Welcome to Flagging Down the Double E's. I write pieces on Bob Dylan concerts throughout history in this newsletter, shows from the '60s through just last night.

They’re not usually straight reviews; more like essays, articles, or interviews with band members inspired by a recording of the show in question. Each newsletter includes a download of the featured show’s bootleg.

Read a Rolling Stone article about the newsletter here

There is a free tier that’s a great place to start, which gets you about half of the newsletters. If you decide you like it, the paid membership—more info here—will give you all the newsletters, as well as access to a private Discord where we chat about all things Bob and various other perks (including the ability to request a show).

Sign up here:

Questions? Contact rfpadgett@gmail.com

PS. I also write a newsletter about Tom Waits songs, edit the cover songs blog Cover Me and have written three books: Cover Me: The Stories Behind the Greatest Cover Songs of All Time (2017), a 33 1/3 on Leonard Cohen and tribute albums (2020), and Pledging My Time: Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members (2023).

How to Navigate the Archives

When you sign up, you’ll get all new articles sent directly to your email inbox. Easy enough. But what if you want to check out old articles? Maybe see if I’ve written about a particular show before? Here are a few easy ways to navigate my back pages:

Browse by concert date. That’s a chronological list of shows I’ve covered, from 1961 through the present.

Browse by post date. That’s just a list of all my posts, from most recent to oldest. (You can also see the most-read posts ever here.)

Browse my interviews. I try to keep a pretty up-to-date index of everyone I’ve interviewed here.

Browse by series. I write a handful of semi-regular series. Most don’t have more than a half-dozen entries, but, if the format intrigues you, you can find them all at the links below:

• Now It Goes Like This: Live rearrangements of a given song

• Last Night In: Next-day show reviews, by myself and (more often) guest writers

• Compilation Corner: Exploring (or creating) fan-made compilations

• Mailbag: Answering readers’ questions

• CD-Rchive: Digging out boots I traded for back in the day.

• Venue Spotlight: Dylan’s history performing at an iconic venue

• Stories in the Press: Going through old newspaper clippings

• Bootleg Series: I’ve written detailed listening guides for the past few archival releases

Note: Download links in old posts will usually not work. That’s by design. A lot of my old articles are behind the paywall, but I got the recordings for free and you can too. Go to Expecting Rain’s A-Z forum (you’ll need a free account) and download away.