Bob Dylan in Grand Rapids, April 2, 2026

My 99th show began with something brand new for me: I’ve seen people walk out in disgust because Bob Dylan wasn’t playing the hits or didn’t sound like he did in 1965 before, but never before the show started.

Tonight a guy in front of me sat down with his wife and started chatting about how he assumed Bob would be playing “Tangled Up in Blue.” The person next to him, a younger guy who was extremely eager to see his third show, told him that song hadn’t been on the setlist lately. We’d been chatting, and he looked back at me to confirm. I said you never know what might happen in any show, but that song hadn’t come up in a while, and this wasn’t going to be a “greatest hits” show. I began my usual spiel of thinking of this like a jazz concert, which I always find to be useful. Bob sings the songs the way Miles Davis might have played them. He uses his voice as a jazz instrument. If they’re open to what he’s doing, I think most people will have a great time.

The guy looked at me, incredulous. “You don’t think he’s gonna do ‘Lay Lady Lay?’”

I told him nothing was impossible, but I hadn’t seen that one in about twenty years.

The guy said something to his wife, and the two of them took off. I assumed they were getting a drink, but they never came back.

I understand why people want to hear the hits (and this particular set has arguably the least of any set in ages). But if it’s that important to you that certain songs are played, you can easily find the recent setlists online and save yourself the trouble and the cost of a mezzanine ticket. I can think of several bands that I’d probably skip if they weren’t playing the songs I liked. Then again, when I tried to think of an example, I kept thinking “Well, really, if the Spin Doctors weren’t doing those two hits, that might actually be more interesting….” I just saw Modern English listed as playing at a festival on a flier; if they didn’t do “I Melt With You” the rest of the set had better be pretty damned impressive, but even then I think I’d admire their guts.

(For the record, I like “Lay Lady Lay” just fine but I don’t see why it’s one of the top songs people know; I realize it was a big chart hit in 1969 and all, but it never seemed to be a radio staple in years after that. Maybe they just didn’t play it on the radio in the towns where I grew up? I feel like I never encounter it “in the wild” the way I do with “Knockin on Heaven’s Door” or “Hurricane.”).

Anyway. I spent a week in New York after the Iowa City show, and flew into Grand Rapids with just enough time to get a feel for the city, something I didn’t manage to do last time. I’d always imagined it was like a slightly smaller version of Des Moines, but it was more like a slightly smaller version of Milwaukee, with lots of buildings in that “Brewery Gothic” style hugging up against brutalism and some newer glass. There was a place where you can get the “Game Show Experience” and a place that designated the area outside of their business as a “Silly Walking Zone,” and a city that has that is okay by me.

Unlike Iowa City, regulars had trickled in. I chatted with Ben, whom I’d met in Iowa City, then bumped into Sue (sooo excited to be back on the tour), who I’ve met all over the hemisphere, and Brian the Maine Man. Caroline and Kait, of the official fan club, arrived for their first show of the tour, as well. Always good to meet up ahead of time and catch up. Ben pointed out that nearly every theatre on this tour has been right on a river.

The theater seemed very modern for a Rough and Rowdy show when Bob played here in 2023; it seemed almost jarring compared to the old theaters he’d been playing at the time, but tonight it felt similar to that “modern Civic Center” vibe from the Iowa City venue. Most people around me seemed open to the show; one thing I remembered about that 2023 show was that the crowd here was very responsive, cheering for lots of individual lines during a particularly tight show. The guy next to me that night hadn’t known any song going in, but turned to me and said, in an approving tone, “So, this isn’t really a concert, it’s an experience.” That one couple aside, Grand Rapids seems full of people who get it. Tonight’s show, still being a lot of new arrangements, wasn’t AS tight as that last show here, but was a lot tighter than a week ago, and the crowd was similarly responsive.

The show opened with Anton Figg stepping to the drums, house lights still on, and laying down the drum beat for “To Be Alone With You.” Tony came out and added thumping bass, then the guitars came in. Bob strolled out, still in his white hoodie, and started right in. The vocals were strong and loud in the mix. The drum into set the pace for a higher-octane show than it really was; this is a laid back show overall.

There’ve been a lot of issues with the new mic setup, with a vocal mic to the side of the keyboard, and a boom mic for when he doesn’t sing into the vocal mic. For the most part those issues seem to have been solved. The first song that vocals sounded a little tinny, and there was one point where he stood up and the next line was very quiet, but both issues were fixed right away.

The house lights remained on as a spooky “Man in the Long Black Coat” began, but came down right after he said “gone with the man in the Long Black Coat” the first time, which made for a neat effect. The rest of the song sounded so much better in the dark, but Bob really leaning into the vocals, drawing out the words.

“All Along the Watchtower” has dropped the “She’s Not There-esque” riff* from summer, and now splits the difference between the summer arrangement and the album version. It was terrific tonight, one of the best I’ve seen (and it’s been at over half the shows I’ve seen). The speech from the thief didn’t seem so much “kindly spoke” as a declamation, a speech from on high, a call to arms. For the first time it occurred to me that the Joker and the Thief might not be the only ones present in their scene.

“I Contain Multitudes” seemed far tighter than a week ago, in a more lilting acoustic arrangement that sounded like something off of Blood on the Tracks to me. It kicked off the set of Rough and Rowdy Ways songs, highlighted, for me, by a sparse “Black Rider,” which had the “size of your cock” line sung in a sing-song voice, and Doug adding a sort of “clip clop clip clop” guitar part in the instrumental break. “Jimmy Reed” started out with a riff that sounded like “Shortnin’ Bread.” The six songs from the album are all bunched together in this set, broken up only by “Love Sick” and the Bo Diddley “I Can Tell” (Bo acoustic is a nice touch). “I’ve Made Up My Mind” also had a Blood on the Tracks vibe to me tonight. After it we got a “Why thank you!” before the band intro.

“Forgetful Heart,” replacing “Don’t Think Twice,” was simply fantastic, a stripped down arrangement that really put the emphasis on the silky melody of the jazzy vocal lines. With this setlist swap, the set is down to only two 1960s songs. There are as many songs from the 80s as there are from the 60s, which I don’t think has happened since, like, 1980. (Alpharetta in 2024 featured no 60s songs at all, probably the only time that’s happened outside of the gospel tour).

So, the new set and new arrangements are coming together nicely. The guitars sounded more acoustic to me than they had a week ago, when there seemed to be some overdrive amping them up. I do miss “My Own Version of You” quite a bit, to be honest. The new show is very different getting better, and it’s going to be great to see how it evolves. Vocals were strong throughout, with a lot of lines being drawn wayyyyyy out.

After the show Caroline, Kait, and I got drenched in the rain walking to hang out with Liz; I always seem to get caught in downpours with those two. We came to the river and I wondered whether this was some secret agenda of the tour; shows on riverwalks for the tour where drops “Watching the River Flow.” We walked right over the rapids as we crossed the bridge. They were pretty grand, I guess.

Tomorrow I’ll be writing up the show for Ray’s Flagging Down the EEs site, and cross posting here later on. It’ll be number 100 for me, a goal I never imagined I could hit just a few years ago. Saginaw, here I come!

*Everyone has their own song to which they compare that arrangement of Watchtower; “The Year of the Cat,” some Van Morrison song, some Jerry Garcia song. If I can be a bit snotty I said it sounded like The Zombies (“no one told me about her…”) the first night it was played, before we even knew it was Watchtower, so thhhhbbbbbtttttt.