The first Outlaw Music Festival show of August saw Bob Dylan play out a similar set to that of previous nights.
Recent changes made by the veteran performer and his band have stuck, with the setlist dropping a handful of classics to make way for other hits from his early years. The performance at Jones Beach Theatre in Wantagh, New York, saw Dylan and the band perform the likes of All Along the Watchtower, To Ramona, and Desolation Row. The three songs have been a staple of Dylan’s Outlaw Music Festival set, though a few changes have been made in the past few shows to accommodate Highway 61 Revisited. The title track of Dylan’s defining album has remained on the setlist for the first August date of the Outlaw Music Festival tour.
Dylan has been a part of the Willie Nelson-featuring Outlaw Music Festival since last year, though he will return to his Rough and Rowdy Ways tour in September. A full setlist from his August 1 show can be found below.
- Gotta Serve Somebody
- I Can Tell (Bo Diddley cover)
- Forgetful Heart
- Axe and the Wind (George Butler cover)
- To Ramona
- Early Roman Kings
- Under the Red Sky
- I’ll Make It All Up to You (Charlie Rich cover)
- All Along the Watchtower
- ‘Til I Fell in Love With You
- Desolation Row
- Love Sick
- Share Your Love With Me (Bobby Bland)
- Blind Willie McTell
- Highway 61 Revisited
- Searching for a Soldier’s Grave (The Anglin Twins cover)
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Both Highway 61 Revisited and Searching for a Soldier’s Grave were added to the setlist recently, replacing Positively 4th Street and Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35. Whether Dylan makes any further changes to his setlist on the Outlaw Music Festival tour is yet to be seen, but fan favourites have made a return in the shows so far.
Mr. Tambourine Man and The Times They Are A-Changin’ have both been featured on this tour, the former for the first time in fifteen years. Positively 4th Street was reintroduced to the set also, for the fifth time in fifteen years. Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35 marked an equally rare moment, with the song barely performed by Dylan over the last decade.
The setlist thrilled fans when the Outlaw Music Festival began earlier this year, with listeners initially unsure of which song Axe and the Wind was. The first performance of the show had dedicated Dylan fans spend hours working out what the song was. They eventually discovered it was a cover of the Butler number.
Dylan’s first Outlaw Music Festival show setlist of the year is rather different to the songs which are now recurring in his summer set. A list of songs Dylan performed on the May 13 tour date can be found below, with the likes of To Ramona and Scarlet Town performed.
- I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
- It Ain’t Me, Babe
- Forgetful Heart (first time live since 2015)
- Axe and the Wind (George Butler cover)
- To Ramona (first time live since 2017)
- Route 66 (Bobby Troup cover – first time live since 1986)
- All Along the Watchtower
- I’ll Make It All Up to You (Charlie Rich cover)
- It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
- Mr. Tambourine Man (first time live since 2010)
- Under the Red Sky
- Scarlet Town
- A Rainy Night in Soho (The Pogues cover)
Axe and the Wind confused fans at the time, with some noting even the great setlist master Bill Pagel had not come up with the title of the song immediately after the show finished. The show offered a series of songs from Dylan which had not been performed in years, including Mr. Tambourine Man.
