Bob Dylan began his stint on Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour (which Willie had to drop off the first few dates of due to illness) at Alpharetta, GA’s Ameris Bank Amphitheatre on Friday (6/21), and in classic Bob Dylan fashion, he surprised the crowd with a setlist that probably no one in attendance saw coming.
As Rolling Stone reports, following three years of playing sets heavy on 2020’s Rough and Rowdy Ways and select deep cuts from the past, Dylan kicked off the Outlaw tour with a set that was heavy on ’50s covers that he’d never performed before and original Dylan songs from the ’90s, 2000s, and 2010s. The only “classic” song he played was “Simple Twist of Fate” from 1975’s Blood on the Tracks.
Dylan’s cover songs on Friday included Willie Dixon’s 1955 blues standard “My Babe,” Chuck Berry’s “Little Queenie” (1959), The Fleetwoods’ “Mr. Blue” (1959), Hank Williams’ “Cold, Cold Heart” (1951), and Sanford Clark’s “The Fool” (1956). Four of the songs on the setlist came from 2012’s Tempest. His band on this tour also features a reunion with drummer Jim Keltner, and longtime pedal steel player Donnie Herron is no longer playing with them.
After that first night, Dylan continued to change up the setlist at Saturday’s (6/22) show at Charlotte, NC’s PNC Music Pavilion. On Saturday, he again played “Little Queenie” and “Mr. Blue,” and this time he also covered the Earl Green/Carl Montgomery-penned, Dave Dudley-popularized ’60s country song “Six Days on the Road” for the first time, along with a cover of “Stella Blue” by his friends the Grateful Dead. This show had a few older songs (“Ballad of a Thin Man” and the title track from Highway 61 Revisited, “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” from John Wesley Harding), plus another selection of ’90s-’10s songs, including two from 1997’s Time Out of Mind. He played that same setlist again at Sunday’s (6/23) show at Raleigh, NC’s Coastal Credit Union Music Park.
Check out some video/audio from the shows, and the full setlists below.
The tour hits the NYC-area on June 29 at Jones Beach and June 30 at PNC Bank Arts Center. Willie is currently expecting to be back on the tour by then, and those shows also include Robert Plant & Alison Krauss and Celisse. All remaining dates are listed below.
since bob dylan is changing up his setlists wildly again & none of the dylan sites currently have an option to just view all the setlists for a tour at once, i made a page for the current shows. https://t.co/v8Hvo3Bxmg
— jesse jarnow (@bourgwick@heads.social) (@bourgwick) June 23, 2024
Bob Dylan @ Ameris Bank Amphitheatre – 6/21/24 Setlist (via)
My Babe (Willie Dixon cover) (Live debut)
Beyond Here Lies Nothin’
Simple Twist of Fate
Little Queenie (Chuck Berry cover) (Live debut)
Mr. Blue (The Fleetwoods cover) (Live debut)
Pay in Blood
Cold, Cold Heart (Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys cover) (Live debut)
Early Roman Kings
Under the Red Sky (first performance since 2013)
Things Have Changed
The Fool (Sanford Clark cover) (Live debut)
Scarlet Town
Long and Wasted Years
Bob Dylan @ PNC Music Pavilion – 6/22/24 Setlist (via)
Highway 61 Revisited
Shooting Star (First time played since 2013; Bob on harmonica)
Love Sick
Little Queenie (Chuck Berry cover)
Mr. Blue (The Fleetwoods cover)
Early Roman Kings (Bob on harmonica)
Can’t Wait
Under the Red Sky (Bob on harmonica)
Things Have Changed
Stella Blue (Grateful Dead cover)
Six Days on the Road (Paul Davis/Dave Dudley cover) (Live debut)
Soon After Midnight (Bob on harmonica)
Ballad of a Thin Man (Bob on harmonica)
I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Willie Nelson’s 2024 Outlaw Music Festival Tour
Wednesday, June 26, 2024
Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach, Virginia Beach, VA
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Celisse
Friday, June 28, 2024
Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview, Syracuse, NY
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Celisse
Saturday, June 29, 2024
Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Celisse
Sunday, June 30, 2024
PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Celisse
Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Xfinity Center, Mansfield, MA
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Celisse
Thursday, July 4, 2024
Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Camden, NJ
Willie Nelson 7 Family
Bob Dylan
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Maren Morris
Mavis Staples
Celisse
Saturday, July 6, 2024
Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel, NY
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Celisse
Sunday, July 7, 2024
Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, PA
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Celisse
Monday, July 29, 2024
North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, Chula Vista, CA
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Brittney Spencer
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Brittney Spencer
Saturday, August 3, 2024
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View, CA
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Brittney Spencer
Sunday, August 4, 2024
Toyota Amphitheatre, Wheatland, CA
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Brittney Spencer
Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater, Boise, ID
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Brittney Spencer
Friday, August 9, 2024
ONE Spokane Stadium, Spokane, WA
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Brittney Spencer
Saturday, August 10, 2024
Gorge Amphitheatre, George, WA
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Billy Strings
Brittney Spencer
Friday, September 6, 2024
Somerset Amphitheater, Somerset, WI
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Southern Avenue
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, IL
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Southern Avenue
Sunday, September 8, 2024
Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre, St. Louis, MO
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Southern Avenue
Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Southern Avenue
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Southern Avenue
Saturday, September 14, 2024
The Pavilion at Star Lake, Burgettstown, PA
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Southern Avenue
Sunday, September 15, 2024
Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Southern Avenue
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Darien Lake Amphitheater, Buffalo, NY
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Southern Avenue
Friday, September 20, 2024
BankNH Pavilion
Willie Nelson & Family
Bob Dylan
John Mellencamp
Southern Avenue