Bob Dylan stuns fans with new set, surprise covers to kick off Outlaw tour

Before Bob Dylan even walked on stage Friday night to kick off the Outlaw Music festival summer tour at the Ameris Bank Amphitheater in Alpharetta, Georgia, word spread through the fan community that big changes were afoot at Dylan World. Super fan Ray Padgett was in the space with early reports that gospel-era drummer Jim Keltner was taking over from Jerry Pentecost and pedal steel player Donnie Heron was out after 19 years in the band.

But no one was prepared for the remarkable show that followed, which was one of the most surreal and unpredictable nights in the 36-year history of the Never Ending tour. After three years of playing a static set built around the 2020 LP Rough and naughty manners and selected deep tracks from the past, Dylan presented a whole new show of Fifties covers and his original tunes from the last two decades. The only songs recorded before the turn of the millennium were 1990's “Under The Red Sky” and 1975's “A Simple Twist of Fate.”

The tone for the evening was set when he opened with a cover of Willie Dixon's 1955 blues standard “My Babe.” Later in the evening, he blasted Chuck Berry's 1959 classic 'Little Queenie', the Fleetwoods' 1959 hit 'Mr Blue', Hank Williams' 1951 masterpiece 'Cold, Cold Heart' and Sanford Clark's 1956 rockabilly hit “The Fool”.

There is no record of him playing any of them throughout his career. There was not a single choice of Rough and naughty mannersbut released four songs (“Early Roman Kings”, “Long and Wasted Years”, “Pay in Blood” and “Scarlet Town”) since 2012 Storm.

Willie Nelson headlines every night of the Outlaw tour, but hours before the show, breaking news that he was under the weather and would miss the first four shows “on doctor's orders”. Lukas Nelson and the Family Band joined. This meant that fans who bought tickets hoping to see Nelson and hear their favorite Dylan Sixties songs were in for a big night. However, they did manage to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss cover Led Zeppelin's 'Rock and Roll' and 'The Battle of Evermore' along with 'Gone Gone Gone', 'Please Read The Letter' and 'Rich Woman' from their own albums. Celisse took the stage first.

When the Outlaw tour heads to the West Coast later this summer, John Mellencamp and Brittney Spencer come on board, and Plant and Krauss head out with Celisse. Dylan and Nelson are on the bill every night. But in the more immediate future, many questions linger. Will Nelson recover from his mysterious ailment in time to join the tour next week? Will Dylan stick with this weird set every night? Will he make any more surprises? Could he consider covering a song written after Dwight D. Eisenhower left the White House? Will venues still allow fans to bring phones and film/live stream the set? (This has been a huge no-no at Dylan shows in recent years.)

Whatever happens, it's clear that this is the beginning of another chapter in the long saga of the Never Ending tour. And for the first time in a long time, anything is possible on any given night. Well, almost anything is possible. We're not going to hear “New Pony,” “Ballad in Plain D,” or “Sara.” But if a song was on the radio when Dylan was in elementary school, it might come up at some point. For Dylan devotees, this is an incredibly exciting prospect. But if you're showing up hoping to hear something from his greatest hits record, it's probably best to leave it out. This is one for the die-hards.

Bob Dylan Setlist:

“My Babe” (Willie Dixon)
“Beyond Here Lies Nothin”
“Simple Twist of Fate”
“Little Queenie” (Chuck Berry)
“Mr. Blue” (The Fleetwoods)
“Payment in Blood”
“Cold, Cold Heart” (Hank Williams)
“Early Roman Kings”
“Under the Red Sky”
“Things have changed”
“The Fool” (Sanford Clark)
“Scarlet Town”
“Long and lost years”