In the First 25 Years of the Never Ending Tour, Bob Dylan Played Over 2,000 Shows—and Only Repeated a Setlist Eight Times

The Never Ending Tour 1988-2012, before The Set

2006, the only year Bob repeated two different setlists

Recently, inspired by some discussion in our paid-subscribers Discord, the essential Bob Dylan setlist site Bobserve added a cool new feature. It’s called “Recurring Samesets” and it shows every concert where Bob Dylan repeated a setlist.

Many years, this happened a lot. 1966 is a big one. The gospel era too. More recently, the Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour. In recent years repeated setlists have become the norm. You’re more likely to get a setlist he’s played many other times than you are a unique one-night-only grouping of songs.

In the Never Ending Tour, though, it was generally the opposite. Up until “The Set” entered in 2013—that was the fan term for when he suddenly stopped changing things every night—he varied things a lot. And I mean, a lot. Here’s a crazy statistic I gleaned from the Bobserve data:

He played 2,475 concerts during the Never Ending Tour between its beginning in 1988 and “The Set” in 2013. In those 2,475 concerts, he only repeated a setlist 8 times.

That’s it! Eight times out of 2,475 concerts from 1988 until 2013. Other than those 16 shows (two per repeated setlist), every other setlist was completely unique*. And no setlist did he play more than twice.

* Note: The Bobserve data considers song order too. So if he played the same songs but in a different order, the setlist would still count as unique.

So what were those eight times he repeated a setlist during the (pre-Set) Never Ending Tour? And what were the eight setlists so damn good he just had to play them again?

An investigation:

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Repeat #1: 1989 — July 9 in Cuyahoga Falls, OH & July 11 in Harrisburg, PA

1. Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)

2. Forever Young

3. All Along The Watchtower

4. Gotta Serve Somebody

5. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight

6. Ballad Of A Thin Man

7. Love Minus Zero/No Limit

8. Boots Of Spanish Leather

9. Mr. Tambourine Man

10. Silvio

11. I Shall Be Released

12. Like A Rolling Stone

13. The Times They Are A-Changin’

14. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door

15. Maggie’s Farm

The first, and maybe the least interesting of the bunch, came one year into the Never Ending Tour. He played this two consecutive nights. It’s an extremely chalk, greatest hits-y sort of setlist. The only surprise is he didn’t play it more often.

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Repeat #2: 1990 — October 18 in New York, NY & October 21 in Richmond, VA

1. Dixie

2. Subterranean Homesick Blues

3. I’ll Remember You

4. Ballad Of A Thin Man

5. Gotta Serve Somebody

6. Masters Of War

7. Joey

8. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

9. Gates Of Eden

10. Desolation Row

11. It Ain’t Me, Babe

12. Wiggle Wiggle

13. Shooting Star

14. All Along The Watchtower

15. I Believe In You

16. Like A Rolling Stone

17. The Times They Are A-Changin’

18. Highway 61 Revisited

This 1990 one is more interesting. In the first place, it’s just a more unusual setlist: “I’ll Remember You,” “Joey,” “Gates of Eden,” “I Believe in You,” plus a few choice cuts from his then-new albums Oh Mercy and Under the Red Sky. Not to mention the instrumental “Dixie” opening number:

But even stranger, there was a show in between these two. And that in-between show, his final night at the Beacon, featured a very different setlist (“Tight Connection”! “TV Talkin’ Song”! “Dark as a Dungeon!”). Then, when he left the Beacon for Virginia, he suddenly reverted to the exact same setlist as he’d played three nights prior.

That repeated Beacon show even featured four tour debuts, none of which would go on to become setlist regulars. It was an unusual setlist for the tour, and remained so—except for the one night in Richmond he repeated it verbatim. Did a stagehand put the wrong cue sheet onstage or something?

Setlist aside, Beacon Night 4 and Richmond were not entirely the same show. The Beacon show featured about-to-depart guitarist G.E. Smith. The following night was his final show; Richmond was the first G.E.-less show of the Never Ending Tour. Also at the Beacon, opener Lenny Kravitz’s sax player Karl Denson sat in on a few songs. (I’ve interviewed both of them about these shows, by the way. G.E. is here and Karl is in the book.)

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Repeat #3: 1992 — May 7 & 8 in Berkeley, CA

1. Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35

2. If Not For You

3. Union Sundown

4. Just Like A Woman

5. Drifter’s Escape

6. I Don’t Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)

7. Tangled Up In Blue

8. Love Minus Zero/No Limit

9. Little Moses (Traditional)

10. Visions Of Johanna

11. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

12. Cat’s In The Well

13. Idiot Wind

14. The Times They Are A-Changin’

15. Like A Rolling Stone

16. Absolutely Sweet Marie

17. All Along The Watchtower

18. Blowin’ In The Wind

Two consecutive nights again, and, more importantly, two consecutive nights at the same venue. This is the only repeat of the same set in the same place. Were fans who attended both shows annoyed getting the same thing twice?

Their annoyance might have been overshadowed by the bigger news: This week, for the first time, Dylan played “Drifter’s Escape” live! Berkeley saw the song’s second and third performances ever.

Why now, in Spring 1992, after 25 years of not playing it? Dylan, of course, didn’t say. But many made the connection to the Rodney King verdict. On April 29, 1992, a predominantly white jury acquitted LA police officers of charges related to the videotaped beating of King. The jury’s verdict led to citywide riots. The very next day, in Eugene Oregon, Dylan played “Drifter’s Escape” for the first time ever. “Oh, stop that cursed jury.”

(At that same Eugene show the day after the verdict where he busted out “Drifter’s,” he played “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” for the first time that tour, further underlining the connection. “Now is the time for your tears…”)

Five more after the jump…