Heads up: About two-thirds of the copies of my new zine Rolling Thunder ’76 Day By Day are gone. If you want one, grab one here while you still can.
Last night, Bob Dylan kicked off his fall tour—dubbed “Lights of Autumn”—in Oslo. There were some big surprises. The first “Tangled Up in Blue” in eight years (with two new verses, no less)! The first “Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)” in 21 years! Plus two cover songs he has never played before, by Randy Newman and Guy Clark.
Tom Wilkins is here to report in. This opening-night recap is free to all subscribers, but most of these “Last Night In” reviews are for paid subscribers only. There will be many more to come all fall, leading up to Dylan’s first shows at the Royal Festival Hall in London since 1964 (I’ll be at those!). Sign up if you want them all delivered straight to your inbox:
Okay, over to Tom…
The unique qualities of an opening night are the complete unknowns: guitarists; stage set-up; the setlist; Bob’s attire; and the tour merchandise. Having hotfooted from London to sunny Oslo for 24 hours, let me attempt to fill in the blanks.
At 8.01pm, on strode Tony Garnier, Anton Fig, Joel Paterson and a final guitarist that some were speculating was Nashville-based John Hiatt collaborator Mike Seal. All were smartly attired in black suits and black shirts.
They were immediately joined from stage right (audience left) by Bob who for a brief second was capless and hoodless as he walked out before donning his cap/ black hood combo and launching into “To Be Alone With You.”
Highlights from the 18 songs that followed included a spellbinding “Tangled Up In Blue” with new lyrics; a slowed-down groovy “Early Roman Kings”; hypnotic humming on a debut of Guy Clark’s “Dublin Blues”; whoops of delight from the crowd when he played harmonica on “Under the Red Sky,” and a brilliant debut version of Randy Newman’s “Louisiana 1927.”
New “Tangled Up in Blue” lyrics:
Way up north in the frozen woods
Teardrops touch the sky
The leaves are falling one by one
And the mornings pass you by
Sometimes it gets so quiet
Sometimes it gets in the way
Look here for another
Tomorrow’s another day
And all the while I was alone
The past was close behind
I seen a lot of women
But I never escaped her mind
And she just grew
Tangled up in blueThings were getting to cost too much
Summer slipped through my hand
Certain truths about that thing
I never did understand
You bury the hatchet, you put it to bed
Sometimes you go for a ride
Nothing ever looks the same
After you’ve been on the other side
He turns around, the magic disappears
What I know he was looking at
He never did find it here
Neither did you
Tangled up in blue
As for the stage set up, Tony was at the centre of the stage with Bob to his right and the drums/ Joel to his left. The new guitarist was to Bob’s right, and complemented Joel very well.
The sound in the venue was great. In terms of stage props, no Oscars/bonsai lights to report, just what looked like a box of tissues by his piano. As for the Yondr pouches, tonight they had lanyards to hold them, which I had not seen before.
Hooded Bob was back in black, but not in his normal black North Face. For those anoraks, it seemed to be the black version of the white one he sometimes wears. From what I saw of his cap, it was brownish grey.
Bob seemed to be enjoying himself, apart from during “Goodbye Jimmy Reed” where he sat down visibly annoyed and pointed in the direction of Anton with his right hand. However. by the time the song ended, there were smiles all round. There was no BobTalk to report or band introductions.
Having finished “I Shall Be Released,” Dylan slowly got up from his piano, looked to the crowd who were applauding on their feet, and left the stage as the lights dimmed.
Normally the band would then follow but this time they remained in their positions as Bob re-emerged to sing a powerful “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” that inspired some singalongs from a delighted crowd. Whether this constitutes his first encore in several years, I shall leave to others to discuss. The show ended at 9.40pm.
The biggest disappointment for avid collectors was the absence of a tour poster, although the black tour t-shirt for 500K was flying off the shelves.
Oslo bodes very well for the rest of the tour, and chatting to veteran Bobcats after the show, the show was considered astounding, melancholic and unique.
For those en route to Gothenburg, you are in for a real treat and let’s hope there will be more debut performances (and a tour poster) unveiled between now and the final night in London.
Thanks Tom! No full tape yet—just the two songs embedded—but, paid subscribers, keep an eye on the Discord for one to drop. And, again, if you want to get all this fall’s tour dispatches (and access to said Discord), subscribe here.
SETLIST:
To Be Alone With You
Man In The Long Black Coat
Crash On The Levee — first since 2005
Tryin’ To Get To Heaven
Early Roman Kings
I Can Tell (Samuel Smith)
Tangled Up In Blue — first since 2018
Share Your Love With Me (Alfred Braggs and Deadric Malone)
Louisiana 1927 (Randy Newman) — live debut
When I Paint My Masterpiece
I’ll Make It All Up To You (Charlie Rich)
Crossing the Rubicon
Soon After Midnight
Dublin Blues (Guy Clark) — live debut
Under The Red Sky
I’ve Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You
Goodbye Jimmy Reed
I Shall Be Released
You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (encore)
