ALPHARETTA, Georgia — When Bob Dylan and His Band walked on stage at Ameris Bank Amphitheater in Alpharetta, Georgia, few could have known he was about to “shake it up baby, twist and shout” as he sang in “Long and Wasted Years.”
And if there was any question as to whether this tour would be part of the Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour 2021-2024, the poet laureate of rock and roll quickly quashed any speculation.
Dylan and His Band rolled through a 13-song set that included five covers Dylan had never performed live before, four tracks off 2012’s Tempest and a song “Under the Red Sky” he hadn’t performed since 2013. He didn’t perform any songs from 2020’s acclaimed Rough and Rowdy Ways.
The set list:
- My Babe (Roy Buchanan cover)
- Beyond Here Lies Nothin’
- Simple Twist of Fate
- Little Queenie (Chuck Berry cover)
- Mr. Blue (The Fleetwoods cover)
- Pay In Blood
- Cold Cold Heart (Hank Williams cover)
- Early Roman Kings
- Under the Red Sky
- Things Have Changed
- The Fool (Lee Hazelwood cover)
- Scarlet Town
- Long and Wasted Years
I’m not sure a lot of the people around me appreciated the set, but I thought it was fantastic. I don’t think I would’ve picked any of those songs, and I definitely didn’t have “Under a Red Sky” on my bingo card for the evening.
I described the set to those with me as “bonkers.” I think that’s an apt description, but it was great through and through — even if they need to work into these songs over a few shows.
“Pay In Blood” could be a great one this tour. If it stays in the set list, that is.
Either way, all signs point to this being a fun tour.