Bob Dylan 2019 Never Ending Tour
Touring band
Bob Dylan: vocal, grand piano, keyboard, harmonica, electric guitar
Charlie Sexton: lead guitar
Donnie Herron: violin, viola, electric mandolin, banjo, pedal steel & lap steel guitar
Tony Garnier: double bass (with bow) and bass guitar
George Recile: drums & percussion. Not in Autumn Tour.
Matt Chamberlain: drums & percussion in Fall Tour
Bob Britt: guitar in Fall Tour
Spring and summer legs (in total 38 concerts) both in Europe. Standard setlist with Dylan most of the time behind the piano: 1. Things Have Changed; 2. It Ain’t Me, Babe; 3. Highway 61 Revisited; 4. Simple Twist Of Fate; 5. Cry A While; 6. When I Paint My Masterpiece; 7. Honest With Me; 8. Tryin’ To Get To Heaven; 9. Scarlet Town; 10. Make You Feel My Love; 11. Pay In Blood; 12. Like A Rolling Stone; 13. Early Roman Kings; 14. Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right; 15. Love Sick; 16. Thunder On The Mountain; 17. Soon After Midnight; 18. Gotta Serve Somebody; (encore) 19. Blowin’ In The Wind; 20. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry.
From april 8 on some concerts are closed with an instrumental Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues without Dylan. During the song one musician after another leaves the stage: first Donnie, then Charlie and Tony. George finishes with his drums alone. From april 26 Dignity replaces Cry A While in slot 5 for some concerts.
On April 16 in Vienna Dylan almost falls on stage after a camera flash. He aborts Blowin’ in the Wind before addressing an audience member taking photographs. “Take pictures or don’t take pictures. We can either play or we can pose. Okay?”
Short summer tour, 14 concerts in Scandinavia, Germany and Great Britain. Biggest surprises are some performances of Boots of Spanish Leather and the disappearance after years of concert opener Things Have Changed, replaced by Ballad Of A Thin Man on june 10. During the last concert in Kilkenny for the first time in 25 years Bob plays together with Neil Young: Will The Circle Be Unbroken.
Autumn tour, 39 concerts in the US, 10 in the Beacon Theatre, New York City. The other shows are mainly scheduled for College and University venues. Matt Chamberlain replaces George Recile (since 2001 in the band) on drums; Bob Britt (who played on Time Out of Mind) is new on guitar after Stu Kimball left a year ago.
The biggest surprise is the return of Lenny Bruce, for the first time played since 2008. In a new arrangement of course, and with changes to the lyrics. Another surprise is Not Dark Yet in a real dark, ominous version. Dylan plays the new opener Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ centre stage on guitar. On October 24 Things Have Changed reappears as opener. Donnie Herron plays violin in a lot of songs.
Standard set list: 1. Things Have Changed; 2. It Ain’t Me, Babe; 3. Highway 61 Revisited; 4. Simple Twist Of Fate; 5. Can’t Wait; 6. When I Paint My Masterpiece; 7. Honest With Me; 8. Tryin’ To Get To Heaven; 9. Make You Feel My Love; 10. Pay In Blood; 11. Lenny Bruce; 12. Early Roman Kings; 13. Girl From the North Country; 14. Not Dark Yet; 15. Thunder On The Mountain; 16. Soon After Midnight; 17. Gotta Serve Somebody; (encore) 18. Ballad of a Thin Man; 19. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry.
Releases
The Rolling Thunder Revue: The 1975 Live Recordings. 14 discs.
Travelin’ Thru, 1967–1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 15. Three-disc set: sessions with Johnny Cash in February 1969; outtakes from John Wesley Harding and Nashville Skyline, along with a pair of cuts from the Self Portrait sessions.
Recommended bootleg
Third Prague 2019 (Crystal Cat Records CC 1104-05). Prague, Lucerna Palace great hall, April 9.
| 2019 * * * * * * * * * * 77 shows, 32 different songs played. No debuts or covers. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Venue | Title | No of Disks | Label/Source | Sound | Art/setlist/info |
| 2019-04-04 | Berlin, Mercedes-Benz Arena | Live in Berlin | Flac/2CD | Diamond Recording DR040419 | A | - |
| 2019-04-09 | Prague, Lucerna Palace great hall | Third Prague 2019 | Flac/2CD | Crystal Cat Records CC 1104-05 | A+ | Last night of 3 shows. 8 bonus tracks from 2017-2018 from different locations, including covers September Of My Years (2017-11-03) and Learning To Fly (2017-10-21). Released 2019. |
| 2019-05-01 | Porto | Coliseu do Porto | Flac | Spot | A | - |
| 2019-06-29 | Oslo, Spektrum | Oslo 2019 | Flac/2CD | Crystal Cat Records CC 1110-11 | A | Highlight: Boots of Spanish Leather. And Lenny Bruce and Not Dark Yet in the bonus tracks. |
| 2019-07-12 | London | Hyde Park 2019 | Flac/2CD | Crystal Cat Records CC 1106-07 | A | Great show with Girl From The North Country and a rap version of Can't Wait among the many highlights. Bonustrack 2019-07-04 Kilkenny: Will The Circle Be Unbroken (A. P. Carter) w/Neil Young (vocal & guitar). |
| 2019-10-12 | Santa Barbara, CA | Santa Barbara Bowl | Flac | Taped and mastered by JB | A+ | Dylan is in great shape and plays tasty licks on a Humbucker equipped Telecaster on opener Beyond Here Lies Nothin'. Exellent sound in a great sounding venue. |
| 2019-12-03 | New York City, NY | 8th Beacon Theatre 2019 | Flac/2CD | Crystal Cat Records CC 1112-13 / LB-14822 | A+ | Again a great show, maybe one of the finest this year. With a haunting Not Dark Yet. |
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