Bob Dylan is at it again, surprising (and in some cases confusing) audiences with his set lists.
On Friday he performed at the first show of Willie Nelson‘s 2024 Outlaw Music Festival Tour, a trek that runs until September and also includes Robert Plant, Alison Krauss and various other artists.
For the last three years, Dylan had been performing on his own Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour in support of his 2020 album of the same name. At those shows, Dylan played in smaller theater venues across the entire globe, and stuck primarily to songs from that album, save the occasional (often regionally-specific) cover.
New Tour, New Set Lists
But he’s thrown most of that to the wind for the Outlaw Tour. On Friday in Alpharetta, Georgia, he played five covers he’d never played live before: Willie Dixon’s “My Babe,” Chuck Berry‘s “Little Queenie,” the Fleetwoods’ “Mr. Blue,” Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys’ “Cold, Cold Heart” and Sanford Clark’s “The Fool.”
He also played the title track to his 1990 album Under the Red Sky for the first time since 2013, as well as several songs from 2012’s Tempest, “Beyond Here Lies Nothin'” from 2009’s Together Through Life, one singular ’70s-era song, “Simple Twist of Fate” and his 2000 single “Things Have Changed” from the film Wonder Boys. Things have changed, indeed.
Listen to Bob Dylan Perform ‘Under the Red Sky’
Dylan kept it up for the second show of the tour in Charlotte, North Carolina, opening with “Highway 61 Revisited,” followed by “Shooting Star” from 1989’s Oh Mercy for the first time in over a decade, and then “Love Sick” from 1997’s Time Out of Mind. Two more covers appeared: the Grateful Dead‘s “Stella Blue,” which Dylan has played before, and Paul Davis’ “Six Days on the Road,” which he has not. “Ballad of a Thin Man” came second to last in the set, followed by “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” from 1967’s John Wesley Harding.
READ MORE: The 10 Weirdest Bob Dylan Songs
He did all of this without explanation from the stage. Then, for the third night of the tour in Raleigh, North Carolina, Dylan played the exact same same set as the second show. Whether these first couple set lists were just a spurt of spontaneity or if there’s more surprises to come remains to be seen. The Outlaw Tour continues on June 26 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Watch Bob Dylan Perform ‘Shooting Star’
2024 Summer Rock Tours
Many of rock’s biggest artists will hit the road for performances once more in 2024.
Gallery Credit: Corey Irwin
