| Reviews Chicago, Illinois Huntington Bank Pavilion July 8, 2026 |
Review by Will Greene
Tonight's show in Chicago was my lucky 13th Dylan show stretching back
to 2019, meaning that most of the shows I have seen have been Rough and
Rowdy shows, including three I caught this spring. It was also my second
show at Northerly Island, a nice and modern outdoor venue whose biggest
selling points are the location off of Chicago's museum campus and a
nice view of the skyline. The larger crowds and different vibe from the
theater shows led to a lot more shenanigans, as I saw an attendee being
escorted out by two security personnel as the section he left cheered his
exit. Additionally, a different attendee stormed out complaining that it
was "fascism" that he could not record what he wanted to.
After a lovely dinner with a crew of Dylan fans, I walked to the venue
just in time for the beginning of John Doe's set to discover that the
"seat" I had been sold was really just a spot in a standing area. My
ticket for tonight was very similar to the ticket I bought to see Neil
Young last year, and I had a seat for that show. Additionally, my ticket
for the show tonight gave me a row and a seat number making it all the
more surprising I was standing. While this made for a long show on my
feet, I did appreciate being able to see over the section in front of us
and having a little more room to groove with the music.
I don't know John Doe or his music but I enjoyed his simple and pleasant
folk rock set. Doe placed acoustic guitar throughout and was backed only
by a bassist and a drummer. While his songs typically did not move me, I
enjoyed his performance a lot, particularly after it had time to grow on
me. My favorite song was "My Darling, Blue Skies" which he played late
in his set. Next up was Lucinda Williams, a favorite of mine and an ideal
opener for Dylan. I have previously seen her perform at a Joan Baez
tribute show but only for a couple songs, making tonight's strong eight
song set special. She started with "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" (a
perfect starter for this Macon native) and included two other songs from
that landmark album. Lucinda was easy to hear over the four man backing
band and her vocals sounded great. She strictly stuck to singing but
engaged the audience through her songs and through her stage banter. This
was a great set from Williams and made for a terrific lead-in to Dylan.
My biggest takeaway from Bob's set was that this was a rare recent show
where the focus fell partially on the band and not entirely on Dylan
himself. Prior to this show, every show I can remember was built squarely
on Dylan's vocals and instrumental contributions, making it a little
jarring how much room he gave the musicians tonight. My first 2026 show,
Waukegan, suffered due to some vocal drop outs. As the show was built
around Bob's vocals, when this happened there was little left to cling
to. The other two shows I saw this spring avoided this issue as the vocals
came through more clearly but were still heavily reliant on Dylan. This
show was different, as the two new guitarists took a lot more of the
spotlight, taking some pressure off of Bob. This made the highs a little
less thrilling but also made for a much smoother and consistent
performance, as Dylan had a much stronger safety net to rely on.
That is not to say there was anything wrong with Dylan's vocals tonight,
as I thought they were extremely clear and consistent. While not as showy
as some recent concerts, the only flub I noticed was towards the beginning
of "It Ain't Me Babe." Instead, the aspect of his performance that
took a step back in this show was his keyboard playing, which was often
missing in action and almost always took a back seat in the instrumental.
This aspect of Bob's performance has really trailed off since some of
the shows I saw in 2025.
Luckily, this all gave the guitarists more time to shine, and they more
than rose to the occasion. Consistently, Joel Paterson and Julian Lage
found opportunities to embellish the songs with jazzy guitar riffs and
fills. The approach perfectly complimented the vocals, making for a breezy
but filling sound. Likewise, I mentioned to some of the dinner crew that I
thought Anton Fig was the best fit among the drummers I have seen, and he
did an excellent job of finding room to enhance the songs without
overpowering the delicate balance between singer and musicians. Tony
Garnier very exaggeratedly counted him in for several songs, which could
reflect the challenges of getting this very new band on the same page.
Regardless, it all sounded terrific to me. Nothing against Bob Britt (who
was at every show I'd been to until this one) and Doug Lancio but the
sound more than justified Bob's apparent decision to shake up the band,
as the somewhat stale Rough and Rowdy Ways instrumentals have been
completely revitalized.
In many ways, this felt like a show designed for a casual Dylan fan in all
aspects but the setlist. Dylan's vocals largely avoided his trademark
nasal tone, the harmonica was limited to his consistently thrilling and
audience approved solo on "Every Grain of Sand," and the songs were
often played at a relatively brisk tempo. I saw a surprising amount of
people dancing to the songs and quite often caught myself grooving along.
As on the Outlaw Tour, it felt like a deliberate attempt to meet a Dylan
curious attendee somewhere in the middle. Absent a stunning pivot to the
classic rock favorites, I'm not sure Bob could do anything else to make
a show more accessible than this one.
The one slight disappointment I've had following this tour is that the
set lists have largely converged into a merger of last year's Outlaw
Tour set and this year's Rough and Rowdy Ways set. If you're a Dylan fan
who kept up with his recent tours, you've heard almost all of the songs
he played tonight from prior tours with the exception of "Tryin' to Get
to Heaven" (played last in 2019 prior to this tour). Particularly
disappointing was not getting my first "I Shall Be Released" tonight,
which is the only acceptable reason not to be happy with an "Every Grain
of Sand" closer. However, with the new guitarists all the songs sound
reinvigorated, keeping this from feeling like a retread. My favorites were
"Tryin' to Get to Heaven" and a remarkably groovy "Goodbye Jimmy
Reed."
My final thought as I traveled back home was that this felt like a show
with a clear intention to take some weight off of Bob Dylan's back on a
hot and muggy evening. The band is much more active and able to take the
spotlight off of Dylan, the two opening acts engaged in the sort of banter
and political commentary that people always hound Bob to do, and the
relatively stable setlist surely makes the singer's job easier.
Hopefully this is giving Bob the chance to create new songs while
maintaining his (absolutely ludicrous for an 85 year old man) touring
schedule and is not the start of a Willie Nelson-esque ceding of his
concerts. Knowing Dylan, my money is on the former. I can only imagine the
sort of magic this ace band could create in the studio.
Review by Bob Shiel
Tonight, on a perfect, balmy night steps from Lake Michigan on what used
to be a commuter airport, Meigs Field, Northerly Island hosted three
stellar performers. Starting with the John Doe Trio, whose 35 minute set
featured a memorable cover of Somewhere Over The Rainbow & several roots
country grooves, then it was on to Lucinda Williams walking on stage as
Woody Guthrie's original recording of This Land Is Your Land echoed
throughout the venue. Lucinda for 45 minutes proceeded to regale us with
protest songs such as You Can't Rule Me, dedicated to President 45 & 47,
along with a killer Delta blues & some rocking country originals that
would make Hank Williams proud. Then, it was time for the man we all came
to see, Bob Dylan, who opened with a shuffling To Be Alone With You from
Nashville Skyline. At the start of a 2nd verse instrumental intro, a
dramatic upgrade in sound quality manifested & persisted for the remainder
of the 85 minute set. Visually behind the stage we were treated to the
weekly summer Wednesday night 9 PM fireworks display on Navy Pier.
Synchronicity! Man In The Long Black Coat found guitarists Joel Paterson &
Julian Lage, both newcomers to Dylan's touring band, trading tangy, jazzy
6 string fills in perfect tandem while Anton Fig's thunderous bass kick
drum punctuation hypnotically & exquisitely served both the song
arrangement & Bob's 85 year old, clear-as-a-bell voice. It Ain't Me, Babe
was the best I've heard since '97, when Bob's acoustic Gibson leads were
on a different planet from tonight's electric piano chord shuffle. I hate
to go out onto too much of a limb, but it was during this 1964 highlight
on Another Side Of Bob Dylan that for the first, but not last time this
evening, that the thought occurred to me that this was the best Rough &
Rowdy sound in 5 years, quite the mouthful. Credit the hollow body
electric of Chicago hometown hero Paterson & the sunburst Fender
Telecaster of Lage. Fig's steely eyes are constantly fixated on Bob &
everybody else's are glued to Paterson, who's clearly been told, probably
non-verbally, "You're the leader of this band, dude." That's what I saw.
Pretty amazing given that Joel just showed up for his first show last week
in Austin. Although less is more with Paterson, he took charge way more
than Lage, at least tonight, who only here & there naied a prominent yet
brief solo. You gotta wonder if the purported virtuoso Lage, who's
obviously holding back, has an ego, but if so, I certainly saw no trace of
it. Stay tuned. Tryin' To Get To Heaven's crisp arrangement sounded
sonically astounding even in an outdoor setting, albeit aided by not a
trace of wind, not at all a common occurrence on Lake Michigan. A spooky
guitar duet graced False Prophet, highlighted by vibrato bass runs true to
the original studio version, yet Bob's got new, bouncing piano fills of
whatever space(s) he can discover in between whatever Joel & Julian are up
to. On I Can Tell, steady Eddy Tony Garnier's 38 years held down a rock
solid foundation around which everybody else just danced. No doubt Tony's
tutelage of Joel & Julian has been priceless. A non-stop cimbal segue into
Black Rider & crowd pleasing instrumental took me back to Memphis in April
2022, another night on which I thought I'd seen the best B. Dylan concert
out my now 72. This Rough & Rowdy era gets better & better, what can I
say. I am truly comforted knowing I am not alone in saying that. During
Share Your Love With Me I hit the men's room & subsequently ventured into
a sort of general admission standing area during a Latin jazzy When I
Paint My Masterpiece, after which on a hunch I bolted across the front row
gangway in front of the stage & fortunately plopped into an empty folding
chair in front of Paterson stage right. From this close range,
unobstructed vantage point I was able to actually see Bob under his
hoodie, sipping water before Crossing The Rubicon was simply killed with
the help of snare drum rolls & thundering tom tom accents by Fig. Soon
After Midnight was its usual waltz shuffle with 5 men in absolute unison &
the look on the faces of the two guys next to me looked like they were
worshipping in church on Sunday morning. Under The Sky pleased Bob enough
that at its conclusion he nodded affirmatively at Tony & Joel. This is a
band that is jelling, hitting its stride, & having fun. They know darn
well how refreshed & awesome they sound. I've Made Up My Mind To Give
Myself To You & Good Bye Jimmy Reed were just sublime instances of more of
the same leadership from Joel Paterson, surely worthy of most valuable
musician tonight. Bob's body language simply said, "Take over," something
Joel can do blindfolded. He even did a little double step while leaning
into some hot riffs on Good Bye Jimmy Reed. Slightly surprisingly, the
closer Every Grain Of Sand deprived us of the recently resurrected I Shall
Be Released, but all wasn't lost for the show ended on a trademark Bob
Dylan harmonica solo. In brief, I will conclude by expressing, truly, my
shock that a guitar player from my own neighborhood who I'd never heard of
two weeks ago all of the sudden is stealing the show at Bob Dylan
concerts. That, in a nutshell, is the story of this Summer U.S. leg of the
tour. This Fall in Europe folks have much to look forward to. See less
Review by Rechi van Lehen
Things aren't what they used to be-aka "The Julian Lage Show"
It is truly remarkable what the band lineup change mid-tour has achieved.
Compared to the opening shows in June-and indeed the last two
years-the sound has completely transformed. It is no longer Dylan's
piano that dominates; instead, the "young newcomer" takes the lead in a
way Dylan hasn't allowed a guitarist to do in a long time. With a subtle
gesture, Dylan gives the green light, and Julian Lage lends a fresh,
playful touch to every song. Yet it's a fine line: by the time they
reach "When I Paint My Masterpiece" and "Under the Red Sky," the threshold
of what's bearable is quickly crossed. An excess of playful flourishes
robs the songs of some of their depth; at times, it sounded more like Pat
Metheny than Bob Dylan. Personally, I preferred the somber Dylan I saw at
the Royal Albert Hall two years ago-delivering what felt almost like a
philosophy lecture set to solitary piano notes, accompanied by licks from
Doug Lancio and Bob Britt that were barely perceptible yet perfectly
suited to the songs. Of course, Bob needs to keep his new bandmates happy.
I'm curious to see how long this lasts and how long Bob can keep his ego
in check. Barring any further unexpected lineup changes, I'm going to
cancel my plans for Atlanta and Nashville. And all eyes are already
turning toward Oslo.
Rechi van Lehen
Comments by Marshall Johnson
Excellent show! Julian Lage and Joel Patterson are a great addition to the
Band. Their contributions are subtle, but so effective. Anton and Tony
sound tighter than ever. Bob's piano playing felt more comfortable and his
singing was as strong as ever. Some harp on the closer "every grain of
sand" was a nice surprise.
Overall, one of the best shows I've seen in years.
Marshall A. Johnson
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