Summer Tour 2024!
What a great time it is to be a Bob Dylan fan! He just wrapped up his Summer Tour with 26 appearances in 3 legs throughout the US, now we are only 10 days away from the Fall Tour and the (probably) last part of the Rough And Rowdy Ways Worldwide Tour!
Not to forget the rumors concerning some East Coast shows to conclude the year, even after the conclusion of the Fall Tour at the iconic London Royal Albert Hall.
Plus the new movie “A Complete Unknown”, airing on Christmas… Oh boy…
For the next three days, we want to give a last look back at the Summer Tour shows!
If you want to check out part 1, you can do so by clicking here!
If you want to check out part 2, you can do so by clicking here!
Today: Part 3! Eight more shows to wrap it up!
A little map to illustrate:
Starting leg #3 in Somerset, WI!
Mickey Raphael returns!
Shall I start with noting that one setlist change to his previous show in George, WA was that he switched slots of “Simple Twist of Fate” and “Soon After Midnight”? If I would, I think most of you would close the tab. Well, now I’ve done it anyway, but I can maybe add to that that Mickey Raphael was back on harp during Simple Twist to bring in his excellent harp playing. This time, though, he came back for every remaining show during Simple Twist, and from St. Louis onwards even stayed for “Ballad Of A Thin Man”, which in my opinion was an excellent decision!
However, these two facts pale in comparison to the new opener with which Bob opened the show.
Somerset - Silvio
In Somerset, for the first time in 20 years (!!), Dylan and the band came out with Silvio! (Last time played in Detroit in March 2004)
It was only days before that day that former president Obama released his Spotify Summer Playlist and the Dylan community quickly discovered Dylan’s “Silvio” on it. Interesting choice for sure.
So, one can make his own connection here or not, but it was definitely a great surprise!
From Somerset straight to Chicago’s Tinley Park where Bob not only kept “Silvio” as the opener one more time, but also pulled out another surprise song!
Tinley Park - It Ain’t Me, Babe
“It Ain’t Me, Babe” was replacing “Shooting Star” as the second song of the set. As it is ALWAYS (since 2007) the second song of the set if it’s at all appearing in a set. Credit to bobserve.com where I was able to get my own impression confirmed.
A beautifully sung rendition of “It Ain’t, Babe”. So much better (in my eyes) than most of the times that I myself heard the song live.
For the third show straight without a day off, Bob pulled into St. Louis, where he said goodbye to “Silvio” and returned to “Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35” as the opener. In St. Louis, “It Ain’t Me, Babe” saw a second performance before being replaced by “Shooting Star” again for the two coming shows in Cincinnati and Cuyahoga Falls.
As mentioned already above, it started at this very show in St. Louis that Mickey Raphael stayed for “Ballad Of A Thin Man”, also.
Cuyahoga Falls - All Along The Watchtower
The day after St. Louis, the circus played in Cuyahoga Falls. Bob kept the exact same setlist as in St. Louis, but added “All Along The Watchtower” as the opener, after John Mellencamp played the song in his set and dedicating it to Bob at the end.
Check out both versions below:
Here’s a nice story to that from Narelle Hopley in Facebook:
Bob kept both Watchtower and Rainy Day Woman for the rest of the tour. Shooting Star needed to leave from Clarkson onwards for the last three shows to cut the setlist back to 16 songs.
Buffalo - Desolation Row (The Wrench Incident)
Bob granted us with one last “major” surprise at the Summer Tour’s last show in Buffalo, New York:
He played “Desolation Row” for the first time in 6 years (he last played it in Auckland)! (And left out “Can’t Wait” and “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” for it)
But that was not the actual news. For whatever reason, Bob decided to give some additional rhythm to the song through hammering a wrench on the microphone.
I leave this 3-part-review with a good feeling knowing to close it off with a video from Bob hammering around with his wrench. If you have any feedback to the newsletter altogether, feel free to reply to this e-mail or click the button below.