Last Night in Phoenix (by Adam Selzer)

2025-05-13, Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre, Phoenix, AZ

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Outlaw Tour 2.0 kicked off last night in Phoenix, Arizona, the first show of 35 that Bob Dylan will be playing with Willie Nelson and assorted other artists all summer. Like the first show of last year’s Outlaw Tour, opening night was full of surprises, with Bob busting out original songs he hasn’t played in years, and covers he hasn’t played ever (including a blues song so obscure no one could figure it out).

Adam Selzer was on the scene and reports in from a rainy wild night in Soho Phoenix. Adam is a Chicago historian, author, and tour guide; find more info at adamchicago.com. Here’s Adam:

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Ten minutes after landing in Arizona, the trip became one I’d probably always remember: I called an Uber to pick me and Michael Glover Smith up from the airport, and the car arrived with no driver. It was one of those new robot cars. An invisible driver steered us through the sort of wasteland of strip malls and office parks one expects from an Outlaw show town, past a legal weed dispensary, and past a sign that said “Penis Man!!!” I felt like I was on Desolation Row. The driver at least got us to the hotel in one piece, and didn’t get mad when I called him a dipshit Claude Rains-looking motherfucker.

Anyway. Going to Arizona in spring didn’t sound like a very appealing trip to me, but there’s just something about going to the first night of a new tour, when no one can say with any confidence what the show will be like. Milwaukee '21 was like that. Alpharetta '24 was like that. Though there was always a chance this would be the same set as the last Outlaw tour, this one felt unpredictable enough to find out if all this “but it’s a dry heat” shit was true.

Our human driver to the venue had a mustache and a menorah air freshener, but said he mostly just knew Christian music. He met his wife at a Kari Lake rally and felt comfortable admitting this to strangers. At least I was confident that the robot didn’t actively wish me and my family harm.

The Amphitheatre was like other amphitheaters. Warm wind was blowing dusty old dust all over. The weather cooled to a merciful level by the time Billy Strings came on; he covered “Miss the Mississippi and You” amid a strong set that mixed traditional bluegrass with space-getaway music. I felt like I was in a car chase with the sheriff on Tatooine. It was pretty cool.

Between sets, we noticed them rolling an upright piano onstage, a switch from the recent grand piano. Then we noticed that this piano was hollowed out and lined with silver. Then it lit up, and a little “bonsai tree” of little lights was put on top of it. Something was up. Now, I know better than to assume I’m getting a new show because of something new onstage. I repeated to Mike my prediction that the first two songs would be the same as spring, then we’d get the same Outlaw show as last year.

I started out being right. Bob and the band came out did “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” and “It Ain’t Me Babe” about like they did then last tour, though they were such strong performances that I would have been perfectly happy to risk my life with robots and magats to be here.

But then, the third song was “Forgetful Heart.” In a new arrangement with crashing cascades of electric guitar. This set the tone for what was to come: a whole new sound, with both Doug Lancio and Bob Britt on electric guitars. The show had a nimble, smoky, vibe that matched the red lighting and emphasized electric guitar far more than any recent iteration. (The bonsai lights effectively blocked Bob’s face on the Jumbotron—well played, sir). Mike and I had been at the stunning debut of the song in 2009, and now we got the debut of a new arrangement.

Next up came a song that we assumed, because we didn’t recognize it, was a cover. It was a driving blues song. The penultimate line of each verse, I think, was “you never can tell which way the axe is gonna fall.” One verse ended by rhyming with “I may be here forever, I might not be here at all.”

Someone suggested a particular Chuck Berry song and I didn’t trouble my head more about it until later, when it turned out that these lines, and variations on them, seemed not to come up on Google.

(clip via @the_daily_dylan)

A stately, melodic “To Ramona” continued a string of surprises. It was pretty true to the album version, much more “sung” than it was in the days when it a common selection in the acoustic set. “Route 66” was also a faithful rendition, a real raver.

Something else was becoming clear at this point: this new show was very well rehearsed, even though the last tour ended just a few weeks ago. We already had two songs getting their first airing in 8-10 years, one unknown presumed debut, and one he last played in 1986. And none of them sounded sloppy, like they were still working the kinks out, like many live debuts. Bob sang them all like he’d really been working on them.

For instance, it was a whole new version of “All Along the Watchtower,” with a guitar riff that reminded me of “She’s Not There” by The Zombies. The melody even turned to a major key a couple of times! It was a very different way of doing the song, and much more compelling than the sometimes-sloppy jams on it last year.

A strong version of the country standard “I’ll Make it All Up To You” followed, and then “It Takes a Lot to Laugh…,” another song that appeared in A Complete Unknown. And it was great, but didn’t prepare me for what came next.

After a bit of piano noodling, I recognized a few notes. It was a new arrangement, but unmistakably an arrangement of “Mr Tambourine Man!” Similar to the other stripped down versions of older songs lately, or the 1995 arrangement, and gorgeously sung. I can’t tell you how hard this one hit me. First performance since 2010! Halfway through I was a wreck. It was transcendent, and it’s hard to make anyone feel any kind of transcendence in a dusty amphitheater like this.

As I babbled, the band cut into “Under the Red Sky,” which kind of goes against a theory of mine. In Tulsa last year, I got to check out the drafts of this song, and the first page had “John - Jack and Diane” and “Robert Plant” written on the side, suggesting that maybe Bob thought of this song as “Jack and Diane” if Robert Plant wrote it (which would really be a fine way to describe it.) Had he pulled it out because John and Robert were on the tour? Does him keeping it in the show negate that idea?

Well, in any case, it was back and it was lovely, with Doug playing the electric guitar lines from the album in a ripping solo, and Bob closing it with a fantastic harp solo.

“Scarlet Town” used more electric guitar than previous versions.

When he began another slow song, I wondered if it was too many of those in a row, but when he began singing “Rainy Night in Soho” I lost interest in such inconsequential questions. Bob Dylan was covering the Pogues! And covering them beautifully, too. “Mr Tambourine Man” already had left me feeling like a transcendent babbling idiot, and then “Rainy Night in Soho” spun me out into infinity and back again. But still babbling. Obviously.

I’d expected a big rocker to close out the show, but that was it. The lights came on and I stumbled off to find Sergi and process what I’d witnessed.

I’m writing this now at the back of the lawn while Willie Nelson sings; I couldn’t let it sit. While Mike, Sergi and I were talking, it became apparent that the fourth song was not a Chuck Berry tune, and indeed no one had Googled it successfully. It was a mystery—potentially the first live debut of an original since Toad’s Place 1990! Surely it couldn’t be. I don’t have my hopes up. It’ll turn out to be some cool blues song.* Right? In any case, it’s fun to get involved when there’s a mystery to be solved. A few hours later it’s still outstanding. I remember how nuts we all went when Pagel posted an unknown song called “In Search of His Grave.” And of course, this reminds me of the recent times when he suddenly started posting original monologues from dead outlaws and stuff on Instagram and left us all to figure out the material was (apparently) original.

* Yep. BobDylan.com this morning finally revealed the mystery cover: “Axe and the Wind,” a George ‘Wild Child’ Butler song from 1968 written by Willie Dixon. — Ray

But whatever it turns out to be, this show was beyond my wildest hopes for it—a whole new show, nearly as surprising as Alpharetta, possibly even moreso, and a far tighter performance than the “rehearsing onstage like Toad’s Place” vibe of that set. This was a brand new Dylan concert experience, carefully crafted, well rehearsed, and debuted the day word spread about Chronicles 2 being ready to go. We just witnessed the birth of a distinct new show with its own new sound. There was even a shiny new piano. And now I’m writing while Willie Nelson sings. I stopped writing to enjoy his rendition of “Last Leaf” again; I love how the crowds react to the last verse.

You know, I never regret these trips. Even when considering the robots.

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Thanks Adam! No tape yet, but, paid subscribers, keep an eye on the Discord, I’m sure one will pop up soon. And—speaking of which—I’ve got a bunch more tour coverage planned this summer, but most of it will go to paid subscribers only. So, if you want it, jump aboard: