The Glasgow Soundboards

The first soundboard tapes of the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour!

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Surprise! Only a few months after the first soundboards in 16 years landed, from this summer’s Outlaw Tour, we have two more. And these mark a big moment: the first soundboards of the entire Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. He’s played 276 shows (and counting) on the tour, but you’ve never heard it like this.

The tapes come from Dylan’s recent two-night stand in Glasgow, near the end of the fall tour. I won’t go into detail about how these tapes came about again; I explained the whole process last time. All I’ll add here is extra kudos to the taper, who managed to capture these despite the substantial added challenge of the Yondr pouches.

The full tapes are below, and you can and should listen to them in their entirety. But having been granted early access (thanks!) and had a few weeks to listen already, let me share some performances that jumped out at me.

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I’ve felt a bit of burnout on what I’ve started calling the Never Ending Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour, but hearing these tapes renewed my enthusiasm. You can hear so much subtlety in the music as presented here. No crowd noise, no muffle or distance, just the notes bursting from the speakers. For instance, “Key West,” a song we have all heard so many times, once again feels mesmerizing when you can hear the vocals so cleanly. Here’s night one:

With pindrop quiet, the tiny sounds the band members play leap out. Shoutout to Doug Lancio’s guitar lines on “Black Rider,” another highlight from night one:

One more in this slow/meditative vein, a stunning “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” from the second night. I love the descending vocal melody he finds starting with the “seasick sailors” verse, and then mirrors on piano. Anton Fig’s percussion shines here and throughout these tapes, just as it did on Outlaw. Then, to cap it all off, a beautiful harmonica solo.

The big news out of Glasgow at the time, though, was none of those songs. The big news was “My Own Version of You.”

On the first night, he debuted an entirely new arrangement. It seemed to be new to the band as well. Here’s our correspondent Angus Gibson, from his post-show dispatch:

The most exciting performance of the night is “My Own Version Of You”, which appears entirely improvised. Here’s Adam Selzer’s recollection of the performance (I can’t relay it any better than he already has):

The song began about as usual, in the stripped-down spoken word style that’s been standard since Royal Albert Hall a year ago. But early on, Dylan hit on a bass piano riff, sort of an oompah thing, and started to build a new melody around it. He’d sing a line, then play the same melody on piano, in a sort of call and response. Suddenly the song became a sort of sea shanty, like a crazed pirate captain, stalking the deck and whipping his zombie crew as they rowed.

It reminded me of Dr John’s Gris-Gris album, with the band improvising on a very heavy bass groove that Dylan bashed out on his piano. Bassist Tony Garnier and guitarist Bob Britt shared grins, as Bob took the song in new ever-more intrepid directions, occasionally laughing at his own audacity.

Expecting Rain user ‘yellowrailroad’ wrote: “It could fit nicely as a mid-album track on Tom Waits’ Bone Machine album.” I think that was intended as a criticism, but I agree wholeheartedly.

You can hear that performance now in pristine soundboard quality. The fun to me is hearing the band finding their way in as Dylan hammers his piano riffs. At first, it’s primarily just Dylan playing, but gradually they each figure out what’s going on and enter, first tentatively, then more assertively. It’s a great build, and you can hear Dylan chuckling to himself a few times.

The next night, the song’s evolution continued. Here’s Angus again:

After last night, I am excited to discover what “My Own Version of You” will sound like. It starts with added New Orleans percussion, again leaning into the Gris-Gris / Bone Machine vibe, with Dylan’s intense vocal phrasing driving the song as only he can.

“My Own Version of You” has undergone a drastic evolution. In October and early November, it sounded like those Jack Kerouac and Steve Allen records, with Dylan spitting his lines like a beat poet over Fig’s free jazz improvisations. Now it’s fueled by the low notes on Dylan’s piano and Garnier’s stand-up bass. It’s much more forceful, and the most exciting song of the evening.

That’s one big change you can hear from one night to the next, even with the same setlist. Another is hearing Bob play with lyrics.

For instance, on “To Be Alone with You,” he sings a different first bridge both nights. I’m guessing they’re semi-improvised, so he doesn’t have every word or rhyme perfect, but it’s a treat to hear him coming up with this stuff on the fly.

Night 1:
They say the night time is the right time
Every time of the year
[?] over there
Right now from over here

Night 2:
They say the night time is the right time
Everything’s on the way
Every time you leave, you say goodbye
Well I wish you could stay!

The first night’s doesn’t really mean much—guesses for that extra-mumbly bit are “Once I lived over there” or “What time is it over there,” neither of which fits with with next line—but I like the final lines of night two. He should keep that part. (And, when he’s more confident with it rather than likely making it up on the fly, he might not mush-mouth it so much.)

Finally, as with Outlaw, I love the little asides you can hear on these tapes. They’re not all positive; as the band wraps up night two’s “Watching the River Flow” while he is still playing a harmonica solo, he mutters something that ends with, “God, man. Damn.” But I’ll highlight one that finds him in better spirits. On the second night’s “When I Paint My Masterpiece”—and what a treat to finally have this amazing arrangement in soundboard quality—he adds a host of fun interjections during the final verse.

Newspaper men eating what? Eating candy!
Had to be held back by who? By big police! [chuckles]
Someday—when?—everything gonna be beautiful
When I paint my—well?—masterpiece

Other highlights include “Goodbye Jimmy Reed,” a song I thought I was sick of but is extremely fun on both tapes (just when I thought I was out…); “I Contain Multitudes” the first night, and “Watching the River Flow” the second night. But that’s enough preamble. Huge credit to taper Illegible and engineer subtr for capturing these for us to enjoy. Happy holidays everybody.

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DOWNLOAD THE TAPES

2025-11-16, SEC Armadillo, Glasgow, Scotland [FLAC]
Recording by Illegible
Restored and mastered by subtr

2025-11-17, SEC Armadillo, Glasgow, Scotland [FLAC]
Recording by Illegible
Restored and mastered by subtr

Art by @dylanbootlegs