On October 1st, I saw Bob Dylan in Kansas City at the Midland Theater. The opening show of this current leg of the Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour. This was my fifth time seeing him. You experience peaks and valleys seeing such a mercurial artist live so many times. When I first saw him in 2013 it was pretty rough. His voice was a growl, and he seemed uninterested in being there. But then six years later in 2019, on my third time seeing him, you could have told me he had found the fountain of youth and I would have believed it. His voice was smooth and clear, and he was really putting on a show for the crowd.
All of this is to say that, well, you never really know what you’ll get with Bob. Any fan of his with even a slight knowledge of his Never Ending Tour can tell you that different legs of tours are not created equal. But in recent years he’s put an emphasis on consistency. So I had no doubt this was going to be good.
Right off the bat, he put to bed any worry the audience may have had. The lights go down, and he and his current backing band walk out on stage, backed by a simple red curtain, and dimly lit, as always. They open with a great rendition of “Kansas City,” with Bob pounding away on the piano like he’s Jerry Lee Lewis. The Kansas City crowd loved the song choice, obviously, giving a loud cheer at the end of every verse.
Then, after the crowd pleasing start, he settles into a set that is made up mostly of songs taken from this tour’s namesake, 2020’s Rough and Rowdy Ways. He actually plays all of the album, minus the seventeen minute long closer, “Murder Most Foul.” I know that the set list has been a point of contention for a lot of people in recent years, just because Bob refuses to play a greatest hits set. But honestly, I prefer him playing newer material. It’s great stuff, feels fresh, and he’s able to sing it more effectively.
Even though Rough and Rowdy Ways is only three years old, he’s already drastically changed some of the arrangements. “I Contain Multitudes” now has an almost poppy sound to it, “Black Rider” honestly wouldn’t sound out of place on a Pink Floyd album, as strange as that is to write, and “Key West (Philosopher’s Pirate)” now has a rigid syncopated rhythm to it rather than the breezy sound it had on the album.
Even by Bob standards this set is really devoid of any hits. There is no Highway 61 Revisited or Blood on the Tracks representation. Instead, the only classic songs are four from his recluse years in the late 60s and early 70s (“Watching the River Flow,” “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” and “To Be Alone With You”), and two from his Christian era (“Gotta Serve Somebody” and “Every Grain of Sand”).
Of course all of these classic songs have been altered from their original state to varying degrees, but I want to highlight “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight.” It starts off with a slow, wistful sound, but then in the middle of it they break into an extended surf music instrumental bridge. It’s truly bizarre, but it somehow works.
Bob seemed to be in good spirit. He may have talked to the crowd the most I’ve ever heard him talk to the crowd in person, saying “Thank you” after a number of songs, and giving a band introduction. At one point in the middle of the set he joked, “I think I’ve eaten too much Kansas City barbecue. Nobody warned me.” Another nod to the city he was playing in by a guy not known to do such things.
A highlight of the show was when Bob played a cover of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” which brought the crowd to their feet. If this tour is truly his last, as is rumored, then I love the fact that he’s playing this song. Bob has often told the story about going and seeing Buddy Holly at the Duluth Armory when he was a teen, so it’s a nice full circle moment.
Then Bob closes the set with the always touching “Every Grain of Sand.” It’s especially moving in this context, though. As stated before, there is a chance that the Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour is his last, and the 2024 end date will mark his retirement from the road. If so, then what a song to go out on with its theme of becoming wiser with the passage of time, and facing ones mortality.
I would one hundred percent recommend going and seeing Bob Dylan. If you go expecting to see Rolling Thunder Revue Bob, or a greatest hits marathon set like Paul McCartney, then you’ll more than likely be disappointed. But if you’re a fan of Bob’s recent work, and want to go and see one of the greatest artists of our time do his thing, and do it his own way, then you’re in for a treat.
