| Reviews Oslo, Norway Spektrum October 17, 2026 |
Review by Espen Aas
Reflections on Bob Dylan's concert at Oslo Spektrum twelve hours later:
In the 36 years I have regularly (and then some) attended Dylan concerts,
there is always a certain knot of anticipation in my stomach. Is he in a
good mood? Is he tired? What will he play, etc.
Yesterday evening I was a bit more nervous than usual. He had delivered
some very solid concerts in the US throughout the year, with small
adjustments to the setlist, but still quite heavily grounded in his latest
album, Rough And Rowdy Ways. Since the tour had now changed its name to the
Autumn Lights tour, I was naturally hoping for a little variation. And who
was playing guitar? And is it actually any fun being the very first stop on
the European tour?
Bob Dylan is not one to take the stage late. If he's set to start at 8:00 PM,
he starts at 8:00 PM. The lights hadn't even been turned off in Spektrum
before he and the band walked on stage. Although there was a long musical
intro, I quickly recognized "To Be Alone With You" from Nashville Skyline,
which he had been opening with for a good while. He then transitioned into
the wonderful "Man In The Long Black Coat" from one of my favorite records,
1989's Oh Mercy. Rearranged plenty of times, but I really like this version.
Then came the first surprise-"Crash On The Levee (Down In The Flood)",
originally released on The Basement Tapes. It has been almost exactly 21
years since it was last played. Back then in Karlstad after 178 performances,
following its debut at The Band's New Year's concert just after midnight on
January 1, 1972. I personally heard it live for the first time right here in
Spektrum in 1995. From row 13, I could see Dylan tapping the beat with his
hand on the edge of the keyboard, looking like he was really enjoying
himself.
Back to a familiar track from recent setlists: the great "Tryin' To Get To
Heaven", which unexpectedly popped back into the concerts in June of this
year after a hiatus of many years. Taken from one of his best albums, Time
Out Of Mind.
More familiar territory followed as the band went straight into the blues
track Early Roman Kings from the Tempest album. Not a huge favorite of mine,
but Dylan loves playing the blues, so I forgive him because it works on
stage.
Then I got more excited by the cover song "I Can Tell", which many probably
know from Van Morrison. This one gained a sort of permanent spot in the set
after last summer and features a fun section where Dylan and drummer Anton
Fig play off each other. Often a swinging highlight of the concerts, in my
opinion.
Another surprise from Dylan's grab bag when he suddenly launched into a
subdued and new rendition of the classic "Tangled Up in Blue" from the
masterpiece Blood On the Tracks. One of my favorites, which had now been
given several new, or at least newly written, verses. Dylan seemed to have
shelved this song after the Australia/New Zealand tour in 2018, but here it
was back again. Very different from perhaps his coolest arrangement of it
from the late 1990s and early 2000s, but with clear, strong vocals. I was
already way on the positive side here! Mainly Dylan on piano/keyboard with
a few guitar fills and modest percussion.
Yet another cover that Van Morrison has sung (and also The Band when they
toured with Bob Dylan back in 1974): "Share Your Love With Me", which, like
"I Can Tell", has been a staple on recent tours. Dylan sings softly and
confidently on this one.
With the final note barely fading, something completely new and unexpected
came from Dylan and the band—a cover of Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927". It
fit perfectly into the mood we were already in. And how fun is it to
experience a debut at a Dylan concert! Dylan has never performed anything
by Newman in concert before either.
To the great delight of the audience, who were probably ready for a bit
more tempo by now, the band started playing the melody to "Istanbul (Not
Constantinople)", which Dylan for a long time has playfully used as the
backing track to his "When I Paint My Masterpiece"-the song that was one of
six nearly unknown tracks Dylan chose to include on his double Bob Dylan's
Greatest Hits Vol. II in 1972, and which has also been a regular feature at
his shows for quite some time.
The tempo was turned down again as Dylan began another familiar cover from
recent years' concerts, "I'll Make It All Up to You", known especially
through Jerry Lee Lewis. I didn't personally feel as strong a need to hear
this one again, but Dylan puts real effort into the song and enjoys
himself.
Dylan visits his latest record with "Crossing The Rubicon", which I also
have to admit I feel a bit done with by now, and that was perhaps where the
concert dipped a little for my part. Not a major favorite from the Rough
And Rowdy Ways album either.
I am more favorably inclined toward the evening's second song from the
Tempest album, the ballad "Soon After Midnight", which has been played
frequently since 2024. A playful lyric in a still casual arrangement. Then
came a funny moment during the show.
The band started playing "Under the Red Sky" from Dylan's
not-exactly-brilliant 1990 album of the same name, but Dylan was singing
something ENTIRELY different. Eventually, the band stopped playing while
Dylan kept singing... well, what was it? Yes, it was yet another debut
tonight: Guy Clark's "Dublin Blues". For a moment it was almost a solo
performance from Dylan on the keyboard before the band slowly but surely
joined back in. It's hard to say what exactly happened there, but it was a
lovely performance nonetheless.
THEN came "Under the Red Sky", which they had already started earlier.
Dylan dug this nursery-rhyme-like text and melody out of obscurity in 2024
and has more or less played it ever since. The album is definitely among
Dylan's weakest in my book, but it is the second-best track from it, if I
were to try to talk it up a bit! And when Bob Dylan—for the first and only
time that evening—pulled out the harmonica, first once and then a second
time, a cheer went through Oslo Spektrum.
I had expected 16-17 songs tonight, and when they started playing the
familiar "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You" from the last album,
I thought that now we'll get one more, and then the night is over. Another
nice song, but at the same time one I feel could take a break now, having
been at virtually every concert since 2021.
I was a bit surprised when "Goodbye Jimmy Reed", also from the latest
record, appeared, because he doesn't end the show with that one. So since
it was song number 17, I must admit I was a bit curious about what was
coming next, rather than listening to the 326th performance of this fun
blues track.
I had probably expected to get "Every Grain of Sand", which has been the
set closing song for a small eternity (with a few exceptions), so my joy
was great when he instead started playing "I Shall Be Released" (also
originally written when he made "Crash on the Levee" back in 1967).
Granted, Dylan has played it a few times since June of this year, and also
played it at the final concert of the summer tour in the US, but I hadn't
expected it to close the concert. Nor was it going to tonight.
The venue went dark, Dylan and the band left the stage, and I was actually
waiting for the lights to be turned on, but then I noticed the band came
back out fairly quickly. An encore?? After 18 songs?? What is happening now?
Well, Dylan surprises me YET AGAIN and starts singing "You Ain't Goin'
Nowhere", also written back in 1967, and rewritten for the previously
mentioned Greatest Hits album from 1972. He had played it a single time
earlier this year-in Woodinville, Washington, in June-but otherwise we have
to go back to 2012 to find it in concert. A swinging and absolutely lovely
conclusion to an evening I appreciated immensely.
Afterward, I bumped into several people in the queue on the way out who
didn't quite share my joy. They had seen Dylan for the first time, and it
can be a bit underwhelming if you aren't fully prepared. Fortunately, I
was!
On Friday I'm going to see him again; by then they might have warmed up
even more (and we might have found out who that mysterious new guitarist
standing to Dylan's right was). I'm looking forward to it. A lot. But also
prepared for a letdown. As one should. It is part of the fun.
Review by Sergi Fabregat Mata
Fomo played a part in my decision to travel to Oslo from Barcelona to attend
the first stop of the Lights of Autumn tour, not gonna lie. Openers tend to
bear some surprises, though Helsinki 2025 (despite imho was a fantastic
show) was the opposite case, so you never truly know. I could barely aford
to add an extra show to my planned ones so that forced me just spend one
night in Oslo, thus flying there the day of the show on the sole direct
flight, arriving at the city around 6pm, drop my bags and rest a bit and
straight to the concert (flying back the next day at night and arriving
home at 3am...), though luckily a couple of dear Spanish friends were also
attending.
Despite the prospects, I was not that sure that things would change too much
compared to the Summer, we got into the Spektrum arena with just 5 minutes
to spare after a fairly long queue and I remember my relaxed mood in that
moment, trying to control anticipation and expectations and just remember
how privileged I was for being there. I took my seat on the left side,
clocked the two guitars, the drums positioned quite behind Joel Paterson's
spot and in about a minute or two the band started coming in from the right
side, lights completely dimmed. They picked up the instruments, started
playing for a few seconds before, from the left side, the unmistakable
profile of Bob appeared, his head uncovered (if my memory serves me well I
think I saw his signature puff of hair so all good in that regard) but,
just before he started trotting to the keyboard, he put the hoodie up. Dark
attire and I must confess how cool he looked on that one, the zipper was
shining with the light's reflections and it seemed a fancier jacket than
what it was.
They started jamming quite a long intro before Bob threw himself to a pretty
wild delivery of the first verse of 'To Be Alone With You'. That would
become a constant the whole night from the vocals point of view: Bob would
absolutely holler one verse or lines and then the next one would be mellow
and soft (also some lyric flubs here and there or moments where he was
displeased with something and he would put less care on the voice, more
later). What I loved the most, from the beginning, was how again his voice
was given a high prominence in the mix and also how for large parts of the
show he would be able to sustain that deep nasal-thoracic voice that blew
me away last Fall from Farm Aid on an that was not that present through
last Spring or Summer.
'Man in the Long Black Coat' (hehe) was stellar, each word really
enunciated and projected, with high points like the "there are no mistakes
in life" part and the bridge that ensued. I enjoyed 'Crash on the Levee'
for being a setlist surprise though I missed the epic 'It Ain't Me Babe'
takes from the last Summer shows, but of course that very well greased
comeback (from memory I'd say that the band did better than Bob in this
one) put me on extra alert from there onwards. Throughout the night I had
those humbling moments of "hey, that's Bob Dylan right there, 85yo and I
still have to be shown someone that can do similar to him on a stage from
the purely artistic perspective".
Masterful 'Tryin' To Get to Heaven', a song that gets better with each
performance and that grows into you little by little, lines like "they
wouldn't let me be" or "I only saw what they let me see", mysterious and
vague, hit harder than previously. First personal major shocker ensued,
THAT 'Early Roman Kings'. Finally an arrangement (dearrangement?) that let
the lyrics shine by themselves, the music be composed by the rhythms,
cadences and playfulness of the words ("I'll dress up your wounds with a
blood clouted rag, I ain't afraid to make love to a bitch or a hag",
regardless of what you think, there's intrinsic musicality in this), and
the band just embracing that and punctuating the core of this song, its
words. An operation similar to the one conducted with 'My Own Version of
You', 'Key West' or, later, with 'Tangled Up in Blue' and even more
radically with 'Dublin Blues'.
In retaining this dearrangements and let the lyrics to the heavy lifting,
the music responding to Bob's unpredictable phrasings and deliveries, what
to me is more important of all this, the songs' deep emotions and how the
singer feels and make you feel with them, emerges and is presented to us in
all its earnest and most open form. Many people would tell me later how
emotional they got with this same treatment in 'Tangled Up in Blue' and I'm
not surprised by that, those lines and rhymes truly on the razor's edge,
unprotected by any kind of musical lifeline, I can't convey properly how
beautiful and moving it felt.
So we arrive(d) to the concert's core, 'Tangled Up in Blue'. What happened
here to me was two times funny because I automatically reacted (cheering)
twice before my mind could process why I was reacting. "Early one morning,
the sun was shining" and I was among the first ones to cheer, already aware
of what was happening but I remember not actually thinking "holy s**t, it's
'Tangled'!", that thought only came a few seconds after my initial reaction.
Once I realised what was about to come I tried to calm down and pay
attention and some tears started rolling down, only clapping after each
verse's "tangled up in blue". I remember seeing Bob, surrounded by almost
complete silence, jumping from word to word as if courting them, as if
before singing the word he was carefully deciding how he would approach its
delivery, and then after the "avenue" verse I was pretty positive that what
came were two almost brand new verses, incredibly pristinely delivered, I
felt they were mysterious, almost esoterical in the reflection about the
self and the other, though I still have to properly check the full
transcription. Bob missed some lyrics in the crucial "book of poems" verse,
my favourite one (a verse so good I'm still impressed by it, where stuff
like this comes from) though I managed to hold my mood and then, after an
airy bridge, the last verse. "Me! I'm still on the road", Bob sang, and
again I cheered almost unwillingly, even distracting myself, at the sudden
realization of how much that line must mean for such an artist at this
stage and then, in a split second, I realised I had also cheered because of
what that line means to me, related to Bob but also unrelated to Bob, that
despite every doubt, every effort, every fear, I've always opted to be
still on the road and it just hit me like a freight train. After the song,
overwhelmed as hell, it took me quite a bit to recover from what just had
happened, to the point that I phased out during 'Share Your Love With Me'
(my favourite song in some Summer shows), admired 'Louisiana 1927' and
enjoyed 'Masterpiece' or 'Rubicon' but I was still tangled only a few
minutes ago.
What brought me back fully to the show was what happened when the band
started playing 'Under the Red Sky'. A few seconds into the song, Bob
started singing a totally different lyrics to a totally different tune.
I'll try to break down what happened because I'm not sure it has been fully
reported. This was not a case of "oh, they're playing 'River Flow' but he's
singing 'To Be Alone' and they switch to it in no time"; no, this was the
band almost stopping to play at all, Bob singing these incredibly well
delivered and heartfelt lyrics and the band taking a good half a minute or
so to start playing anything. More importantly, even Tony looked puzzled
and quite clueless while Bob was singing. So my take was that 'Dublin
Blues' was not planned at all and that the band had to play catch up with
Bob, who was determined to sing that no matter what. And it was beautiful
to be there and see it in real time, because the song featured those
hummings by Bob that, again, no review, tape or even video can convey. Bob
approaching the mic and just going "mmmmmhhhhh" was such a moving, even
transcendent, moment, the Nobel Prize in Literature just humming, as if a
first and last breath, the alfa and omega of all lyrics, it was
unbelievably balsamic and soothing and, again, though I didn't know the
song at all, I could clearly make out all the words, those repeated
"forgive me all my anger, forgive me all my faults, There's no need to
forgive me for thinking what I thought, I loved you from the get go and
I'll love you till I die". It reminded me my favourite vocal performance by
Bob, that 'Across the Borderline' in Austin: "The river flows on like a
breath, in between our life and death, tell me who is next to cross that
borderline".
'I've Made Up My Mind' featured a minimal arrangement change by which Bob
would break up the title line and move the "to you" after "myself" a beat
later, making of it a good example of what struck me so much about the Oslo
show: Bob's ability to keep me on the edge the whole time, excited that at
any given moment things could change in fundamental ways, provoking
thoughts and feelings and an overall feeling of excitement so interesting
that I've spent a nice chunk of time after it trying to remember a show
that left me a similar feeling of pure excitement, that the work in
progress I've seen seems to be so fertile and promising.
Bob again forced the band his way in 'Goodbye Jimmy Reed', when he
definitely was not liking Joel's riff (though maybe his initial displease
was directed at Anton?) and at one point he even stopped doing anything at
all, hands, head and hoodie hanging over the keyboard, but before the last
verse he took his time to show what he wanted and made sure that the band
followed him before he started singing again. Like I said, edgy,
interesting and so, so exciting.
And maybe to prove all this, again how the encore was played could mean
something. After our usual reflective closing (either 'Grain of Sand' or
'Released') and Bob's salute, he actually went almost off stage, as did the
band, I even saw the staff guy poiting a light at Bob's feet so he could
see his way and then suddenly Bob was back to the keyboard and they started
and ironically goofy 'You Ain't Goin' Nowhere'. How Bob delivered the last
line seemed to indicate the opposite: that he is definitely going
somewhere.
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