 5 – Cleveland, Key Bank State Theatre Saturday 6 – Columbus, Palace Theatre Sunday 7 – Bloomington, IU Auditorium Tuesday 9 – Cincinnati, Procter & Gamble Hall Wednesday 10 – Knoxville, Knoxville Auditorium Friday 12 – Louisville, Palace Theatre Saturday 13 – Charleston, Municipal Auditorium Monday 15 – Moon Township, Robert Morris University UPMC Events Center Tuesday 16 – Hershey, Hershey Theatre Friday 19 – New York City, Beacon Theatre Saturday 20 – New York City, Beacon Theatre Sunday 21 – New York City, Beacon Theatre Tuesday 23 – Port Chester, Capitol Theatre Wednesday 24 – Port Chester, Capitol Theatre Friday 26 – Providence, Providence Performing Arts Center Saturday 27 – Boston, Wang Theatre Monday 29 – Philadelphia, The Met Tuesday 30 – Philadelphia, The Met

DECEMBER Thursday 2 – Washington, The Anthem

Tour dates are likely to be added (given the 2021-2024 marking on the tour graphic) – visit the touring section on Dylan’s website for updates .

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Robert Allen Zimmerman was born on the 24th of May, 1941 in Minnesota, US. In 1959 he started performing folk music in the coffee houses of Minneapolis, and began introducing himself as Bob Dylan. The rest, they say, is history.

Five decades on, there’s still never been another artist that so many have written and speculated about to no avail whatsoever. Bob Dylan is still an enigma in an age where artifice and construct pretty much exists to be torn down and exposed. This is still the case even after he began publishing his own memoirs, and that’s saying something.

All we know for sure about one of the most influential and respected recording artists is that he earned that title with each and every one of his 35 studio albums, from 1962’s self-titled debut, to his most recent effort 2012’s “Tempest”.

It’s pretty much pointless to try and sum up Dylan’s career unless you’ve been given a books amount of space to do so. His countless amounts of reinventions and the sheer musical diversity on display give even the chameleonic likes of Bowie and Madonna a run for their money.

Every single incarnation has given the world something entirely unique, from the serious troubadour of 1964’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’!” through the rock and roll Judas of “Highway 61 Revisited”, all the way up to his Gospel period heralded by 1979’s “Slow Train Coming”, or more recently, the thunderous urban Blues of 2009’s “Together Through Life”.

This is a man whose influence on music and pop culture in general is up there with his old buddies The Beatles (who, legend has it, Dylan introduced to weed on the set of the film “Help!”). So the truth of the matter is that even if you aren’t a fan of his songs, Bob Dylan is still more deserving of your respect than practically any other solo artists in music history.

Live reviews

In the 28 years of following Bob Dylan, Dublin sits at the top of the entertainment charts. From London to Glasgow and over in Europe I have had the privelidge of standing or sitting along with Thousands of other Dylan devotees. For the most part silence is required during performance. Each time the opening bars of a song are heard I and others studiously listen. I'm listening firstly to see what song Bob is performing. Websites have sprung up online for fans to guess what songs Bob will perform prior to the gig.

Mostly in silence and after a verse or two the penny drops and a huge roar is heard. "Hey It's Watchtower" or similar awakenings can be heard as it dawns on the crowd what Bob is performing. Hallowed silence once again returns as the crowd listen to every note Bob hurls from the gravelly voice now inhabiting our bard. Occasionally and if Bob accomodates us, we even join in a chorus such as "It Aint Me Babe, no no no". Im convinced that Bob just for kicks changes the pace of a song in order to deny his followers. When I arrived at the 02 in Dublin a large crowd had assembled in different queues depending on the ticket allocation. I was happy to be sitting in the first tier not more than 30ft from the stage. Here I could clearly see the oscar Bob won for "Things Have Changed" proudly on display on an amp beside the grand piano. A new prop is a bust of a fine lady propped on Bobs piano. I have learned that the bust is named 'Posie', a gift from fans to celebrate Bob's 73rd year here. Either side of my seat where younger Dublin lads clearly enjoying the 'Craic' along with the rest of the crowd. If the 'Craic' can be interpreted it goes something like this. "Hi what's your name?", I answer. "Where you from?" I answer. "What do you think of Dublin?", I answer and before I know it I'm exchanging facebook, email, telephone number and half of Dublin is visiting me soon. Aye Dublin folks know how to party.

As anticipation of Bobs arrival onstage grows it's normal for the crowd to go quiet. Not Dublin. This overly friendly energy continues as the opening bars of "Things have Changed herald" the start. Bobs vocal sounding very clear and without the now normal rasping sounds in his delivery. In the last twelve months or so the set list has barely changed on this never ending tour. Some may see this as lazy and predictable. I see it as Bob polish performances of songs he may have written 50 years ago. With Bob in control as his band of trusty lieutenants followed their commander in chief's every move, the 'Craic' continued with each new intro. It seemed to me that once the songs identity was established the crowd resumed the friendliness among each other. Once or twice I asked the lads next to me to let me hear Bob. Of course Bob didn't seem to mind as he relaxed into this crazy atmosphere. Bob thanked us at the end of part one. The second part of the gig opened with 'Honest with me', taken from his more recent catalogue of work. This was to be the case for the remainder of the set as Bob continued to showcase his most recent studio album 'Tempest' drawing seven songs from the acclaimed work. 'Long and Wasted Years' deservedly takes last place before Bob and the band disappear in preparedness for the encore. As expected Bob returns to the stage and graces the crowd with 'All Along The Watchtower' The opening bars of this song cannot be mistaken. After the third verse Bob slows the tempo down and plays some elegant piano notes before cranking the chords back up to 'Hendrix-esque' levels. The house lights are switched on as the happy fans exit the arena.

I'm sure especially in the second half of the set Bob was responding to the 'Craic'. He was noticibly turning in different directions as he jammed with the best 'craic' in the house. Bob Dylan continues to confound the expectations of fans and critics alike with his unique brand of originality and sealing his ever growing legendary status. As I left the arena I joined thousands of happy fans on the walk along the River Liffey back into Dublin fair city. The sun was setting on this instalment of'The Never Ending Tour'.

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Unlike many of the fans at Bob Dylan’s show I haven’t seen him countless times. I think I have been to four or five of his shows over a wide span in his career.

My first live experience was in the early seventies at the Los Angeles Forum. I think he was backed by The Band if I remember correctly. It was a great show, I had great seats that were a result of a ticket lottery I think? He sounded just like he did, more or less, on his records.

I think the next time I saw him was at the LA Greek Theatre. A friend and I took a chance and went without tickets in hand. We were very lucky that night scoring tickets that were released from the band just before the show started. We were down front and center. This show was during the G.E. Smith period. I’m sad to say that I was disappointed in this show. Mr. Dylan and his songs were almost unrecognizable to me as I remember. I wasn’t yet able to appreciate the concept of a performer changing their presentations from how they were originally offered. That concept took me a while to appreciate and now I think that I expect it from great performers. But that night not at all...

My next chance to see him was at a remarkable show at UCLA. It was an extravaganza featuring Mr. Dylan, Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell. Three of my musical touchstones. I don’t remember much about this show except we had horrible seats. I think I was mostly affected by the overall show and that I was actually there seeing these three back to back.

Last night seeing him at UCI was very special indeed. My new girlfriend managed to get us very good seats in this small venue, stage right and up above the floor. Due to the security check in we entered the show halfway through the first song, on stage as we searched for our seats was a man playing guitar, we wondered if this was an opening act since we had been led to believe that Mr. Dylan no longer played guitar and this fellow was quite lively on stage as well, belying the stories told to me of his previously aloofness on stage. As we sat we realized that no this was the man. It was a wonderful lead in for me. He played a set that included songs from all of his era’s. Most reinterpreted greatly as far as the music but mostly true to the prose I think. Somewhere in the middle he slowed things down from the energetic pace to give an almost traditional rendition of Girl from the North Country, strikingly beautiful featuring him on the piano primarily. What a night! Mr. Dylan has still got the magic touch in my book, how he continues on the hard life of the road is a testament to his love of what he does I guess. I’m glad he does. Thanks Mr Dylan.

ob Dylan, the man in black, followed his band onto the stage around 9:00pm. The sound came across a little muffled during “Things Have Changed”, but was corrected before the song transitioned into “She Belongs to Me” (one of only two songs from the 60’s…and yes, it was modified quite a bit). Switching it up between standing at the mic and sitting at the piano, he left the majority of the guitar, percussion, and (lots of) pedal steel to the men in grey suits. At 75 years old, it is amazing the man is still performing at all, but I swear his voice is aging twice as fast as his body. I am a huge Tom Waits fan, so I have no problem with whiskey-soaked, unintelligible vocals, but late-career Dylan is giving Waits a run for his money when he is on stage. Selections from Tempest would have been right at home on Bone Machine or Real Gone. What might sound like a heartbroken hound dog on record, can come across as the last breath of a dying bull frog on stage. I mean that in the best way possible though. The built-up grit and grime in his throat tells stories the same way his lyrics do.

There are many differences between Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, but when it comes to the stage, there are two that are most obvious. Tom Waits is known for his banter, while Dylan is known for his almost complete disregard for the audience. The only time he spoke to the crowd on Sunday night was to mumble a few words of appreciation before intermission. The other difference, which I didn’t realize until the Sinatra songs started to appear in the set, is that Dylan is fully capable of washing the rust away to sing clean vocals. The transformation was unbelievable as “I’m A Fool to Want You” would follow “Duquesne Whistle”, or “I Could Have Told You” would follow “Early Roman Kings”. Decades would peel away like reptilian skin. Tribute was paid to the old standards by his band in multiple ways, but hearing Dylan pay respect to those classic tunes by enunciating every word was something I didn’t think possible in 2016. But then he’d follow “All or Nothing At All” by barking “Long and Wasted Years” at the bright moon above. He might not be the most dynamic performer living today, but the fact that he can mix such diverse sounds into a single, cohesive set speaks volumes about his ability to curate a show.

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In the 53 years since his début album, Bob Dylan has written and recorded countless songs, but last night at the Royal Albert Hall he returned to the template of his first record; blending gems of the Great American Songbook with his own compositions.

In recent years, fans expecting a greatest hits show would have been disappointed at hardly hearing any of the "classics", there was not a disappointed fan in the house tonight despite only 3 of Dylan's originals having been released before the 1975 and two of the Sinatra covers being un-released studio out-takes from his latest album, Shadows in the Night, which went to No. 1 earlier in the year.

He and his band started with Things Have Changed, and they most certainly have. His voice is in fine form, a curiosity considering how in recent years watching Bob Dylan live has felt more like watching Tom Waits.

No band has played behind this 60's icon for longer than the current line-up, and it shows. They are an autumnal unit who have no problem switching between the moody, late-night-bar feel of songs like "Melancholy Mood" or "The Night We Called it a Day" and the heavy, apocalyptic rock tracks like "Pay in Blood" and the excellent closer "Love Sick."

It was clear Dylan was having fun, bobbing and dancing in the instrumental interludes. He rolled back the years at the end of the first set with a fine rendition of Tangled Up in Blue and, as always, drew cries of assurance from the sell-out crowd after the line "You think I'm over the hill? You think I'm passed my prime?" in Spirit on the Water. On tonight's showing, he most certainly isn't.

By the end of the night, there wasn't a single person left standing. Couples danced in the aisle's in the East Choir to a timeless rendition of Blowin' in the Wind and Dylan and co. received three separate standing ovations and deafening roars for more. "I'm sick of love" he howls during the closing song, although he shows no signs of being sick of performing, with 4 more sold out nights at the Albert Hall to come before continuing to play across Europe into late November.

As his old posters used to read: Don't You Dare Miss It.

Highlights:

I'm a Fool to Want You

Tangled Up in Blue

Autumn Leaves

First off, I'm far from a total Dylan expert but a do like him and his music a lot. I've seen him 15 times. I've only seen Grateful Dead and R.E.M. more times.

Bob Dylan is a cultural icon who can still rock with the best of them. Like McCartney or the Stones a Dylan show should be on your musical bucket list. Dylan is the cultural and musical troubadour of the 60's who refused the media coronation of him as the voice of a generation: "Don't follow leaders, watch your parking meters". He combines the personal and political in his songs to highlight injustice, celebrate the common man, put down the uncool, and remind people to think for themselves. His lyrics pushed beyond what the boundaries of popular storytelling had been. He brought beat poetry, abstract imagery, tumbling meter and a magpies gift for "borrowing" from folk masters and blues legends to the general public.

So why see him now? Dylan tours incessantly with a top notch band of rhythm and blues masters who pump out a massive groove for Bob to hang his melodies upon. Dylan's voice is rougher and he hides more than he reveals with his current vocal style. It's true that his voice is an acquired taste, especially now. He changes keys , tempos and rearranges his songs sometimes even surprising the band! I think he does it to keep the music fresh for himself and to make it harder for the audience to sing along: we're forced to listen. And we hear a mix of newer songs and the classics: Tangled Up In Blue, Blowin' In The Wind, All Along The Watchtower (not a DMB song ya know!), Knockin' On Heavens Door, and Like A Rolling Stone.

How does it feel? Like a celebration of heartland rock and roll baptized in the Mississippi and polished by a life on the road. It's a rollicking ride and a celebration of music at the heart of our culture. Don't expect small talk or patronizing shout outs; you'll be lucky if he cracks a smile. The music is his message and you'll be darn glad you heard it.

DYLAN : LE NAUFRAGE

Un son épouvantable, le sonorisateur n'a pas tout à fait noté que le nobélisé sur scène l'a été en littérature et non pas en variété : pour jouir des paroles, retour au CD.

La tenue de Dylan en scène, on connaît. Au piano de dos (on voit d'ailleurs qu'il ne l'a pas travaillé depuis 1962) ou en fond de scène entre ses musiciens qui doivent presque le pousser dans le dos pour qu'il se montre ; comme en plus, il porte un chapeau de cow boy, tu vois même pas ses yeux. Il n'adresse pas un mot au public, il ne présente même pas ses musiciens.

Sur le répertoire, à part un massacre de Don't Things twice, it's allright et de 2-3 chansons (pas les plus connues), un florilège du pire de la variété US et des standards (référence Sinatra et autres crooners) en "arrangement" country bas de gamme (pédal steel guitar jusqu'à plus soif). On avait l'impression d'un show préparé à l'intention des bouseux du Midwest. Il faut se pincer pour se souvenir que Dylan a porté l'étendard du moderne. Dernier morceau : les Feuilles mortes, tonalité chant funebre. Sinistre...

Enfin l'orchestre. Tous des bons musiciens qui cachetonnent. Mais on n'a pas fait appel à leurs talents d'arrangeurs. Donc, c'est de la mise en place jusqu'à la fin du dernier refrain. Pas une originalité, pas un trait d'humour ou de fantaisie.

Une triste déception au total.

Le public ne s'y est pas trompé car à part un fort carré de fans qui jouaient le cache misère, il est resté sur une triste réserve.

Compte tenu du prix scandaleux des places, il y a d'autres choses à faire ce soir là.

show in Ft. Myers.

First of all, the sound system was terrible. You could understand about every 10th word. Otherwise, it was just a blur and the arrangements were such that they had no relevance to the songs. Maybe a couple of notes. I had to ask my lady, "What song is this?" She answered,"Blowing in the Wind". Weelllll, I have been listening to that song for over 40 years!! I had no idea he was singing that!

Ok, Dylan is Dylan. He will mix up the instruments, but here, along with the vocals on the worst sound system I have heard in years; combined with the worst arrangements, I had no idea what he was singing almost all of the time.

Still, I really liked going. It's probably the last time I will be able to see him in person. He coulda just stood on stage and burped and it would have been worth it. He had long haired women dancing in the iles. Not his women, the audience women(hopefully). Lot of gray hair there in my fellow concert-goers when I looked around but, on the whole, I am really glad I went. I am sure they were too. Whoever reads this; you should go too......Frederick(Rick) H Johnson

After following Dylan since the early 60s, I finally got to see him at his age of 78! I was super glad to be able to say I saw him. He sang quite a few songs, one right after another and most of them were done fast. The most popular ones that I could decipher had the words right, but the music part of it was very, very different. He did not do his most popular songs over the years. He did what he wanted to do. I was able to recognize 3 songs that I knew well, the others I had heard, but weren't really my favorites. I was just glad he (talked) sang. He did not interact with the audience, he wasn't announced at the beginning, and when he was done he walked off stage. One encore and off again. He did introduce the individual musicians, but it was so fast, I couldn't keep up. No one I recognized. I love him no matter what he chose to do or not do. The Bren Event Center in Irvine holds about 5500 and it was full. Tickets were expensive for me, but I just had to see him live even if I would have had to sell my first born, lol. I'll be paying off my credit card for the charge in 6 months. Good times.

An entertaining show over all. Dylan's vocals were muffled somewhat when he was on the keyboards, making the words sound indistinguishable and mumbled. However, when he was singing standards from his SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT album, Dylan was standing up at center stage and the sound was much cleaner and the words were easy to understand. Don't expect to hear the classic Dylan hits in their original form. Dylan has created new arrangements for his band to play BLOWIN IN THE WIND, HIGHWAY 61, DESOLATION ROW, etc. in more of a rock and roll genre. I can remember only one harmonica riff during the set that lasted less than 2 hours. We enjoyed the show, but wish he had done some songs alone with an acoustic guitar, rather than totally electric with his band droning out some of his vocals. He is still a legendary NOBEL PRIZE WINNING superstar and plays like one during some of the moments during the show. It was great to hear him croon like Sinatra on songs like WHAT'LL I DO? and ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL. That was the best part of the show in this reviewer's opinion.

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Bob Dylan Lets New Material Dominate Dark But Playful SoCal Shows: Concert Review

By Chris Willman

Chris Willman

Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

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A funny thing happened at Bob Dylan ‘s concert at the Terrace Theatre in Long Beach: It got dark… really dark. But only on stage; out in the auditorium, the house lights stayed up, dimmed just a little, for the whole show. That was a first, for most of us, even with thousands of concerts under our belts. Was it an accommodation for latecomers, as seemed likely at first? (Nowadays, Dylan goes on right at 8:05, and if you’re running over from the merch line, you won’t be seated till the next set break.) No, they never did go down, and when some audience members who considered this a vibe-kill asked ushers what was up, they were told it was at the request of the artist.

Reports indicated the same thing had happened at the prior tour stop in San Diego. Did this have something to do with making sure no one was covertly filming the show, right after some footage had leaked out from a previous date, despite attendees being required to lock phones up in Yondr pouches at every date? Or did Dylan just decide that some of the recent material that dominates the show is so thematically dark that timid crowds could benefit from, you know, a night light? Not for the first time in a 60-year career, some decisions may remain impenetrable.

The irony — and you’d have to think it was an intentional one — was that the stage itself was dimmer than any other spot in the 3,000-seat Terrace. The way this “Rough and Rowdy Ways” tour (which started on the east coast last fall) has been set up, Dylan starts the show completely in the shadows, playing electric guitar alongside his band for the only time all night, before he steps over and stands upright at a barely illuminated piano, where he’ll spend the remainder of the night. At center stage, guitarists Bob Britt and Doug Lancio get the most lighting, while Dylan gets about the same voltage as drummer Charley Drayton, bassist Tony Garnier and pedal steel player Donnie Herron, also off to the side. Every few song breaks, Dylan will step into what passes for a spotlight in the middle of the stage, striking a pose as he takes in the applause, daring you to decide whether he looks more like a lover or a fighter. And then it’s back to his position at the practically candlelit keys.

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Eventually, maybe, with the house lights up, there may be some kind of metaphor to embrace here: Bob Dylan can see us better than we can see him.

Heavy, right? Go ahead, take a moment to soak the profundity in.

Even if the wattage varies when Dylan comes to your town, the music itself could be described as impressionistic, with band arrangements that rarely draw attention to any one player at a time, and all of them improvising to the extent that 12-bar blues allow it, except for maybe standup bassist Garnier (the longest-standing member of Dylan’s touring unit, having put in 30-plus years), who more than anyone is the anchor of the whole thing. Of course the improviser-in-chief is Dylan, whose piano parts can can straddle the fine line between being a little oddball and deeply lovely, and who is not likely to sing the same line the same way twice in back to back shows, but who seems to reinvent his own language on a nightly basis out of craving exploration, not curing boredom, treating his voice like the fine jazz instrument it is.

Dylan is emphasizing a new album on tour for maybe the first time since his gospel era of 1979-80 (when, of course, for a period he played only new material, having fleetingly forsaken the secular). “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” released two years ago, makes up slightly more than 50% of the set, accounting for nine out of 17 selections. And by and large those picks haven’t changed from night to night, which is another difference from almost all previous Dylan touring, when the idea of a setlist set in stone would have seemed like anathema to the Deadhead-like fans following him from show to show. Anecdotal evidence picked up by talking to folks at the Terrace indicates that he still has a bunch of those nightly followers — and that, surprisingly, they don’t even seem let down that the rundown of songs is unvarying each night. They were overjoyed in the last couple of weeks when, for a few shows starting in San Francisco, Dylan replaced this tour’s usual show-closer, “Every Grain of Sand,” with a less heavenly cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil.” But by Long Beach, “Grain” had been restored, and the show was locked in again. No matter. If these repeat customers are guaranteed not to get a wild-card song selection most nights, they have the sense that every moment feels like a wild card.

“Rough and Rowdy Ways” itself is a deeply impressionistic — read: mysterious — album despite being jam-packed with more specific lyrical details than have ever been crammed into a single Dylan record in his career, it’s still a puzzle to figure out how (or if) they all fit together. So if you want to go beyond just enjoying the mere melodic playfulness of Dylan’s line readings, you can entertain yourself during the show by wondering if the different spin he puts on thing imparts any additional clues about where he’s coming from, given that the songs can even seem self-contradictory. When he’s performing something like “Crossing the Rubicon” live, does he mean to present himself as the seeker who sings something as gentle as “I feel the Holy Spirit inside / See the light that freedom gives”? Or the violent miscreant who moments earlier was threatening to “cut you up with a crooked knife”? (In Dylan’s multiverse, maybe even the Holy Spirit has a penchant for murder most foul.)

Of the eight oldies that fill out the current setlist, only “Gotta Serve Somebody” is a man-on-the-street-famous “hit,” although picks like “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” and “When I Paint My Masterpiece” are enough to send the patron with even a passing knowledge of catalog favorites home happy. It has been supposed by some writers covering earlier gigs on the tour that he has avoided galvanizing barn-burners like “Highway 61” because he doesn’t want them to overshadow the new material. If that’s true — and it probably is — it’s not necessarily paramount to dialing the energy on the oldies down so as to falsely elevate the mostly mellow newbies. It’s more that there’s a brilliant quality to the way this set has been designed for the songs to loosely be of a piece, a throughline that would be spoiled if “Subterranean Homesick Blues” suddenly popped in.

There, I said it: “Like a Rolling Stone” would have been an absolute buzz-kill in this show. Thank you, Bob, for denying it to us.

It’s almost comical to compare what Dylan is doing at 81 with what Paul McCartney has been doing in stadium shows just on the cusp of 80. One’s a people-pleaser, and the other is a walking Rorschach test, or hall of mirrors. But they’re putting on what may be the two most reliably great shows of 2022, despite flying or bussing in from opposite ends of the solar system. You don’t want McCartney to act his age, but to defy it. On the other hand, it’s fantastic that Dylan is putting on what absolutely amounts to a rock ‘n’ roll show where nonetheless you can believe how old he is, because the depth of his performance is heightened by our awareness of the years he’s logged, which add to the palpable mythos that’s already there in the music. The barely death-defying danger of “Crossing the Rubicon,” or the fountain-of-youth giddiness of “Coming Up” — listen, it’s OK to want both from our favorite octogenarians.

You’re wondering how well he’s singing these days? Well, about as wonderfully as he has in the 21st century, as long as you’re not expecting to hear his “Lay Lady Lay” or even “Slow Train” voice. It’s the voice of ravaged experience — but he sounds pretty , at times, too. (Credit, if you will, the three albums he devoted to covering Frank Sinatra-era standards, one of which, “Melancholy Mood,” shows up late in this setlist.) His voice spins on a time from gentle coddling to the suggestion of fury — and good humor, too. This is a tour where he may actually catch him laughing, as he did in Long Beach at the end of “Masterpiece,” as if he or the band had just told a good joke. There’s enough clarity in his singing these days that the Long Beach audience was there with audible responses to certain lines, like applause during “I Contain Multitudes” for the mention of “them British bad boys, the Rolling Stones.” (Even “The size of your cock will get you nowhere,” from the otherwise doom-laden “Black Rider,” got a murmuring chuckle.)

The most recent material was mostly rendered somewhat faithfully to the “Rough and Rowdy” album versions — with the exception of “Key West,” which from all accounts has gotten a few different arrangements on the tour, and which was getting yet another completely different one Monday, faithful fans reported. Of the old stuff… yeah, it’s not going to sound like the record, but you knew that. In true “Never Ending Tour” fashion, “Gotta Serve Somebody” didn’t get a big round of applause till the chorus kicked in, so unfamiliar did it sound, with the first verse rendered practically a cappella as the two guitarists added a few stingers for good set-up measure. (Lyric changes were to be had there, not all of them easy to make out.) “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” had what amounted to a new — and satisfying! — melody and rhythm, even before its fast pace slowed to a crawl for a half-time finale. “Every Grain of Sand” didn’t depart greatly from its waltz tempo in closing the show, but Dylan added a new piano riff as counterpoint midway through.

The big takeaway from this show, and likely every one on the tour: At 81, Dylan is acting his somber age, and yet, in his fashion, deep at play in the fields of the Lord. As far as these gigs are concerned, even with the near-blackout on stage allowing Dylan to let the mystery be, it’s not dark yet. It’s not even getting there.

Bob Dylan’s “Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour” setlist:

1. Watching The River Flow 2. Most Likely You Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine) 3. I Contain Multitudes 4. False Prophet 5. When I Paint My Masterpiece 6. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight 7. Black Rider 8. My Own Version of You 9. Crossing The Rubicon 10. To Be Alone With You 11. Key West (Philosopher Pirate) 12. Gotta Serve Somebody 13. I’ve Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You 14. Melancholy Mood 15. Mother of Muses 16. Goodbye Jimmy Reed 17. Every Grain of Sand

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Bob Dylan Announces March 2024 U.S. Tour Dates

By Matthew Strauss

Bob Dylan has announced the next batch of dates on his years-long tour behind Rough and Rowdy Ways . The singer-songwriter’s first shows of 2024 will take place across the American South in March. See Dylan’s new tour dates below.

Following a surprise appearance at Farm Aid in September, Dylan continued his Rough and Rowdy Ways shows in October, staying on the road until early December. While on tour, he released the archival live album The Complete Budokan 1978 .

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03-01 Fort Lauderdale, FL - Broward Center for the Performing Arts 03-02 Fort Lauderdale, FL - Broward Center for the Performing Arts 03-05 Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall 03-06 Clearwater, FL - Ruth Eckerd Hall 03-07 Fort Myers, FL - Suncoast Credit Union Arena 03-09 Orlando, FL - Walt Disney Theater 03-10 Orlando, FL - Walt Disney Theater 03-12 Jacksonville, FL - Moran Theater at Jacksonville Center for the Performing Arts 03-14 Athens, GA - The Classic Center 03-15 Athens, GA - The Classic Center 03-17 Charlotte, NC - Belk Theater 03-18 Fayetteville, NC - Crown Theatre

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By Jazz Monroe

By Madison Bloom

Bob Dylan Live Review: Latest, and perhaps last, chapter of The Never Ending Tour comes to a masterful close

The penultimate night of the rough and rowdy ways tour caps off one of the strongest stretches of dylan’s live career..

ACL Live, Austin, Texas, April 5, 2024

Bob Dylan has had a long and fruitful relationship with audiences in Austin. Since playing one of his first shows with The Hawks here in September 1965, Dylan has played the Texas capital nearly two dozen times, culminating in a two-night stand here Friday and Saturday that concludes one of the most remarkably consistent stretches in Dylan’s concert history.

Contradicting his decades-long reputation as a mercurial and unpredictable performer, Dylan has delivered almost exactly the same 17-song set since November 2021, when he resumed touring after a nearly two-year pandemic break. 2020’s  Rough And Rowdy Ways  is the fulcrum: For more than 200 shows over the past three years, he’s played nine of the album’s ten songs, leaving off only the epic Murder Most Foul .

READ MORE: Bob Dylan at The London Palladium reviewed

The rest of the show almost always includes the same back-catalogue selections, from openers Watching the River Flow and Most Likely You Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine, to the closing Every Grain of Sand from 1981  Shot Of Love . At this point, die-hard fans know better than to expect his best-known songs: We may never again hear him trot out Like A Rolling Stone or Blowin’ In The Wind or Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door. And that’s all right: We don’t expect a greatest-hits revue from the man who wrote “he who isn’t busy being born is busy dying.”

As such, Dylan shows of late are partly a matter of whether he pulls out a surprise in any given city. If he likes your town, you might get an extra song: Earlier this week in Louisiana, he added a couple of Hank Williams nuggets, playing Jambalaya in Lafayette April 2 and On The Banks Of The Old Pontchartrain in New Orleans April 1.

Tonight in Austin, we’re treated to Across The Borderline, a Ry Cooder/Jim Dickinson/John Hiatt song first recorded by Freddy Fender in 1982. The new addition to the set seemed to energize Dylan: It features arguably his strongest vocal performance of the night, and his mid-song piano solo is gorgeously lyrical.

The performance marked the first time Dylan has played the song this century. It was a staple of his 1986 tour with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers; he may well have brought it back this evening  because it’s the title track of a 1993 album by Austin legend Willie Nelson, with whom Dylan will be touring from June to September.

Those summer shows are part of Nelson’s annual Outlaw Tour, which also will feature Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, John Mellencamp, Billy Strings and others. The multi-artist bills almost certainly will require abbreviating the 100-minute sets Dylan has been playing since 2021; as such, this weekend’s Austin concerts may well bring an end to this  Rough And Rowdy Ways  phase of his Never Ending Tour.

Dylan’s band has changed slightly since his March 2022 appearance at Austin’s Bass Concert Hall. Longtime bassist Tony Garnier remains the anchor, with pedal steel/fiddle player Don Herron aboard for nearly two decades now. Nashville guitarist Doug Lancio replaced Austin ace Charlie Sexton when Dylan returned from the pandemic, teaming with fellow guitarist Bob Britt (who joined in 2019). Drummer Jerry Pentecost recently took over from Charley Drayton, who played the 2022 Austin show.

READ MORE: Bob Dylan's Blood On The Tracks Revisited

Tonight, the band flexes its muscles on occasion, but just as often they hold back to provide space for Dylan’s singing, which has been defying nature for quite some time. His voice, once a ravaged rasp that paled in comparison to his youthful glory years, somehow improved as Dylan reached senior-citizen status. Near the end of 1979’s Gotta Serve Somebody, his full-throated vamp sounds surprisingly like the ghost of David Bowie.

A late-set choice of Johnny Cash’s Big River, which Dylan first covered in the late 1990s and has played at most of his shows in the past month, finds the band digging into a deep rockabilly groove after Dylan’s jaunty piano kicks things off. A highlight from  Rough And Rowdy Ways  was the nine-minute meditation Key West (Philosopher Pirate), on which Lancio switched from acoustic to electric guitar for a more atmospheric wash of sound behind Dylan’s sprightly melodic piano runs that at times brings to mind, of all things, the theme song from the 1980s TV show Hill Street Blues .

And Dylan’s presentation of his older songs, once altered so drastically that even longtime fans couldn’t name the tune till it was half-over, has been reined in. Well-travelled numbers such as 1967’s I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight and 1969’s To Be Alone With You still sound different from their recorded counterparts, but it’s less of a guessing-game now. (An exception: 1971’s When I Paint My Masterpiece, which has been reworked to where it uncannily resembles Irving Berlin’s 1920s classic Puttin’ on the Ritz .)

Dylan speaks not a word the entire night, though he acknowledges the crowd’s rapt attention at the end of the show by stepping out front for a few gracious bows. Then the lights go down, the band stroll off, and Bob Dylan’s 21st Austin concert comes to an end. Another full house at the 2,700-capacity theatre will greet him on Saturday night  — and then, what’s next? These past few years have seemed like smooth sailing for Dylan, which probably means it’s time to rock the boat.

Watching The River Flow

Most Likely You Go Your Way And I’ll Go Mine

I Contain Multitudes

False Prophet

When I Paint My Masterpiece

Black Rider

I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight

My Own Version Of You

Crossing The Rubicon

To Be Alone With You

Key West (Philosopher Pirate)

Gotta Serve Somebody

Across The Borderline

I’ve Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You

Mother Of Muses

Goodbye Jimmy Reed

Every Grain Of Sand

Main picture: Bob Dylan at London's Hyde Park 2019 (credit: Matthew Baker/Getty Images)

Bob Dylan Puts an End to “Rough and Rowdy Ways” With Two Nights in Austin

Triumphant world tour concludes at acl live at the moody, by shawn badgley , 4:54pm, mon. apr. 8, 2024.

On March 1 in Fort Lauderdale, Bob Dylan was a few songs into his show – and a few years into his Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour – when a woman in the audience seized a medium-quiet moment of tuning to make a request: “Play something we know!” she shouted to the stage.

Dylan squinted. He clearly heard her, as did everyone else in the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. Within the space of a measure, the tuning took the form of an uptempo introduction – first halting, then darting – and the chords Dylan was plinking out on his baby grand were suddenly recognizable as a melody. It was “Puttin’ on the Ritz.” The band, guided by bassist Tony Garnier, gamely fell in, and the supplicant’s wish had been granted.

Well, sort of. The music was from Irving Berlin’s standard, but the words were still Bob Dylan’s. And the song, 1971’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” was never released on a studio album. Here, it instantly had a brand-new arrangement (and, if you were keeping track, the arrangement it was a new arrangement of was itself many arrangements removed from the original), a gag that actually somehow worked. It would stick in the set for more than a month since, all the way through this weekend’s two shows at ACL Live at the Moody Theater, which triumphantly closed a tour that started in 2021.

In Austin on Friday, this swinging, syncopated rendition of “When I Paint My Masterpiece” was so well-received that Dylan at times had to hold up one finger to keep the general admission crowd, standing on the floor just a few feet away, from clapping too early and often while he delivered lines. Soon enough, he was setting off on another improvised intro, a languorous, jazzy take on John Wesley Harding ’s “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” (1967), which segued into an extended harmonica break before keying back into the groove of its country shuffle origins. It may not have been Bill Evans doing bluegrass, but it showcased Dylan’s evolving piano stylings as well as his band’s uncanny ability to keep up.

Most of them, at least. The mercurial Dylan – all smiles one second, tossing a harmonica in disgust the next, and a notoriously tough boss – was visibly unhappy with one of his guitarists, shooting dirty looks his way and at one point rolling his eyes like a teenager and muttering a “Shit, man” into the mic when he felt parts weren’t played correctly during Friday’s performance.

The next night, that guitarist was replaced on nine songs by none other than Jimmie Vaughan. Talk about sending a message. Vaughan crackled on Nashville Skyline ’s “To Be Alone With You” and brought a born-again zeal to “Gotta Serve Somebody,” which, as the Grammy winner for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male after 1979’s Slow Train Coming , was arguably, and somewhat perversely, Dylan’s greatest hit played at these or any other stops on the Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour.

Named for the 2020 album – the last collection of originals Dylan has made, and one of his best – its 202 shows featured a largely static set list and a selection of covers that for some stretches served as tributes to those nights’ respective locations, among them Chuck Berry’s “Nadine” in St. Louis; Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me to the End of Love” in Montreal; and, in Austin, a breathtaking, time-stopping “Across the Borderline” written by Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, and Jim Dickinson for Willie Nelson. (Dylan on Friday night seemed to tease Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away,” before abandoning the effort; the weekend also gave us Johnny Cash’s “Big River” and Jimmy Rogers’ “Walking by Myself.”)

Most of all, it featured his own brilliant blues and ballads from Rough and Rowdy Ways , which landed, alien-like, smack-dab in the middle of the pandemic … not to offer a cure for what ailed us, but rather to throw on a little mood music for civilization’s final descent.

“My Own Version of You” was Mary Shelley meets the Four Horsemen, Dylan vamping to Garnier and drummer Jerry Pentecost’s interplay; “Black Rider” found him bristling: “Let me go through, open the door,” he demanded, keening in strong voice. “My soul is distressed, my mind is at war. Don't hug me, don't flatter me, don't turn on the charm. I'll take a sword and hack off your arm.” Good to know, thanks!

Dylan, who will be 83 in May, rarely if ever plays guitar or sings front and center these days, choosing to stay behind the piano with pages of lyrics under a light. But often he’ll shoot up from the bench and bang away, experimenting with triplets and flourishes, as on “False Prophet” and its four short fills. “Another day that don't end, another ship goin' out. Another day of anger, bitterness, and doubt,” he delivered with dagger-like phrasing before softening and stretching the moment of clarity: “I know how it happened. I saw it begin. I opened my heart to the world, and the world came in.”

The best of both nights could be found in such passages between violence and vulnerability, as Dylan broke apart these late-career songs he loves and glued them back together, reharmonized and reinterpreted, like Kintsugi live on stage. The most beautiful piece by far was “I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You,” which opened with a glimmering harmonica solo (absent from the album version), then pulsed with Dylan’s held vocal notes, punctuated by Donnie Herron’s spare steel playing.

“Well, my heart’s like a river, a river that sings. Just takes me a while to realize things,” Dylan pleaded to someone who wasn’t even in the room – possibly someone from long ago and far away – with a deep yearning that made it seem like he had waited too long to finally decide. Now, it was only the audience who was swayed. “I’ll see you at sunrise, I’ll see you at dawn. I’ll lay down beside you when everyone’s gone.”

Bob Dylan ACL Live at the Moody Theater April 5 and 6, 2024

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March 27, 2024

Sept. 3, 2021

Bob Dylan , Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour , Jimmie Vaughan , Tony Garnier

Remember When: Rock’s Heavy Hitters Celebrated Bob Dylan’s First 30 Years in Music with an Unforgettable Tribute Concert

W hat concert featured the most impressive lineup of rock and roll luminaries? Woodstock? The Last Waltz? Live Aid? All solid choices. But you can make a pretty good case that The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration held in 1992 in honor of Bob Dylan can stand up pretty tall with all the others mentioned.

At the time, it almost seemed like a farewell concert for Dylan, as his career wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders at that point. Little did we know the 30 years-plus since would hold some of his greatest artistic triumphs. Let’s go back in time to find out how this unforgettable event came together, as well as highlighting some of the performances, both incredible and controversial, that took place that night.

What’s the Occasion?

March 1962 witnessed the release of Bob Dylan’s self-titled debut album. That meant 1992 marked the 30th anniversary of his recording career. A tribute was set for Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 16 of that year. A long list of superstars, many of whose careers had intertwined with Dylan’s own, was invited to perform his songs, with the man himself set to close out the show.

Dylan, 51 years old at the time, wasn’t exactly occupying a high point in either his life or career. His second marriage was crumbling, and his touring life didn’t seem to be bringing him any relief. Album sales plummeted throughout the ’80s, and, with the exception of Oh Mercy in 1989, critics who had once been so laudatory seemed to take delight in savaging his most recent records. A look back at what made him so special in the first place couldn’t have been timed any better.

The Performances

It’s difficult to narrow down the performances into just a few memorable ones, as the star-studded lineup all rose to the occasion. Many artists stuck to the obvious choices, such as Stevie Wonder working his magic on “Blowin’ in the Wind” and Neil Young unleashing his guitar squalls on “All Along the Watchtower.”

Those who stepped off the beaten path also soared. Lou Reed proved a kindred spirit to the bile spilling out of “Foot of Pride.” And Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers dug deep into Infidels and brought new life to the relatively obscure “License to Kill.” Veteran stalwarts (Richie Havens, Johnny and June Carter Cash) intermingled with then up-and-comers (Tracy Chapman, Eddie Vedder, and Mike McCready).

Sentimental highlights included Dylan’s old co-conspirators in The Band delivering a heartfelt “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” George Harrison, who rarely played live, ripping through “Absolutely Sweet Marie,” and Roger McGuinn mewling his way through “Mr. Tambourine Man” with vigor. A version of “My Back Pages,” featuring McGuinn, Petty, Harrison, Young, and Eric Clapton joining Dylan in insisting I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now , was the icing on the cake.

Sinead’s Tough Night

Many people remember this night because of an incident involving Sinead O’ Connor. She was scheduled to perform “I Believe in You,” one of the gems from Dylan’s “Born Again” period. Unfortunately, many fans were still riled up about what happened two weeks previous, when she had torn up a picture of the Pope on live television. Boos rained down upon her when she was introduced by Kris Kristofferson.

Frustrated that she couldn’t start her intended song, she instead went off-script and performed an a cappella version of the Bob Marley song “War.” That didn’t endear her to those who were already against her, and she left the stage in tears.

Dylan Closes Out the Night

Dylan got the final word on that momentous evening in 1992, and he performed a spirited version of his chestnut “Girl from the North Country” to put a bow on the festivities. The applause was warm and congratulatory, yet it was hard to shake the feeling that folks were saying goodbye to his relevance as a musical icon at the same time.

Of course, Dylan had other ideas. His 1997 album Time Out of Mind began a creative resurgence that really hasn’t abated to this day. As such, the 30th Anniversary Celebration now stands as a testament to just one phase of Dylan’s career, a fittingly massive tribute to a transcendent body of work that has only grown in stature in all the years since.

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Photo by Steve Morley/Redferns

The post Remember When: Rock’s Heavy Hitters Celebrated Bob Dylan’s First 30 Years in Music with an Unforgettable Tribute Concert appeared first on American Songwriter .

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Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson Unite for Epic ‘Outlaw’ Summer Tour

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

Willie Nelson is hitting the road this summer on his annual Outlaw Music Festival Tour, and Bob Dylan is joining for all 26 shows. They’ll be accompanied on the first leg by Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and John Mellencamp on the second. Billy Strings, Brittney Spencer, Celisse, and Southern Avenue will also be playing with them at various stops along the way. It kicks off June 21 in Alpharetta, Georgia.

“This year’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour promises to be the biggest and best yet with this lineup of legendary artists,” Nelson said in a statement. “I am thrilled to get back on the road again with my family and friends playing the music we love for the fans we love.”

Dylan joined up with the Outlaw Festival for a couple of shows in 2017, but this is the first time he’s participated in the entire tour. His friendship with Nelson, however, goes back several decades. They co-wrote the song “Heartland” together in 1993.

In the summer of 2004, Nelson and Dylan played minor league baseball parks together all across America. In 2009, they brought John Mellencamp along for the ride when they repeated the concept. Dylan rarely shares the stage with other performers, but he frequently brought Nelson in 2004 for duets on “I Shall Be Released,” “Heartland,” and “Milk Cow Blues.” They first played together in 1976 when Nelson came out during a Rolling Thunder Revue stop in Houston for “Gotta Travel On.”

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James and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy did have the chance to play with Dylan a few times though. They were brought out near the end of his set for the traditional folk song “Twelve Gates to the City,” and the Band’s “The Weight.” “His bass player, Tony [Garnier], did all the communicating with us as far as who was going to sing what verse,” James said. “They’d change keys literally a minute before we went on, like, ‘Bob wants to do it in E flat.’ It was really cool, and something I’ll be able to tell the grandkids about.”

If we’re lucky this summer, we might get to see Dylan, Nelson, Robert Plant, and Alison Krauss team up for a few songs. Plant played “Girl From the North Country” at many shows in the early 2000s. This could be his chance to perform it with the guy that wrote it.

Friday, June 21, 2024 Ameris Bank Amphitheatre, Alpharetta, GA Willie Nelson & Family Bob Dylan Robert Plant & Alison Krauss Celisse

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Bob Dylan Center Announces Inaugural Fellowship Recipients

Each fellowship includes a $40,000 project stipend, public engagement and presentation opportunities, dedicated time in the Bob Dylan Archive and more.

By Lars Brandle

Lars Brandle

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Raye, Smashing Pumpkins, Tems and Duran Duran Set for 2024 Montreux Jazz Festival

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“Songwriters trying to make a go of it in the modern music business need the kind of encouragement and support that this fellowship provides,” comments Mellencamp in a statement. “I congratulate Tega and Taylor on being the first two recipients, and hope they write some great songs during their time in Tulsa.”

Nearly 600 works were submitted from around the world, organizers say, based on the criteria that applicants were 18 years or older and unsigned to a publishing agreement of any kind at the time of the Fellowship start date, May, 1, 2024.

Announced last August , the fellowship is to be awarded each year to two standout talents, through an initiative that identifies, mentors and develops rising talent, doing so with the resources of the BDC.

The selection process, explains BDC creative services manager Zac Fowler, “was immensely difficult, yet enjoyable the whole way through.” Adds Fowler, “We’re excited to host Tega and Taylor in Tulsa, and look forward to hearing the music they each create during their year spent focusing on songwriting here.”

The application window for the 2025-2026 fellowship is expected to open later this fall. For more information, visit bobdylancenter.com/songwriterfellowship .

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