Bob Dylan’s European tour continues to surprise with the veteran songwriter performing X during his show at the GGW Arena.
Dylan‘s performance in Flensburg, Germany, comes just two days after he performed Blind Willie McTell for the first time in 2026. The setlist for the first three dates on the European tour has varied slightly, with Tangled Up in Blue returning for the first time since 2018, with alternate lyrics included. Spirit on the Water has also been featured in the set, with the fourth show of the European and UK tour taking place tonight (October 23) at the GGW Arena. The show tonight featured songs predominantly from Rough and Rowdy Ways, though The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan classic, Girl From the North Country, has maintained its spot in the setlist. Dylan performed 17 songs during his show tonight, with no songs making their tour debut tonight.
A full setlist for Dylan’s show at the GGW Arena in Flensburg, Germany, can be found below.
- To Be Alone With You
- Blind Willie McTell
- It Ain’t Me, Babe
- Tryin’ to Get to Heaven
- False Prophet
- I Can Tell (Bo Diddley cover)
- Black Rider
- Tangled Up in Blue
- When I Paint My Masterpiece
- Girl From the North Country
- Crossing the Rubicon
- Soon After Midnight
- Spirit on the Water
- Under the Red Sky
- I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You
- Goodbye Jimmy Reed
- I Shall Be Released
Blind Willie McTell, Tangled Up in Blue, Girl From the North Country, and Spirit on the Water made their 2026 tour debuts in the last four shows. Blind Willie McTell has been swapped in for Man in the Long Black Coat, an Oh Mercy song that Dylan performed during almost every show of his North American tour.
Dylan’s tour of Europe continues on October 25 in Bremen, Germany. From there, he will play further dates in Belgium, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Fans were thrilled by the previous show’s setlist, with attendees of the Lights of Autumn tour date in Horsens, Denmark, praising the “amazing” version of Blind Willie McTell.
It marks the first time Dylan has performed Blind Willie McTell this year, with the Bootleg Series deep cut occasionally featured during his North American tour last year. Before that, Dylan had not performed the song since 2017. It hasn’t been a setlist staple since 2013, when Dylan performed the song a total of 51 times.
Fans took to the r/BobDylan subreddit to praise the veteran songwriter for adding Blind Willie McTell back to the setlist. One person said it was an “amazing” rendition while another deemed those in attendance to be lucky to have heard such a rarity live. Major changes were made to Dylan’s setlist on the second night of the tour, with a show at the Scandinavium featuring Girl from the North Country, Spirit on the Water, and Every Grain of Sand for the first time on this leg of the tour.
Fans would have to cast their mind back a little for the last rendition of Girl from the North Country, a classic from Dylan’s discography. The song’s performance tonight is the first since Dylan performed at The Anthem in Washington D.C. back in December 2019. The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan cut would feature as a Johnny Cash collaboration on Dylan’s Nashville Skyline album in 1969. Dylan has performed the song 590 times since 1963.
Every Grain of Sand will be a familiar inclusion for those who have caught Dylan’s recent Rough and Rowdy Ways tour and this current Lights of Autumn run. Dylan has performed the song 291 times over the last five years, with 39 of those performances from the 2026 tour.
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