The spring 2025 tour is a geographical oddity - several shows three hours
from Chicago in every which direction, then ending in Williamsport, which
seems to be three hours from Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Philadelphia, AND New
York, which somehow seems like it shouldn't be possible. Coming from
Chicago, every show is a commute, but that's part of the fun - hitting
those dirty and dusty trails, hip to hip rocking through the wilderness.
You can end up in some interesting towns that you'd never end up in
otherwise - and often it seems like the best shows are in the most
unlikely places. 

Green Bay, Wisconsin, is one of those towns where you drive around and
wonder where everyone is. Henry and I pulled into what I believe was
downtown Green Bay to meet Mike and his new partner, Lee, at a hotel bar,
and didn't see another soul. It's one of those downtowns where you
don't have to watch both ways before you cross the street - you just
know there's no one coming. Maybe we just needed to explore a bit more,
but I came to think that maybe Green Bay has some sort of "Brigadoon"
thing going on where it only really exists when there's a football game.
But I can't fault the pastrami sandwich I got at Poke the Bear. You can
count on Wisconsin when it comes to food. 

The venue was in a college auditorium - no marquee, ample parking. It was
small and sort of "early 90s civic center" chic, the sort of place
where the school orchestra performs. I wandered through the crowd chatting
with Dan and Peter, who I last saw in the Spring/ Summer, and Gary and
Maddie, with whom I rambled through many more interesting towns in the UK
this past fall. That becomes such a part of the fun after a while - every
show is a reunion. Some of these people I've been seeing at shows for
over twenty years now, and there are always new friends to make, too. 

Upon taking my seat, I asked the couple next to me what college this was.
They seemed incredulous that I didn't realize I was at UW Green Bay, but
I'll level with you: I didn't know that UW Green Bay was even a thing.
Had I known the guy was going to talk at his date all night, in Outlaw
crowd volume, all through every song (even though he was digging it), I
probably would have responded with something snottier. 

The venue was not made for rock and roll. The sound was pretty muddy
throughout, and for the first few songs Dylan's vocals sounded tinny,
like they were amplifying him through a can. It made my teeth hurt at
first. It got a bit better as the evening wore on, but I always felt like
the space just wasn't set up for something like this. 

Dylan himself, however, was in great form. He's standing a bit less than
he did in the fall, but still giving great deliveries of the lyrics.
Harmonica was particularly strong throughout. And his guitar solo on "It
Ain't Me Babe" was much better than any I saw him play in the fall. 
Opening with the piano/voice intro to "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight"
seems like a great idea, and would have been fantastic if the sound had
been in order. He was in a black blazer over a white shirt, and was the
only hatless man onstage. 

Anton Fig on drums was a noticeable change, playing a little more nimbly
and with more complicated lines than Keltner was. It was most apparent in
the new arrangement of "I Contain Multitudes," now so rocked up I
wasn't even sure what song it was going to be when they began. But he
also leant some oomph that had been missing from "False Prophet" and
"Goodbye Jimmy Reed."  Several songs began with a sort of cacophony,
out of which a song would emerge, as if from primordial ooze - not unlike
how "Cold Irons Bound" used to start. 

And, of course, the world has changed since the November shows, and that
changes how the show itself seems. I never predicted a world where Bob
would get some applause by singing "down by the Gulf of Mexico," just
because he hadn't changed it to "Gulf of America" like some dipshit.
Other lines throughout felt similarly apropos, even they were the same
lines they'd been a few months ago. "People disappearing everywhere
you look" indeed. 

After a gorgeous "Key West," Bob said "I wrote that in Ernest
Hemingwa's house. They let me stay there one night. I woke up in the
morning, and that's the song that came out." Then paused and said
"Ernest Hemingway" once again. He said something similar in Liverpool;
in Liverpool I couldn't quite make out what he'd said in the cavernous
venue, here I couldn't quite make it out at the time over the sound
of my neighbor bragging about how badly he had to piss. I suppose you
have to take pride in what you can these days, but folks ain't got no
use for braggin'. 

"Baby Blue" might have been the highlight for me, though the near-solo
"My Own Version of You" continues to be astounding, and I can never
get enough of "Black Rider," now a bit more upbeat to my ears.
"Desolation Row" continued the barreling drums of the fall, but now
"Antonized." I'm still adjusting; I really love the stripped down
arrangements that really highlight Bob's singing over anything else, and
with Anton some of them are a bit more rocked up. It's not bad, but
it's different, and might seem better in a place with better sound. 

Silly band intros are back, to my delight. Doug was introduced as "Fresh
from a tour with the great Macca," which of course he was not. "Anton
Fig - he's playing with the drums. Anton Fig. You know you've seen him
before, you just don't know where." 

"Every Grain of Sand" is a bit more "arranged" than the
stripped-down fall version, probably again as a result of Anton, though
his percussion was subtle and understated. Bob closed the night with a
long and gorgeous harmonica solo that had people cheering him on as he
went. Lovely work all around, great time had by all. I'll see you all
across the river in Davenport! 

Adam Selzer

J. Evans' review of Mankato noted that Bob and his band played with great
passion, but the audience was full of drunks who were talking and drinking
the whole show, and I was wondering if we'd see that type of boorish
behavior in Green Bay. I'll give a tip o' the proverbial hat to the Green
Bay crowd, I didn't hear anyone talking during the songs the whole night. 
That may be a first. The audience was absolutely quiet and respectful.

I'll leave it to others to give a song-by-song report. Everyone knows by
now there were no surprises in the Green Bay set list. And I don't "rank"
Dylan shows. Just as Bob continuously changes his songs, each show has
its own unique feel. It's an unfortunate societal mandate that urges us to
judge true art.

I'll just note that Dylan has played Green Bay three times, the first time
almost exactly thirty-one years ago, on April 15, 1994. The old Brown
County Arena was only half-full, it was during a real lull in Bob's
popularity, people were saying he was a worn-out star. He gave a terrific
performance, commencing with Jokerman. Bob was wearing his motorcycle
boots and black vest and I seem to remember Bob came out acoustic solo for
a few songs in the middle of the show. Not long after that 1994 Green Bay
show, Bob's MTV Unplugged appearance came out, and then a bit later Time
Out Of Mind and the Grammy, and suddenly Bob's back on top of the world
again. On October 30, 2001, Bob returned to the Brown County Arena during
the great Larry and Charlie era, with Larry's amazing
multi-instrumentalist capabilities and Larry and Charlie's vocal
harmonies. At one point early in that show, Bob said to the wildly
enthusiastic crowd, "We're going to have a New York moment here tonight." 
It was a great show with Bob twisting his black and white cowboy boots
into the checkerboard stage. Bob came out three separate times for
encores.

More than two decades later, Bob is back in Green Bay for a sold out show
at the acoustically-superb fine arts theater at the University of
Wisconsin-Green Bay. The crowd was somewhat reserved, but as mentioned
above, very respectful and quiet. Bob and his band gave them a
performance that was utterly professional and over-the-top musically
sophisticated. The musicianship of Bob Britt and Doug Lancio,
inter-playing runs with Bob's piano notes, was stunning. And Anton Fig is
something else on drums. And what can one say about Tony, he started
playing bass with Bob five years before Bob's first 1994 Green Bay
performance, and he is perhaps the most under-recognized bass player on
the planet. As J. Evans said a couple nights ago, Bob and the band play
with great passion. They had grooves going last night that were musically
sublime to say the least. Think completely unpretentious smoky beatnik
cool nightclub grooves.

The local newspaper praised Bob's phrasing and dynamics, but said his
"articulation was lacking." The reviewer claimed that Bob's "lyrics were
hard to decipher." Mr. Jones, indeed.

I'll tell you one thing, after all the shows over all the years, I have
never once regretted for one moment being in the same room with Bob and
his band. I've seen Bob transpire through the years and watched his
musical evolution to the awe-inspiring sophistication that he and his band
are currently. Bob is, and always has been, constantly becoming. We are
incredibly fortunate to have such a master in our midst, each of his shows
are a gesture to universe. True art is beyond judgment, it is more than
the sum of the parts. No matter how many times I see Dylan, I always
leave with a big smile on my face.

Don Romundson

It was a pleasure to catch Bob Dylan for the 41st time last night at the
Weidner Center in Green Bay. I have been fortunate to catch Bob on his
frequent rounds going back to Alpine Valley in 1986 with Tom Petty and the
Heartbreakers. The Weidner, on the UWGB campus and about 45 minutes from
my residence in Oshkosh, proved to be a fantastic venue with phenomenal
sound. It was only the second show I've ever seen at the venue, the
first being Gordon Lightfoot 15 or so years ago. This was my third time
seeing Dylan in Green Bay, the first two being at the (now demolished)
Brown County Arena in 1994 and 2001. Joining me were my longtime buddy
Timmy, fellow warrior of 30+ shows (all with me), fiance Marie (third
show), and son Dylan (fifth show). The crowd was a bit on the sedated side
with lots of folks in their 70's and 80's. There were few, if any,
early exits and they definitely showed their appreciation after every
performance. It was great to see many old and new friends in attendance.

Coming in, I was a little concerned that Bob might be a little drained
playing his third night in a row but those fears proved to be unfounded.
He was in fantastic voice and fully engaged the entire night. He came out
of the gates strong with fantastic readings of "I'll Be Your Baby
Tonight" and "It Ain't Me Babe" that would probably have been
worth the price of admission on their own. I will have to admit that I was
a bit disappointed that Bob has maintained a "Rough and Rowdy
Ways"-heavy setlist. I love the album, but I do think that he has taken
some of the songs as far as they can go and that it is time to start
rotating some of them out of the setlist. A case in point is the great
"I Contain Multitudes." It was one of my favorites on early RARW shows
(including the famous Milwaukee 2021 show I was lucky enough to attend),
but was one of the only songs of the night that was difficult to make out
the words and has strayed so far from the original that it is hard to find
what made it such a gem to begin with.

"False Prophet" was enjoyable but didn't quite reach the heights of
the European versions I was enjoying last Fall. "Masterpiece" was
exactly that, an amazing performance with excellent harp, vocals, and
piano work from the man himself. "Black Rider" was one of my favorite
RARW performances of the night and had some eerie passages from the
remarkably focused band. "To Be Alone With You" is always a favorite
and was performed well, but again I think it has started to stray a little
too far from what made the original re-write on "Shadow Kingdom" so
much fun. "Crossing The Rubicon" seemed to get grittier (I think
that's a word) with each passing verse and Anton Fig (who is a fantastic
fit on drums) was really starting to make his presence known. They have
really found the sweet spot with "Desolation Row" and Bob's vocal
was crystal clear.

I have been concerned that some of the RARW songs have become too
Bob-centric with him essentially solo on piano and hardly any
contributions from the band, but their subtle nuances were more effective
in person than on the recordings I've heard. I don't love "Key
West" as much as some do but, man, it was an astonishing performance
tonight. It was one of those "Quiet...Genius at Work" moments. That
was followed by fantastic renditions of "Watching The River Flow" and
"It's All Over Now, Baby Blue." Again, the vocals were crystal clear
and the harp on the latter made us long for more.

I am thinking about recent versions of "I've Made Up My Mind To Give
Myself To You" in a similar light as Multitudes. Again, it's one of my
favorite songs from RARW but I think the essence of the song is being
lost. If it's lost on me, imagine what it's like for some casual fan
seeing Bob for curiosity's sake. "Mother of Muses" has never been a
personal favorite but he delivered it well. It was great to hear Bob
introduce the entire band in a clear, coherent manner and he made the
additional comment about Fig being "someone you've all seen somewhere
but you don't know where" or something to that effect. I found myself
enjoying the rockabilly-style take on "Goodbye Jimmy Reed" and the
band really helped it to take off. "Every Grain of Sand" was
outstanding with great vocals and harp. The band departed to wild,
sustained applause and the lights stayed down for a long enough time that
I thought we might actually get a miracle extra song, but it wasn't
meant to be.

Most people seemed to really enjoy the show, but one exception was the
"Mr. Jones" walking out in front of us. This man who is probably a
little younger than Bob but acts quite a bit older was admonishing his
wife for dragging him to the show and I'm certain carried on about it
for the entire way home. He found it "disrespectful" that Dylan played
so many unfamiliar songs and I suspect Bob could have played "Blonde on
Blonde" and "Blood On The Tracks" in their entirety and gotten a
similar reaction from this close-minded chap. Anyway, we all realize that
this won't go on forever but Dylan, though slowing down physically, is
clearly on top of his game mentally and his voice is literally as strong
as it's been in 20+ years. I suspect there will be several other
performances and hopefully I will reach the magical 50 number before
it's all over.

My final thought is that I am surprised Bob hasn't incorporated a cane
into his repertoire. He used one when he didn't need it, so why not use
one now when it could give him more stability. He could even have fun with
it at the end of the show by doing a dagger before he exits. C'mon Bob,
make it happen!

Jerry Spanbauer
Oshkosh, WI