Bob Dylan in Chicago, July 8, 2026

Last week, I spent all Monday glued to my phone, waiting for the latest news and rumors about who Bob Dylan’s new guitarist would be. Longtime sideman Bob Britt had left, and longtime sideman Doug Lancio had been let go. When Doug left he was replaced by Julian Lage, a jazz guitarist, but Julian had another gig. The Austin show loomed with no clue as to who would be on guitar. Would anyone? Would Bob, Tony, and Anton just run as a trio?

No announcements were made, but when the band hit the stage they were joined by Joel Patterson, another jazz guitarist who on any other monday would be playing at the Green Mill in Chicago, a jazz club noted for its habit of showing people which booth was Al Capone’s favorite (a claim that has no basis in fact). Twice a month he plays at Simon’s, a dive bar a mile or so south of my place. Tapes of him first few shows as a the sole guitarist in the band were a delight to hear. Guitar solos!

Looking back it’s been clear that Bob has been ready for a shakeup for some times. We had the brief, mostly inaudible tenure of an organ player, those fall nights when Bob Britt played steel guitar, and the spring tour with no electric guitar at all. The Rough and Rowdy Ways era is (pretty much) over, and it was time to mix up the band. He didn’t take the 76 band on the 78 tour.

Prior to this, I’d been a little lukewarm on the tour. Sounded good and all, but summer stadium shows can be such a hassle. And it’s hot out. And you have to get through multiple openers. And the good seats can cost a pile. I was just going to do Chicago and Forest Hills (mainly for the historic factor with Forest Hills; I love that 65 Forest Hills tape so much I’d always meant to go find the venue). But now I’m doing Cincinnati, and who knows what else.

Met up for a pre-show at Exchequer, where the staff where shirts with Al Capone’s face that say “Big Al Dined here” (a claim that has no basis in fact). Talked with Sarah, who was at her first meeetup, and of course Mike and Kait and Henry and Roberta and Bailey and Ben. The meetups are as addictive as the shows. I was so hungry that it was hard to focus.

We took a shuttle bus to the island, which is really a peninsula. I’d only been to the outside of this venue to hear Stevie Wonder when I couldn’t afford to get a ticket in my 20s. After the bland corporate ampitheatres that dominating the Outlaw tour, the Huntington Pavilion was a nice change. You walk by a beach full of swimmers to get in, and on the inside it has a makeshift, county fair sort of vibe that was charming. Ran into Stu Levitan, Steven Rings, Peter and more old friends and just strolled around, having a nice time in nice weather.

John Doe and Lucinda Williams both played short, highly enjoyable, politically charged sets. The couple beside me had brought their little kids, who were a delight, and the couple in front of Henry and me bickered and sniped at each other. That was a delight, too.

Word had gotten out that it was to be both guitarists tonight - Julian and Joel. Julian had returned following his own tour dates, and but Joel had stayed on, at least so far. The band came out to a dark stage, and the lights didn’t come on until “To Be Alone With You” started up.

Now, both Joel and Julian are jazz guys, but aren’t exactly playing jazz. They’re playing Dylan music, the same sort of guitar we’ve heard at Dylan shows for years, only a bit flashier, and with a LOT more lead. There were solos and some duelling guitar moments. This reinvigorated a lot of songs tonight - especially the covers.

Julian was all smiles throughout; a grin so wide you could tell from the crowd that he didn’t have any cavities. Joel, to me, seemed like he fit right in. He just looks like a Dylan sideman to me. This was a hometown show for him; he was seen wandering in the crowd during the openers, and when someone shouted out “JOEL PATTERSON” Tony gave that person a thumbs-up and a grin. (Tony, too, was grinning all night - a good barometer of how things are going).

As for Bob himself, in his white hoodie, he was in fine voice and seemed to be in a better mood than I’ve seen him in in ages. He gave lots of approving glances to Joel throughout the night. It wasn’t his very strongest night, with a rougher voice that the last few shows (according to the tapes) and a lot of lyric flubs. But he was in strong voice and seemed excited.

Some highlights to me for me included a particularly good (despite lyric flubs) “It Ain’t Me Babe” early in the set, a spectacularly sinister “Black Rider,” the best “I Can Tell” I’ve ever heard (by FAR), and the two-guitar attack of “Soon After Midnight.” “Goodbye Jimmy Reed” was especially improved from its sometimes-limp arrangement.

Overall I’m finding it hard to know how to react to the show, as it seems like things are just getting started. This show may be noted more for the lineup; Julian has some gigs back in Europe, so presumably Joel will be back to being the lone guitarist for a bit. But his bands here say he’s planning to be out for two or three weeks, suggesting that maybe Julian will end up the lone guitarist for the last stretch of the tour. And he has tour dates of his own in the fall. So who’ll be in the lineup by then? Will the sound of this band keep evolving? Will the show evolve as Bob gets more comfortable with the new guy/s and mix things up more? As he once sang, “It’s all gonna be pretty much unknown.”

There’ve been a lot of reports of people walking out in disgust this tour, as Bob is still wearing a hoodie, not using close-ups on the screens, and not playing the any real hits (basically just “It Ain’t Me Babe.”) But maybe that’s just because social media algorithms are set up to show us the posts that they know will rile us up. I don’t even go on Threads if I can help it; every time I do it selects some post from an activist being antisemitic as hell, knowing that it’ll keep me engaged. I know several of us in the discord were pointed to the same bad review of a Paul Simon show. I went in really thinking that most of the crowd was hating the show. But that wasn’t what I saw in the crowd at all. Sure, a lot of people would have liked him to talk more, play a few more hits, and lower the hood. But no one around me was complaining.

Afterwards we walked to the Palmer House, which seemed like a better idea than it actually was (quite a hike and it was still pretty hot out). I got home exhausted, so today I’m just resting up. Road trip to Cincinnati tomorrow!