Bob Dylan’s set remains relatively unchanged as he winds down the Outlaw Music Festival dates.
Dylan‘s penultimate date on the Willie Nelson-featuring line-up saw the veteran songwriter perform the likes of Highway 61 Revisited, Masters of War, and All Along the Watchtower. These classics on the stage in Noblesville, Indiana, were paired with the usual run of cover songs. It seems Dylan has landed on a comfortable setlist of songs, playing seventeen in total for his second-to-last Outlaw Music Festival tour date. The stage legend will perform one more show in East Troy, Wisconsin, before a stop-off at the Farm Aid 2025 show in Minnesota. After that, it’s back to the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour, which will take place all across Europe. Dylan’s final tour date is scheduled for November 25 in Dublin, Ireland.
His Outlaw Music Festival shows have seen the return of Mr. Tambourine Man and Positively 4th Street, as well as Masters of War. The pacifist song has become a staple of the set, opening several of the most recent Outlaw Music Festival shows. A setlist for Dylan and the band’s performance in Noblesville, Indiana from last night (September 18), can be found below.
- Masters of War
- 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 cover)
- Blind Willie McTell
- Soon After Midnight
- Highway 61 Revisited
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Dylan has gone to extra lengths on these last tours to obscure himself from the view of attendees on some dates. Some fans were annoyed they could not see the performer, while others praised the “great show” Dylan put on from behind a light up tree on top of a baby grand piano.
A person who attended the show took to the r/BobDylan subreddit and shared: “I really, really enjoyed the show. A lot of people seemed pissed that they couldn’t see him — I think Bob is just sick of people treating these shows like photo shoots, which I respect — but his singing was phenomenal, and the band was sharp as ever.
“I thought it was fascinating that the guitarist and bassist played basically the whole set facing Bob at the piano rather than the audience. They were probably just watching his hands for the chord changes, since Bob seems to play in his own time signature — a time signature that changes whenever he wants it to — but it made for a really unique experience. Almost like watching them jam rather than perform.
“As hokey as it sounds, it felt like they were playing fully in service of the music rather than the crowd. Some people may find this disappointing, but it worked for me. I like it when artists antagonise the audience a little bit.”
