= Bob Dylan - Bob Links - Queens, New York - Reviews - 07/21/26


Reviews
Queens, New York
Forest Hills Stadium
July 21, 2026

[Barry Gloffke], [Jerry Spanbauer], [Adam Setzer]

Review by Barry Gloffke


First things first, it was a great show. Bob was in great voice (when he
sang into the microphone), and I loved his electric piano playing. Also a
cool sound from the band. The sound is soft, sweet and subtle. It ain't a
rock 'n roll show, but it certainly does groove.

Forest Hills Stadium - it does not get much better for me than when Bob
Dylan plays at this venue. Just 8 short blocks from my house. Easiest
venue for me to get in and out of with no parking or crowd worries.

Forest Hills Stadium is one of the best venues for musicians, not only
because of the great sound and historic architecture, but they have
outdoor swimming pools onsite for the band to use at their leisure. And
they have a great clubhouse. The Stadium is part of the West Side Tennis
club and that is where they used to play the US Tennis Open from
1915-1977. The Stadium itself was where the finals were played. The West
Side Tennis Club grounds have over 30 tennis courts composed of all 4
surfaces and a spectacular club building. The club overlooks the tennis
courts and in the distance is the 12,000-15,000 seat stadium facing the
club. Truly beautiful grounds and architecture. And when you are in the
stadium itself, the top rows have a magnificent view of Queens, NY and the
Manhattan skyline on the horizon. When the suns sets over Manhattan, the
view from the stadium is stunning!

This was the shortest Bob Dylan concert I had ever attended... only 1 hour
15 minutes. I did not realize it was that short until people mentioned it
later that evening. But what they lacked in length they made up for in
content. A truly great show... again!

It was a minor miracle this concert even happened. The weather service
(how do they serve weather?) forecasted doom all day long. We were
supposed to get 1"-2" of rain, thunder, lighting, flooding and possibly
a tornado... oh, and something about cats and dogs. Never mind. None of
that happened! The night turned out to be mostly cloudy with a nice
breeze.

The stadium was nearly full when Bob took to the stage. The crowd was
upbeat and enthusiastic. Sometimes the crowd is these big venues get
restless when they don't know the song being played or the lyrics being
sung. But tonight for the most part people were engaged no matter if 'WHEN
I PAINT MY MASTERPIECE' or a cover song was being played. Speaking of the
cover songs, they are relatively short, but packed with emotion. Each one
was superb to my ear. Many very good versions tonight. Slow but delicious.

From beginning to end, TO BE ALONE WITH YOU to I SHALL BE RELEASED, it was
a terrific show.

My wife (Jacqueline) mentioned that the version of FALSE PROPHET was
better than the album...she may have been right. CROSSING THE RUBICON was
sublime, and Anton Fig was doing his part to keep the marching beat.

Again, just a wonderful show. Not in the top ten, or maybe even twenty,
but I'll take this type of show any time.

Before the show Jacqueline and I had a bit of luck as we bumped into an
old acquaintance who is a member of the West Side Tennis Club and she put
us on the guest list. That enabled us to have a nice relaxing dinner and
some drinks while we listened to Jimmy Vaughn and Lucinda Williams (I had
no interest in watching them). And we got to use clean, fully functional
bathrooms. The Tennis Club has a separate entrance into the Stadium
grounds, so we were also able to avoid any crowds. Nice.

Once inside the stadium we ran into a friend who worked security and
another who did event staff work. Then I found some familiar Bobcats, Ed
and Michelle. I wandered a bit more and saw Jayne. It was nice to see you
guys and gals.

This was my wife's 30th show and my 95th. I hope to be in Virginia for the
Friday night show.

As long as Bob keeps on rolling and I'll keep on rolling with him.
Don't you dare miss it!

[TOP]

Review by Jerry Spanbauer


I was thrilled to be in attendance at Forest Hills Stadium tonight for my
first New York City area Bob Dylan concert. It was my 44th overall Dylan
show since 1986 and one closer to my ambitious goal to reach 50. I am
fortunate enough to have seen Bob four times now in the past 18 months,
four of them near my home in Wisconsin. Most recently we saw an excellent
show in LaCrosse, WI back in March, preceded by Alpine Valley last summer
and Green Bay in Spring of 2025. We were also at his legendary "return
to touring after Covid" show at the Riverside Theatre in Milwaukee in
2021.

I was recently married and my newlywed and I love New York City, so why
not make part of our honeymoon kill two birds with one stone? We booked
our room at the (in)famous Carlton Arms Hotel on 25th Ave. near 3rd St.
and penciled in the Dylan show as part of our Tuesday plan of activities.
I held off on buying tickets since the weather report was not encouraging,
and as a storm rolled through around 5pm, I was starting to resign myself
to no show. The radar started to show promise, and I made the last minute
decision to hit the F Train solo, get myself to Forest Hills, and see what
happens. I'm glad I left when I did, because I could clearly hear the
opening notes of "To Be Alone With You" as I approached the stadium. I
caught the last few verses as I took my seat about 30 rows back a little
right of center from the crowd.

The weather held and the crowd was attentive, appreciative, and
enthusiastic. I won't go through the setlist or anything but Bob and the
band were in fantastic form all night and the legendary venue was a
fantastic place to behold the current incarnation of his continual but
gradual reformation of his sound. Tonight was the first time that I felt
that "Crossing The Rubicon" was a major song. It was probably the
sixth or seventh time I have witnessed it live (and have also heard it on
dozens of field recordings) and it had more power and force than ever,
with the crowd responding accordingly. Other highlights for me included
"Masterpiece," "Man In The Long Black Coat," "Black Rider,"
and "Under The Red Sky." It was my first time seeing "I Shall Be
Released" in many years and let's just say that it didn't
disappoint!

A lot has been made about the hoodie and the dim lighting, but I honestly
thought the vibe fits the music perfectly. In my 40 years of seeing Bob,
he has ALWAYS preferred a darkish presentation, and I saw him wear a
hoodie in Milwaukee as early as 1990. My theory is that he is highly
sensitive to lights and flashes and it distracts him; hence the hats and
various headwear during most of his career. He is also clearly annoyed by
the distractions of phones and the no phones/photographs thing has been
part of the deal for the entire NET. Aside from the Alpine Valley 2025
show when he was practically invisible, I sort of get a kick out of his
presentation style. To me it's like he's trying to present a 40's
style black and white movie or something. I've heard people suggest that
it might not even be him which cracks me up to no end. Who else sings,
moves, plays piano and harmonica like that? It is certainly a contrast a
show in Madison in 1996 when he stared straight into my eyes for 20
straight seconds from five feet away while playing a guitar solo during
"Everything Is Broken."

While I've grown to accept Bob's setlist choices and accept him as he
is, can you imagine if he replaced "Share Your Love With Me" with
"Shooting Star" and "I'll Make It All Up To You" with "Dear
Landlord" or something of the like? One can only wonder.

I am proud of myself for being able to leave our room at 7:10, arrive on
time and see the entire show, and be back by 10:10. No food, drinks,
bathroom breaks, etc. Just bang, bang, bang, see Bob, and drinking some
pints with my wife at an Irish pub near the hotel three hours later. Not a
bad way to go at all!!!

Here's to seeing show #45 sometime in the Fall or next Spring. Until
then, I will be following and listening closely every step of the way!

Jerry Spanbauer
Oshkosh, WI

[TOP]

Review by Adam Setzer


As much as I insist that these shows are not for nostalgia, there are some
venues I can't resist for a Dylan show, just because of the historic
value. Seeing him at Royal Albert Hall a couple of years ago, for
instance. And Forest Hills '65 is my favorite Dylan tape. Not only the
first full electric show, but the first electric show for which we have an
audience tape to hear exactly how the crowd was responding. And by the
time he got to Forest Hills, three weeks and some change after Newport,
everyone had gotten the message: if Bob plays electric, you're supposed
to boo. The tape is just wild for the boos, but you also get to hear them
crack up as they hear the dark humor of "Desolation Row" and "Ballad of a
Thin Man" for the first time. 

I've played that tape so many times that just seeing the venue was
something I wanted to do, whether Bob was playing there or not.

And there's something about seeing him there on a year when you keep
getting reports of angry fans walking out, too. When I went back and found
all the reports from after 1965, it was the same stuff the social media
algorithms are pointing me towards today: "He won't be getting my money
anymore, I'll be content just to listen to his records."  Facebook has
decided that all I want to see is people complaining about these shows: he
doesn't play the hits, he doesn't look 23, he doesn't talk, he wears
a hoodie, he won't let you just vibe on your phone all night. I also get
the occasional press review where they explain that Bob has always just
done what he wants and changed styles as the mood fit him, and if people
came at it with an open mind they'd see it was great; you can find the
exact same lines in 1965 reviews.  

I've never seen a complaint from 1965 that he was playing the old hits,
though. The controversy was all that he was playing electric, even though
he totally was not playing the hits. The acoustic set had just one song,
"To Ramona," that had been out more than a few months, and that was barely
a year old. Nothing from his first three albums.  And the electric set was
mostly songs no one had heard yet, except for "It Ain't Me Babe" and
"Like a Rolling Stone."  

But most of the reactions on the tape are from fans charging the stage and
playing "keystone cops" with the police as they run around the ground
section, which for some reason didn't have seats in 1965. There was
nowhere to run tonight.

The day began with all due drama; a couple of days ago I started getting
texts that the show would probably be cancelled due to storms. My flight
made it out, but I was hearing from people who had later flights that
they'd be cancelled. I flew out fully expecting to just try to get a
get-together going. And, indeed, when I left my hotel room, the sky opened
up.

But by the time the F train got me out to Forest Hills, a charming little
cottagecore neighborhood of Queens, it had mostly stopped, and my poncho
went unused.  

The venue was absolutely charming; some effort has been put in to make it
seem like it hasn't changed a bit since 1965, with its mic-century
marquee and graphics. It looks just like it did in those 1965 pictures.  I
chatted with Rebecca Slamen, Daniel Radosh, and some other friends from
all over.  

Jimmy Vaughn played some music that would go great in a hamburger
commercial, and Lucinda played her great set. Patti Smith was seen in the
wings. It was cool to see her, but it sort of brought the curse that comes
with these historic venues: you start to wonder if something will happen.
Wiil Bob mention the history of the place? Will Patti come out and do
"Dark Eyes?" Even knowing full well that the answer to both is a "no," it
can distract you.

Bob and the band (Jad is back on rhythm guitar) strolled out at 7:57, with
no introduction, no opening music, no dimming of the lights. The sky
wasn't dark yet, and wouldn't be for some time. You couldn't get
further from 1965, where Murray the K came out and said "It's not rock,
it's not folk, it's a new thing called Dylan....and Dylan is
definitely...what's happenin' baby!" to louder boos than Dylan himself
got the rest of the night.  

Jad was more comfortable onstage tonight than in Cincinnati. He was fine
there, but tonight he was striking poses that, with his mustache, made him
look like a snooping butler who is up to no good.  

Bob was all smiles tonight, singing "Man in the Long Black Coat" like he
was very excitedly telling kids a ghost story. It's almost odd: here
he's got this set with both "Man in the Long Black Coat" and "Black
Rider," and all these strange songs about traveling men doing terrifying
things (plus some 50s dance tunes), and he's just grinning the whole
time!

"It Ain't Me Babe" was the lone hold-over from the 1965 set, and, in
fact, the only song in the set that he'd written by August of 1965.  

"Black Rider" sounded like friendly advice that you give to a guy you know
you're going to kill one of these days, and got a great reaction from
the crowd (including a couple of shrieks that made me wonder if that
mystery person who kept shrieking and freaking out at this song at the
Royal Albert Hall was back - curse of the historic venue?)

"When I Paint My Masterpiece" opened with a lyric flub; the first line was
"Oh the hours I spent...are filled with rubble." But Bob carried on
without missing a beat and turned in a great version; the two jazz guitars
are really doing wonders for this song, and it didn't need any more
wonders than it already has, really.  

The biggest reaction of the night, strangely enough was when he started
"Crossing the Rubicon." Lots of audience response to the individual lines.
 
At this point, the show had really improved. It started out fine, but i
felt like something was missing since the Cincinnati show. It might have
just been darkness. The sun had finally set. And everyone knows that music
sounds different in the dark.  

"Soon After Midnight" is a song that I wasn't wild about at first, and
often feel that I've seen more than enough, but lately I've come
around back on it, and was thrilled to see it; Joel played a terrific
solo.

But Joel's real time to shine came next, when he broke out the slide
guitar for "Under the Red Sky," which gave the song a sort of a tropical
feel (which is amusing itself, since Bob told Don Was that the song was
about his home town - not a place known for being tropical). It might have
been the strongest version of the song I've ever seen, with some great
vocals and an awesome harmonica solo.     

"I've Made Up My Mind..." was another that I sometimes think I've
heard enough, but sounded fresh tonight. All of a sudden tonight, the line
"Take me out travelin' you're a travelin' man" struck me as odd; is
he singing to a man, here? A couple of lines later he's going far away
with "her." I love how seeing shows brings up these little observations. 
"Good-bye Jimmy Reed" has come back to life with the new guitars, and the
closing "I Shall Be Released" was one of the ages. Aren't they all one
for the ages lately when he does that song? He's been singing the shit
out of it, in that "repeat the line" technique in Bette Middler's
version.

I didn't see anyone walk out, and there were no boos that I heard. In a
year marked by angry fans just like the first time he played here (or,
anyway, that's what social media seems to want to show me), the Long Hot
Summer 2026 show went down like gold. I didn't even realize that he'd
skipped "Trying to Get to Heaven."  

Adam Setzer
adamchicago.com

[TOP]

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