Bob Dylan - Bob Links - Shakopee, Minnesota - Reviews - 07/06/26

= Bob Dylan - Bob Links - Shakopee, Minnesota - Reviews - 07/06/26


Reviews Shakopee, Minnesota Mystic Lake Amphitheater July 6, 2026

[Paul Metsa], [Craig Planting], [GP], [Paul Learned], [Jill "jillybones" Fisher]

Review by Paul Metsa


Leave it to Bob Dylan to find the cure for the summertime blues. I spent
the 4th of July inside with my two dogs, Blue and Mabel wrapped around my
ankles like leg warmers as I tried to comfort them from the neighborhood
fireworks and bottle rockets. While we could have had a nationwide
celebration highlighting everything that has made our imperfect but
beautiful nation great for 250 years, we are governed by the world's worst
interior decorator whose idea of a good time is UFC cage matches on the
White House lawn, exhuming Lee Greenwood to perform that song of his, and
social media posts as if written by the town drunk at the end of an empty
and lonely bar. It totally harshed my buzz, but I digress.

I decided to celebrate the 4th on July 6th at the Bob Dylan show at the
brand spanking new Mystic Lake Casino in Shakopee, MN not far from the
grave of Dan Patch one of the greatest American racing horses. For me,
every Dylan show is, in a way an American holiday and I was ready to
celebrate. It was a gorgeous evening; the sun seemed like it did not want
to set. Having lived and played in Minneapolis for forty years (and now
living in Duluth), I so enjoyed running into so many old friends. First up
was Dan Buetner who biked across Africa including climbing to the top of
Mt. Kilimanjaro carrying his bike. He has written books, won Emmys, and
has two Netflix shows. You never know who you are going to bump into at a
Dylan show. Bucky Baxter got me VIP seats at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC
in '95 or '96 where I spent the show sharing cigarettes w/ Paulina
Porizkova before Springsteen and Neil Young came out to play Highway 61
for an encore. While leaving I had a great post show chat with Allen
Ginsberg, who may or may not have been hitting on me. But I digress, we
are in Minnesota now and Bob has a farm not too far away. And like NYC, we
claim Dylan as our own—dual psychic citizenship.

As we navigated the 17,000 seat modern temple of sound we heard the opener
John Doe Folk Trio echo through the grounds, performing "Somewhere Over
the Rainbow" as if voiced by Johnny Cash. John Doe knew he was in Judy
Garland's home state, bravo John. We were nearing our seats when the
second act Lucinda Williams, sang a chorus or two of Woody Guthrie's "This
Land is Your Land" before her immortal "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road".
Woody was from Oklahoma, but the first chapter of his Bound for Glory ends
as he departs the train at the St. Paul Depot. No Woody, no Bob, simple as
that.

We had great seats. We were in the 25th row right in the middle of the
action. I was with my harmonica player Sonny Earl (who popped for the $220
per seat) with his wife Lesa, and their daughter Izzy and boyfriend Nate,
none of whom had seen Dylan in concert. I was to be their Dylan whisperer
giving clues as to what they were witnessing. I really didn't need to as
they all luxuriated in the power of pure poetry for the next 75 minutes.
And what a show it was.

The lights dimmed, and the stage seemed lit as if by candlelight only. The
band entered dressed in black as if undertakers at the world's coolest
funeral. The Bard entered dressed in an all white ensemble with a hoodie,
conjuring images of Will Steger on one of his arctic journeys. Bob may be
entering his Howard Hughes phase, long fingernails and all, in a Kabuki
dance of rhythm, folk, blues and rock and roll, and poetry that Walt
Whitman would dance to. Let the games begin.

The sound mix was exquisite as fine as I had ever heard. The wind caressed
the crowd, and as soon as the band was on stage, everybody sat down in
their expensive seats. Thank you. The opening song, "To Be Alone With
You", swung like every great VFW band ending their second set with fire,
hope, confidence and glee. Let the good times roll. "Man in the Long Black
Coat," a personal favorite was next and I could feel Bob was on his game.
His new guitarists, Julian Lage and Joel Paterson were playing their first
gig together. I can only imagine them both receiving recordings of these
songs they were about to play and now on stage, realizing the arrangements
were nothing like what they heard. But as they were both total
pros—Guitar Slingers Par Excellence- they dug in not unlike perhaps when
Duane Allman and Dickey Betts first jammed. That Dylan gave them time to
breathe, solo, and experiment added to the excitement—notes dropping
just like lemon drops above the chimney tops.  Damn if they didn't start
to discover and enjoy the similar guitar fool sympatico that Charlie
Sexton and Larry Cambell felt and developed over the years playing behind
Dylan. I did not expect this kind of guitaristic magic, and as a guitarist
myself who wants to break the fingers of anyone better than me, I was in
hog heaven. Eddie Lang and Carl Kress are smiling in heaven.

So now, there are two movies playing. One is on stage with one of the
world's greatest living artists doing what he does playing piano like a
cross between Thelonious Monk and Little Richard on a Mississippi
riverboat with the ease of serenading Echo Helstrom on an upright piano
after hours at the Moose Club in Hibbing after the doors closed offering
selections from an original and divinely inspired songbook. The other
movie in my mind and others' minds is the dozens of kaleidoscopic and
black and white images of what we are witnessing. Those songs shepherded
all of us from our teenage years and beyond. The separate soundtracks to
each of our lives. The man in front of us plays for us, but he would
probably still play if none of us were there. We are witnessing that sort
of devout artistic commitment and alchemy. This is an American lesson,
just as American as apple pie, Louis Armstrong,  Betsy Ross, Lenny Bruce,
and Billie Holiday. Let freedom ring and those less informed, be damned.
American magic as it were and is.

Yes, "Under the Red Sky" was a personal favorite, if only George Harrison
had been there to play the slide solo. You can't have everything, that
much we know. So many of us walked into the show thinking, what if this is
the last show we'll see? He blessed us with "I Shall Be Released" as the
final song, prayer, and meditation answering that. We go forth "with our
light come shining, from the west unto the east. Oh, what a night!

p.s. After 37 years I believe and will start the petition that Tony
Garnier should get at least one bass solo per show. It will change
people's lives. Thank you.

Paul Metsa- Guitar Slinger
Duluth, MN
www.paulmetsa.com

Review by Craig Planting


The first takeaway was Bob's voice. It was so clear and unaffected. It
feels like we've entered a new era. Every word of every song was
enunciated and inhabited by Bob. Each song felt important.

The second takeaway was that Bob has brought back lead guitar. The solos
were tasteful and restrained, and sounded great as the sun set in a huge
sky to the left of the stage. I don't know who is staying in the band, but
I hope Bob keeps the Jazz guy and the Chicago Blues guy. Both guitarists
are strong and I have a feeling these shows will keep rocking harder as
the tour progresses. It has to be fun for Dylan too.

Video monitors were used which was surprising. The camera never moved. It
showed a wide shot of the darkened stage from a considerable distance. All
of the musician's faces were in shadows as the guitarists stood on each
side as bookends, facing the rest of the band. They seemed to be watching
the other musicians for cues, but nothing felt tentative. It hit 90
degrees during the day and the night was still warm and humid with a nice
breeze. I'm surprised Dylan didn't melt under his hoodie.

As we were walking out we overheard a woman say, "I never even saw his
face." My friend Scott turned to her, and not unkindly said, "That's
because Bob's an artist, not a performer." All in all, a great show. Once
again, there were no spectacles and no pyrotechnics, just great music. I
wish I was heading to Chicago.

Craig Planting

Review by GP


My first show since Memphis 2024. The new shed in Shakopee is nice. I had
a seat on the floor, 8 rows back and the sound was good. Bob was in great
voice tonight, doing overtime directing two talented guitarists that, to
my knowledge, have never performed together. It was a great adventure.
There was inevitable uncertainty at times about who should take a solo,
when the tune should end, etc. But everyone was having fun. Joel Paterson
certainly has all the chops necessary for the gig and I'd expect him to be
a fixture in this band. Julian Lage couldn't stop smiling and (along with
Paterson) provided some transcendent moments. Their breaks during False
Prophet and Black Rider were noteworthy. And Paterson really nailed
Masterpiece, which was a highlite. Bob, again, was strong and focused
throughout. To all who are continuing with this tour, have fun, be safe,
and don't be late! Until next time.

GP

Review by Paul Learned


Nadine and I saw Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams, and The John Doe Folk Trio
Monday night in Shakopee at the brand new Mystic Lake Amphitheater. From
start to finish it was as good as it gets and by the time I left it was
undoubtedly one of the best major-venue concerts I'd ever seen. I've seen
Dylan a handful of times and honestly I was expecting just another Dylan
show. It was anything but that. Watching him interact with his young
guitarists was such a thrill. Dylan is somewhat of an enigma here in
Minnesota and seeing him perform up-close like that and be so playful with
his band really made him human and relatable, even with his hoodie up the
entire show in the sweltering heat. Watching his young guitarists hang on
every movement, every nod, every shift in posture with such eager
anticipation was the biggest joy of the night, I think. Julian Lage, the
emergency fill-in jazz guitar virtuoso who had never played with Dylan as
of just a few weeks ago, smiled like a young school boy being praised by
his wise teacher whenever Dylan gave him that approving glance, which was
often. We were literally watching dreams come true right there in real
time and the music was delivered almost flawlessly. You would have barely
recognized a single song, but you didn't have to. They were that
beautifully played. The John Doe Folk Trio opened the show and blew me
away from the opening note. Who the hell was this old man up there
sounding like I should've know who he was a long damn time ago? Turns out
I did. It's THE John Doe, lead singer of punk band X. Holy shit, he went
country. But hard core outlaw folk country. With ALL the punk attitude. I
could have listened to them all night. Lucinda Williams was escorted onto
the stage and just looked completely thrilled to be there. Maybe it's a
renewed appreciation for the adoration after suffering a stroke a few
years back and wondering if she would ever perform again. Honestly the
look in her eyes was as though she had never been there before. She then
proceeded to absolutely kill it with a stunning vocal performance like she
was 24 years old. Just incredible. It actually brought tears to my eyes at
a couple different moments during her set. The fans around us were just as
thrilled to be there and made it that much more enjoyable. No pics or
video during the performances was hard for me but in retrospect it 100%
made the night much more memorable. The venue itself is top-notch and
spared little expense to make sure the space is ample and food options
plentiful. 5/5 stars for both the venue and the show itself. Absolutely go
see this tour at another stop if you have a chance, and go see a show at
Mystic Lake Amphitheater this summer. While you're there, visit the Hudson
Smokehouse food truck, get some delicious BBQ, and say hi to the
beautiful, friendly and familiar faces of Bailey, Casey, Denise, and Al!

Review by Jill "jillybones" Fisher


A number of Duluthians were among the some 17,000 souls who made it to 
the Bob Dylan concert at Mystic Lake Amphitheater in Shakopee on 
Monday, July 6.

The Curmudgeon and I were among the reverent fans attending this concert, 
drawn by the fact that Dylan turned 85 on May 24 this year and 
understanding it could be the last chance to see him perform.

On a less morbid note, it was a celebratory follow up to our own Duluth 
Dylan Fest/birthday party.

In any case, there couldn't have been a more positive or effusive 
reaction to this Minnesota Dylan concert, based on the comments of 
attendees and the several reviews I've read (DNT, Minnesota Star Tribune, 
St. Paul Pioneer Press and Paul Metsa, et al on the website boblinks.com).

This, even though Dylan didn't speak at any point during the concert and 
no closeups of him or his backup band were shown on the jumbotron 
screens - just the dramatic stage set with Bob on keys at center, 
guitarists on either side, drummer at the rear. Although the lack of 
visuals wasn't emphasized in most of what I read, there were certainly 
folks in the crowd who complained about that, including the contingent of 
loud young women sitting behind us.

Nor did many reviews even mention the opening acts.

As someone who came late to a full appreciation of Bob, my reaction to 
this concert was somewhat less adulatory. While I am of the generation 
that was exposed to Dylan's output during the impressionable early teenage 
years, my first real awareness of his music came with Nashville Skyline, 
released in 1969, my senior year in high school. My older brother had been 
playing Dylan's 1966 album Blonde on Blonde but I was evidently oblivious, 
being more tuned into the Monkees, I guess!

Actually it was Joan Baez's 1968 album, Any Day Now, (purchased in the 70s) 
that covered 16 of his compositions which fostered my awareness and 
appreciation of Dylan's songwriting talent.

Years later, during the late 1990s, when I was a member of de Elliot Bros. 
jug band, we performed mostly his early work - "Maggie's Farm," "Peggy Day,"
"One More Night" and the like. This was also the period in which I was 
exposed to Bob's later albums.

The first Dylan concert I attended was here in Duluth at the DECC in 1998; 
the second was the following summer at Bayfront when he shared the gig with 
Paul Simon. Since then I've seen only four Dylan concerts, including this 
one on July 6.

With regard to Dylan's recent concert at Mystic Lake Amphitheater, I took a 
more listening and learning approach, fostered by a book I am halfway 
through reading: After The Flood - Inside Bob Dylan's Memory Palace by 
Robert Polito. The book's treatise is that Dylan's songwriting of the past 
30-or-so years demonstrates a resurrection of his creative output while it 
parses the literary (including biblical) references embedded in the 
compositions, especially those in Love and Theft, Modern Times, Tempest, 
and Rough and Rowdy Ways (based on how far I've gotten through the book).

With this in mind, here is my take on his performance:

The stage set was simple, dramatic and static. The orange-red curtained back 
wall was uplit, creating hellish flame-like patterns that contrasted with 
Dylan's white keyboard (piano?) with "headlights" (as the Curmudgeon termed 
it) and outfit.

Dylan wore a white oversized tailored jacket with hood (not a casual hoodie) 
over black tee-shirt and pants. The effect was almost angelic as the 
prominent white outfit visually floated forward of his surroundings.

Members of the backup band were basically black shadows with the 
backlighting. At one point the silhouetted images included one of a tilted 
cross created by the neck of the standup bass and a guitar neck intersecting 
it at right angles; the downward arm pointing directly at the man.

Bob's hour-and-a-half set had a mix of his earliest tunes and much more 
recent ones with a few covers.

The first number, "To Be Alone With You," from Nashville Skyline, was 
simultaneously pleasantly recognizable while given a jazzy treatment. 
Presumably this was due to the recent addition of Julian Lage, a jazz 
phenomenon from the Bay Area in Calif., now living in New York City. Lage 
replaced Doug Lancio, who left Bob's backup band in June.

Another change in band personnel on this tour was the replacement of 
guitarist Bob Britt with Joel Paterson, a blues/jazz guitarist based in 
Chicago. A mainstay was Tony Garnier, who has played with Dylan since 1989. 
They sounded great from the get-go.

The second number was the dark and mysterious "Man in the Long Black Coat" 
from Bob's 26th album, Oh Mercy, released in 1989. Bob's diction was clear 
so we understood the ominous tale of a woman going away with a shadowy 
figure, and the music reinforced the menacing nature of this song.

Third up was "It Ain't Me Babe" from Dylan's 1964 Another Side of Bob Dylan. 
The instrumental lead-in sounded, to the C and me, like "Tight Connection To 
My Heart," as if tricking those of us thinking we knew the song's title. But 
it segued into the well-known tune with a downer message. His rendition on 
this evening had a different arrangement with a talkin' blues vibe and an 
interesting drawl on the chorus of "It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe."

"Tryin' To Get To Heaven" from Time Out of Mind (1997) was fourth on the 
setlist. I thought the song suited the evolving theme of this concert 
perfectly. Dylan's enunciation of these lyrics was clear, though the 
arrangement differed noticeably from the recorded version.

According to author Polito, Dylan didn't care for Daniel Lanois's production 
of the album and so, when performing songs from it, "...Dylan live would 
endeavor to reclaim [them]...through a fierce multiyear dismantling and 
reassembling..."

The fifth number, "False Prophet," initiated the five songs from Dylan's 
2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways on the evening's setlist. It served to 
continue the light versus dark theme I was perceiving, with the line "The 
City of God is there on the hill" changed to "City of darkness built on a 
hill." "Black Rider," the words of which illuminate a devil's bargain, 
came two songs later. The C observed that Bob was having fun with his voice 
on this one.

"Crossing the Rubicon" (i.e. passing the point of no return) was the 11th 
number in his set and continued the dark messages that permeated much of 
the concert.

The 14th and 15th tunes, also from Rough and Rowdy Ways, were "I've Made Up 
My Mind to Give Myself Up to You" and "Goodbye Jimmy Reed," respectively. 
The first seemed, musically, to be a romantic love song, but one line in 
the lyrics "Take me out traveling, you're a traveling man" suggests it is 
instead about a commitment to Jesus. This is the Dylan song that united 
both the dark and the light subjects underlying the tone of this concert.

By contrast, "Goodbye Jimmy Reed" was totally rockin' and upbeat, making it 
hard to stay in my seat! Yet, while the raucous rendition seemed secular, 
the lyrics revealed a religious subject.

The one song from the 2012 album Tempest was "Soon After Midnight," played 
toward the end of the concert, had something of a Buddy Holly lilt to it 
and the lyrics were more prosaic as well. It was followed by "Under the Red 
Sky" the title track of Bob's 1990 album. This simple, child-like song, 
also has a subtle pessimistic message with the line "One day the little boy 
and the little girl were both baked in a pie."

Bob played his harmonica on this one, drawing cheers from the crowd. I 
thought this was the one song that sounded closest to its recorded version.

Midway through Bob's set came "When I Paint My Masterpiece" with a fun and 
funky rhumba rhythm that made this song fresh. It was on the album Bob 
Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II, released in 1971.

Interspersed amongst all the Dylan tunes were three covers. One was "I Can 
Tell" by Samuel Smith (about the end of a romantic love). Another, "Share 
Your Love With Me" written by Alfred Braggs and Deadric Malone, released in 
1964 and recorded by Aretha Franklin, among others, is a poignant tune 
essentially about unrequited love (another downer!). The cover of Charlie 
Rich's "I'll Make It All Up To You" speaks of redemption after all the 
misery experienced in a relationship.

The final song of the concert was "I Shall Be Released" from Bob Dylan's 
Greatest Hits Vol. II. In speaking with Paul Metsa about the concert, he 
said that song was like sending us all off with a prayer. Yes, after all 
deep dark messages contained in this concert, the title alone may provide 
us some hope.

My assessment of Bob's performance is that I found it quite satisfying and 
enlightening, if not thrilling. Am I glad the C and I went? Sure, I could 
appreciate it and it increased my understanding of his need for rearranging 
and revitalizing selections from his body of work.

However, I also feel that, for the money spent, I could have heard far more 
live music, with the concomitant thrills of being up close to the other fine 
musicians that we have in our area, let alone in more distant locales.

What made this concert particularly worthwhile for me was seeing the opening 
acts - The John Doe Folk Trio from Austin, Texas, (heretofore unknown to me, 
though not to the C) and Lucinda Williams.

John Doe (John Nommensen Duchac) sang some pointedly political tunes, 
bookcasing them with even more absolute liberal opinions. His fellow trio 
members on this evening were David Sutton (standup bass) and Conrad 
Choucroun (drums).

He was a sharp looker in his Aquarian-blue suit and clearly a seasoned 
performer. His 40-minute set included his original compositions "Never 
Coming Back," "Burning House of Love" and "Get On Board," among others. Then 
there were covers: Dave Alvin's "Fourth of July," John Lennon's "Revolution"
and somewhat weirdly, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." He ended  his set with 
the admonition to "get out and vote!"

As for Lucinda Williams, who was the second opener, she was hot!

I had never seen her in concert before and indeed was not an instantaneous 
fan from hearing her on the radio. However, she's grown on me and, I guess, 
may be an acquired taste for some folks. Yeah her voice was a bit wobbly at 
first and a little off-key at times, but who cares?

Williams was passionate and gutsy, with a punky appearance (spikey hair and 
black leather jacket) that reflected her voice. The close up visuals of her 
on the jumbotrons very much added to the quality of her set. She had a great 
backup band too: Marc Ford (guitar), Doug Pettibone (guitar), Dave Sutton 
(standup bass) and Brad Pemberton (drums).

Her set included recent hits and wonderfully political songs, including: 
"Car Wheels on a Gravel Road," "Fruits of My Labor," "The World's Gone 
Wrong," "Joy" and her very recent "How Much Did You Get For Your Soul?"

She prefaced a cover of Memphis Minnie's "You Can't Rule Me" by sending 
"this one out to the President of the United States."

I especially liked "Low Life" with its line "I guess this is the low life 
but I guess it's where I want to be." She ended her set with Neil Young's 
"Keep On Rockin' In the Free World" and left the stage flashing a peace 
sign.

One last note: as in the other Dylan concerts I've attended, it was 
gratifying to see people of all ages. And this time it was particularly 
good to see a sizable contingent of Gen-Zers. All hail, Bob!

Jill "jillybones" Fisher

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