With the Spring 2026 tour now behind us, it is worth remembering what Bob Dylan offered on these shows. We may be caught up in the appeal of what he achieved across those summer shows, I Shall Be Released-featuring performances that preceded an announcement of European shows, but it is worth remembering just how strong a tour the start of the year received. Coming Down the Hill compiles some of those very best moments for your listening pleasure, a bootleg that brings the first post-Rough and Rowdy Ways tour home. It is hardly like Dylan will be releasing these shows himself. Those who cannot afford to fly out and witness Dylan perform in person are well served here, with the bootlegging community once more coming in handy. Despite the end of the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour, Dylan features much of that material across Coming Down the Hill. He has engaged with a wholly fresh instrumental style this year, one that sounds quite unlike anything he has done for his 2020 album to date.
This stomping rendition of Crossing the Rubicon is a new one. It’s a stretch different from how Dylan had performed it in 2025. Much more focus on the percussion and a deeper drawl, a slower tempo from his vocal work, makes all the difference. Coming Down the Hill is full of surprises, not just for the Rough and Rowdy Ways material but also for the deep cuts featured throughout, too. Man in the Long Black Coat featured in many of the setlists across this tour and is represented well here with a performance in Abilene, Texas. Dylan still has that drawl where many may find him unintelligible. But for those who know the songs by heart, or at the very least are moved by the instrumental fluidity, that won’t be a problem for Coming Down the Hill listeners. Man in the Long Black Coat is a fascinating piece; it sounds like a funeral pyre here as Dylan hammers away at his baby grand piano. What a moving experience it is, one of those many wholly reimagined pieces of work that keeps Dylan in conversation as one of the very best around.
Others have tried to adapt their works in a similar manner. Elvis Costello performs Watching the Detectives with such a slowed drawl these days, but misses the point of doing so. Dylan finds, be it through classics like Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright or new pieces like Black Rider and Goodbye Jimmy Reed, a creative responsibility in reimagining these songs. It often works, too. There’s an improvised instrumental flourish that lands well here and the songs are delivered with such a darker, almost tense spirit here. All Along the Watchtower showcases exactly that, and it’s a delightful rendition here. When I Paint My Masterpiece, too, it starts with a clang of instruments that feels more like confirmation that everyone is on stage than the actual start of the song. But it transitions well and turns one of the very best Dylan tracks into a stunning, wonderfully bold arrangement.
These renditions have such a swagger to them. Dylan has been performing off the back of Rough and Rowdy Ways for six years and has sounded exceptional the whole time, but it’s here that he gives some of his very best works. The tour which, halfway through, dropped that top hat-wearing skeleton from the advertisements. We are now merely watching Dylan tour because he wants to, and that is a tremendous spot to be in. Keep an ear out for performances of Love Sick, Soon After Midnight, and the Eddie Cochran cover, Nervous Breakdown, too. We’ve not had the luck of such an instrumental overhaul from Dylan and his ensemble in some time. Rough and Rowdy Ways landed a decent rhythm, but here he sounds keen to innovate once more.
Discover more from Cult Following
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
