June
4
Bob Dylan Set List Analysis
Thirteen shows into the latest leg on the never-ending tour that has taken Bob Dylan from Massachusetts and Maine to Iceland and Russia and the great one has managed shake up his set lists so much that only three songs have made it into every show: "The Levee's Gonna Break" and "Thunder Mountain," both of which appear on his last album, "Modern Times," and "Summer Days" from Love and Theft."
"Rollin' and Tumblin'" has has been played a dozen times; "Spirit on the Water" and "Highway 61 Revisited" have shown up 11; "Like a Rolling Stone," "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" and "Workingman's Blues No. 2" are up to nine performances; and "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again" and "High Water (For Charley Patton)" are at six. Seven tunes have been played five times each.
Opening night had a few songs that have not been repeated on this leg, which runs through July 11 in Portugal: "Can't Wait" from "Time Out of Mind," "A Simple Twist of Fate" and "Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Mine)."
He has played 53 different songs in the 13 shows, most of which have 17 tunes each, and to date eight tunes have only been performed once. Most recent examples are "If You See Her, Say Hello," "Ain't Talkin'" from "Modern Times" and "Every Grain of Sand" from "Shot of Love."
Dylan is back to only playing keyboards. There are 24 more shows on the European tour
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This site shows ongoing set list statistics by year for the current decade: www.fotofabini.com/Dylan/
- Fabe
Posted by: Fabe | June 05, 2008 at 04:23 AM
Please add Summer Days to your list of songs that have been played each of the first 13 sites of the current leg of the tour.
Posted by: Ernie Pancsofar | June 05, 2008 at 04:55 AM
Good catch. Thanks for pointing it out. Crazy, too, how Summer Days is in the same every night
Posted by: Phil Gallo | June 05, 2008 at 06:43 AM
If you look at the basic set lists themselves, they haven't changed much for the past four years. Dylan is playing the same core group of songs each night, switching a handful here and there. But the substitutions are not surprising. They are the same substitutions he has been making for the past few years. It's not like Springsteen where any song he has ever recorded could possibly show up in concert.
This isn't a complaint, merely an observation. The performances themselves generally remain superb.
Posted by: Glenn Whipp | June 05, 2008 at 11:35 AM
No disrespect to Springsteen, but he has 15 songs on each tour that make it into the set each night. First leg of the last tour had specific slots in which he would drop in the mystersy song of the night; second leg has seen more variations. Dylan is at 53 songs after just 13 shows, a staggering number from a man who once felt the need to play "Silvio" at every performance.
Posted by: Phil Gallo | June 05, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Looking forward to the US leg. In the interim (shameless plug alert), here's a good way to spend the time. It's my new novel, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, which I think you're readers will enjoy.
It's a murder-mystery. But not just any rock superstar is knocking on heaven's door. The murdered rock legend is none other than Bob Dorian, an enigmatic, obtuse, inscrutable, well, you get the picture...
Suspects? Tons of them. The only problem is they're all characters in Bob's songs.
You can get a copy on Amazon.com or go "behind the tracks" at www.bloodonthetracksnovel.com to learn more about the book.
Now see how many songs you can find referenced wedged in between these pages.
Posted by: Tom Grasty | June 05, 2008 at 01:40 PM
Looking forward to the US leg. In the interim (shameless plug alert), here's a good way to spend the time. It's my new novel, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS, which I think you're readers will enjoy.
It's a murder-mystery. But not just any rock superstar is knocking on heaven's door. The murdered rock legend is none other than Bob Dorian, an enigmatic, obtuse, inscrutable, well, you get the picture...
Suspects? Tons of them. The only problem is they're all characters in Bob's songs.
You can get a copy on Amazon.com or go "behind the tracks" at www.bloodonthetracksnovel.com to learn more about the book.
Now see how many songs you can find referenced wedged in between these pages.
Posted by: Tom Grasty | June 05, 2008 at 01:41 PM
It is true that his current variations are remarkable for any artist, let alone a 67-year-old. I agree with Glenn Whipp that basically the shows have remained unchanged for the past several years with the same substitutions.
The change seems to have been a by-product of Dylan switching to keyboard only a few years ago. Perhaps he isn't as prolific on this instrument as others. Also the band personnel may not be as flexible with tunes as Charlie Sexton and Larry Campbell.
In the earlier part of the decade, it seemed he would vary shows much more unexpectedly, dusting off songs like "Hazel" out of nowhere. I can remember going to three consecutive State Fair shows in 2001, he played over 20 songs in each of the three and had only 5 or 6 redundant numbers.
Also just an observation. Really, I'm just glad to have him still working,and delivering such quality new material.
Posted by: Pete Herring | June 05, 2008 at 01:44 PM
Something about Dylan brings out the obsessive in me, so here goes:
Expanding your set list analysis, Dylan has played 30 concerts in 2008. In those 30 concerts, he has played 60 different songs. Playing 50-some songs (I count 52 different songs in the 14 shows on the current leg) sounds truly impressive until you realize they are mostly the same core group of songs he has been playing since (as Pete noted) he switched to the keyboards. So ... I guess it's just "merely" impressive for a cat who's 67. Again, I bow to the man's brilliance.
Dylan is still capable of a surprise now and again. "Every Grain of Sand" was only played twice last year. He performed it at the 11th show on the European leg of this tour. "Ballad of Hollis Brown" is a relative rarity, as is the the great "Blind Willie McTell." "Boots of Spanish Leather" is another one ...
If anything Phil, your post was great in that it got me really looking at the set lists and getting beyond the feeling that he had settled into something of a groove. Last year, Dylan played 80 different songs in concert. If I'm lucky enough to see him again this year, maybe two or three of the songs he performs will be new to my ears. Then again, the man has a way of making the old sound new.
See you at the show ...
Posted by: Glenn Whipp | June 05, 2008 at 10:14 PM