{"id":1248,"date":"2025-05-18T11:46:35","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T11:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/bob-dylan-and-willie-nelson-outlaw-music-festival-hollywood-bowl-may-16-149824\/"},"modified":"2025-05-18T11:46:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-18T11:46:35","slug":"bob-dylan-and-willie-nelson-outlaw-music-festival-hollywood-bowl-may-16-149824","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/bob-dylan-and-willie-nelson-outlaw-music-festival-hollywood-bowl-may-16-149824\/","title":{"rendered":"Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, Outlaw Music Festival, Hollywood Bowl, May 16"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On a mild night in Hollywood, Bob Dylan<\/strong> is still not ready for his close-up. When the 83-year-old strikes up his band, stationed behind his upright piano and mumbling his way through his Oscar-winning 2000 single \u201cThings Have Changed\u201d, the screens on either side of the Bowl remain defiantly dark. They do eventually flicker into life a handful of songs later, but even then only to offer a fixed wide shot of Dylan at centre stage with his bandmates grouped around him like a Roman phalanx. As an audience, we perhaps sense we are being kept at arm\u2019s length. \u201cI used to care,\u201d drawls Dylan. \u201cBut things have changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

For this third date of the 10th<\/sup> anniversary tour for Willie Nelson\u2019s<\/strong> Outlaw Music Festival, Dylan follows immediately in the wake of the Michigan-born bluegrass player Billy Strings<\/strong>, whose set climaxes in a frantic, high-energy tornado of duelling guitars and banjos. <\/p>\n

The octogenarian Dylan\u2019s set begins at a more relaxed clip but builds swiftly into a heady blend of early classics, deep cuts and covers. He seems to be enjoying himself. After a stuttering \u201cSimple Twist of Fate\u201d and a swooning \u201cForgetful Heart\u201d, he lets out a loud chuckle and asks someone in the audience: \u201cWhat are you eating down there? What is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

For all his own magnificent material, the early highlight of the set is his cover of George \u201cWild Child\u201d Butler\u2019s<\/strong> Chicago blues number \u201cAxe And The Wind\u201d. The song was a new addition to Dylan\u2019s repertoire just two dates ago, but its bluesy swing suits him and his band down to the ground. The lyrics were written by the great bluesman Willie Dixon<\/strong> but the indelible closing line \u2013 \u201cI may be here forever, I may not be here at all\u201d \u2013 doesn\u2019t appear on the original recording and is surely a Dylan refinement. A similar righteous stomp powers his own \u201cEarly Roman Kings\u201d, from 2012\u2019s Tempest<\/strong>, <\/em>another standout.<\/p>\n

By now Dylan fans are well accustomed to his rearranging of his own standards, and the expansive new version of \u201cAll Along The Watchtower\u201d is a wild delight. That\u2019s followed by another pair of reinvented classics, \u201cIt Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry\u201d and \u201cDesolation Row\u201d. On either side of that run, Dylan delves into his own internal library for a pair of covers that seem to speak to his personal history: \u201cI\u2019ll Make It All Up To You\u201d, a 1958 hit for Jerry Lee Lewis<\/strong>, and \u201cShare Your Love With Me\u201d, recorded by both Bobby \u201cBlue\u201d Bland<\/strong> and Aretha Franklin<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

After a strutting \u201cLove Sick\u201d, from 1997\u2019s Time Out Of Mind<\/strong>, Dylan takes a moment to introduce his band: rhythm guitarist Doug Lancio<\/strong>, longtime bassist Tony Garnier<\/strong>, new drummer Anton Fig<\/strong> and lead guitarist\u00a0Bob Britt<\/strong>, praised as \u201cone of those guys who went down to the crossroad and made a deal with the Devil, and boy you can tell.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

They close with \u201cBlind Willie McTell\u201d and a crowd-pleasing \u201cDon\u2019t Think Twice, It\u2019s All Right\u201d, on which somehow Dylan\u2019s voice sounds stronger and younger than it has all night. If the audience feel they\u2019re finally being invited in, it\u2019s another feint. On the two previous stops of this tour, Dylan has returned for an encore and a surprise new cover: first The Pogues\u2019<\/strong> \u201cA Rainy Night in Soho\u201d and second Rick Nelson\u2019s<\/strong> \u201cGarden Party\u201d. Tonight, he just disappears never to return. Oh well. As Nelson sang, and as Dylan doesn\u2019t tonight: \u201cYou can\u2019t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Half an hour later, a banner across the stage drops down to reveal Willie<\/strong> Nelson<\/strong> seated in front of a rapidly unfurling American flag. As the 92-year-old sings an upbeat \u201cWhiskey River\u201d there\u2019s a croak in his voice, but by the time he\u2019s rattled through \u201cStill Is Still Moving to Me\u201d, \u201cBloody Mary Morning\u201d and \u201cI Never Cared For You\u201d the old richness and warmth is back.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s flanked by two young members of his extended family: his own son Micah<\/strong>, also known as Particle Kid, and Waylon Payne<\/strong>, the son of his longtime guitarist Jody Payne and the country singer Sammi Smith. They help share the singing load, with Micah winning over the crowd by explaining that his song \u201c(Die When I\u2019m High) Halfway To Heaven\u201d was written after his dad uttered the title line while they were getting stoned together. Payne, meanwhile, sings a rollicking version of Merle Haggard\u2019s<\/strong> \u201cWorkin\u2019 Man Blues\u201d and Kris Kristofferson\u2019s<\/strong> \u201cHelp Me Make It Through The Night\u201d, which was a 1970 hit for his mother.<\/p>\n

That allows Nelson to focus his energy on his signature hits: a singalong \u201cMammas Don\u2019t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys\u201d, an exuberant \u201cOn The Road Again\u201d and the always heartbreaking \u201cYou Were Always On My Mind\u201d and \u201cGeorgia (On My Mind)\u201d. The very best moments, though, are when Nelson stares death in the face and laughs. <\/p>\n

On his version of Tom Waits\u2019<\/strong> \u201cLast Leaf\u201d, the title track from his excellent recent covers record, he sings defiantly: \u201cI\u2019ll be here through eternity, if you wanna know how long \/ If they cut down this tree, I\u2019ll show up in a song.\u201d\u00a0The audience cheer that sentiment, and they\u2019re up on their feet dancing as Nelson runs straight into his own joint-in-cheek broadsides at mortality \u201cRoll Me Up And Smoke Me (When I Die)\u201d and \u201cStill Not Dead\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cI woke up still not dead again today \/ The internet said I\u2019d passed away,\u201d he sings on the latter, eyes twinkling. \u201cBut don\u2019t bury me, I\u2019ve got a show to play.\u201d Long may this pair of never-ending tours keep rolling along.<\/p>\n

Bob Dylan set list:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Things Have Changed\u00a0<\/strong>
Simple Twist Of Fate\u00a0<\/strong>
Forgetful Heart\u00a0<\/strong>
Axe And The Wind<\/strong>
To Ramona\u00a0<\/strong>
Early Roman Kings\u00a0<\/strong>
Under the Red Sky\u00a0<\/strong>
I\u2019ll Make It All Up To You<\/strong>
All Along the Watchtower\u00a0<\/strong>
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry\u00a0<\/strong>
Desolation Row\u00a0<\/strong>
Share Your Love With Me<\/strong>
Love Sick<\/strong>
Blind Willie McTell<\/strong>
Don\u2019t Think Twice, It\u2019s All Right<\/strong><\/p>\n

Willie Nelson set list:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whiskey River\u00a0<\/strong>
Stay A Little Longer\u00a0<\/strong>
Still Is Still Moving to Me\u00a0<\/strong>
Bloody Mary Morning<\/strong>
I Never Cared for You\u00a0<\/strong>
(Die When I\u2019m High) Halfway to Heaven\u00a0<\/strong>
Workin\u2019 Man Blues<\/strong>
Mammas Don\u2019t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys\u00a0<\/strong>
Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground\u00a0<\/strong>
On the Road Again\u00a0<\/strong>
You Were Always on My Mind\u00a0<\/strong>
Good Hearted Woman\u00a0<\/strong>
Georgia (On My Mind)<\/strong>
Help Me Make It Through the Night<\/strong>
Everything Is Bullshit<\/strong>
Last Leaf\u00a0<\/strong>
Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die<\/strong>
Still Not Dead<\/strong>
I Thought About You, Lord\u00a0<\/strong>
Will the Circle Be Unbroken? \/ I\u2019ll Fly Away\u00a0<\/strong>
I Saw the Light<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson, Outlaw Music Festival, Hollywood Bowl, May 16<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On a mild night in Hollywood, Bob Dylan is still not ready for his close-up. When the 83-year-old strikes up his band, stationed behind his upright piano and mumbling his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[548],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1248"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1248\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1248"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1248"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1248"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}