Bob Dylan Unplugged in Iowa City (Mar 25, 2026)

It’s a couple of days early to ask, but “Wherefore is this night different from all other nights?

Well, in all kinds of ways!

My first show of 2026 was a vastly different show from Dylan was doing in late 2025, a show that’s still coming together in some ways, and felt different from any show I’ve seen in ages.

For one thing, I can’t think of a show where I’ve recognized fewer people. Even back when I was only able to see a show or two per year, I’d usually recognize a couple of others. This show had tickets sold only through the venue, and resale sites were selling even the balcony seats for hundreds. I think most of the people who got tickets were connected to the University of Iowa somehow; the crowd seemed very “Shakespeare in the Park” to me. Far fewer young people than normal, a smaller contingent of people who seemed like old hippies or Deadheads. Everyone seemed educated, upper middle class, and over sixty. But everyone seemed very nice. A few people recognized me from my cemetery tours in Chicago, which was surprising nearly four hours away. I spoke with Ben from the instagram chat a bit in the parking lot, but saw none of the people I seem to see at every show.

The Hancher Auditorium was a great place to see a show - an 1800 seat theatre rebuilt after a 2008 flood into a very modern, comfortable space, lacking a bit in the vintage charm of the old palaces the spring shows sometimes hit, but not a bland corporate affair - a college theater that was designed with care and with comfort in mind. Inside, there were enough tables around the bar and cafe areas for everyone to sit and relax with a glass of wine, and a lovely outdoor space overlooking the river and park below. It was all…well, very Iowa City. The parking lot was spacious and (to my utter astonishment) free. I can’t remember there was free and easy parking at a concert. “Is this heaven?” “No, it’s Iowa!”

The show itself was shaken up a lot this tour, with the band itself switching to using only acoustic guitars, Dylan moving to a keyboard piano (or at least a keyboard without an outer shell to look like a grand or upright) center stage, and with a great many setlists shakeups. It’s still a Rough and Rowdy Ways show with six songs from the album, but many of the regular songs from that setlist replaced. It’s a new sound, and a new setup.

The way the show began was unique, and apparently new for tonight. With the houselights still on, Tony strolled onto the stage, strapped on his electric bass, and started playing. Then Doug Lancio strolled on, nodded to Tony, and started playing acoustic. The vibe was like two guys, both testing out an instrument in a guitar shop at the same time. Bob Britt came out and seemed to chat with them a bit before getting his own guitar, as Anton Fig got to his drum kit.

Bob strolled out in a white hoodie (going from looking like Palpatine in September to Luke in Last Jedi now), so casually that most people didn’t realize it was him, or that the show was starting. The house lights remained on as the band went into “I’ll Be Your Baby” tonight, an upbeat version similar to spring, but with the riff it’s built around played on an acoustic guitar, not electric.

Though unplugged, the guitars are strummed hard, and seem to have a bit of overdrive or something in the mix. It didn’t always sound like a “Stripped down” unplugged affair so much as a “rocked up acoustic band.” Still, utterly unlike Fall.

The house lights stayed on for the setlist surprise of the tour, “Man in the Long Black Coat,” a thematically perfect addition. It’s a favorite song of mine, and I was thrilled to see it come back. What a spooky song!

Or is it spooky at all? The real plot is simply that a woman left town with a man who wore a long black coat. Anything we hear about the guy is just a rumor, and the rumors are hardly sinister; there was dust on him, he was known to quote the Bible, he was seen hanging around an old dance hall. We don’t know how the woman is connected to the narrator, if she is at all, or if she’s leaving some other man or just her parents or just the town itself when she goes off with the stranger. What makes the song spooky is everything else: the evocative images to a single dress hanging on the line, rising water, preachers saying every man’s conscience is vile and depraved, African trees bent over backwards, and finally uprooted. It reminds me of Night of the Hunter or “The Minister’s Black Veil.”

I’ve only seen it live a couple of times, most recently in the 2012 version that sounded like a theme song to a 1950s detective show. This one was back to being slow and spooky, more like the mid 1990s performances. I noticed one lyric change - now tree trunks are uprooted beneath a “high desert moon” instead of a crescent one. Where and when does this take place, anyway? Despite the reference to African trees, it always seems like it takes place in Louisiana or some other isolated village where a stranger coming to town is big news, some time back in the past. But now it may be a desert, but then again the same moon that looks on a desert is also looking down on Iowa. We’re all sleeping underneath the same big sky.

In any case, it was an excellent rendition, but a very odd song to play with the house lights on.

The lights came down afterwords, and the band was into an acoustic “All Along the Watchtower,” in the same structure as the summer shows, but without the “She’s Not There” electric lick.

Previously there’d been reports of mic problems, with Dylan’s mic not quite picking up him at several points the first two nights, and still an issue, if not as bad as one, last night in Minnesota. Today it seemed almost entirely fixed - now and then he was only being picked up by the boom mic, but only occasionally, and it was still perfectly audible. But there were still clearly some problems onstage - I didn’t hear anything wrong myself, but one of the lyrics became “Two riders were approaching…SHIT!”

Even most of the Rough and Rowdy Ways songs have new arrangements now; “I Contain Multitudes” had more of a spring in its step, and the newly acoustic “False Prophet” (a song I never imagined I’d see without electric guitars) cooked along, with verses ended in a descending line that reminded me of “Sixteen Tons,” which in turn reminded me of commercials for the Unforgettable 50s four record set that used to come on in the late 80s. It occurs to me that a lot of songs from that era, I only really know from that commercial.

“Black Rider” was pretty similar to before (and particularly interesting to put in the same show with “Man in the Long Black Coat.” Could the songs be about the same character? Are they the same character now, even if they weren’t before?”) and the acoustic “Love Sick” was spot-on.

The surprise of the night came when the next song, which had been a faster “Key West” the previous nights of the tour, was switched up. Bob sang the first verse of “Goodbye Jimmy Reed” more or less acoustically, like the Outlaw Tour versions of “Can’t Wait” or “Trying to Get to Heaven.” On the second verse the band came in with a slow, plodding sort of arrangement, and after another verse Bob waved his arms and and said “Stop! Start again.”

The band relaunched the song in a faster arrangement, almost like they’d planned it that way all along. I can’t think of another time I’ve seen that happen, and only a couple of times I’ve even heard of it happening. Usually if something goes wrong in a song, Bob will just muddle through somehow, occasionally with really interesting results. And as tight as the second take was, there was still one where Bob either seemed to forget the words or was trying to make up some new ones on the fly, ending with “Goodbye Jimmy Reed, goodbye and so long, I can’t play the record cause…my needle ain’t that long.” It was either a planned revision or a very nice save!

“I Can Tell” felt much tighter and stronger than it had in summer shows.

“I’ve Made Up My Mind…” had its first major new arrangement, with a faster tempo, a slightly reworked melody, and strummed guitars driving it. It was very good but seemed like it was still a work in progress. Indeed, the whole show seemed sort of like it was a rehearsal onstage, with the arrangements still finding their footing and the technical kinks being worked out. The fast acoustic “Crossing the Rubicon” was similar, a bit of a mess that didn’t seem to know when to end.

“When I Paint My Masterpiece” was similar to how it’s been played the last few years, just acoustic, and with the singer now “Dodging lions, and wasting time” (a new line that didn’t get a new rhyme). I have to assume that if you’re dodging lions, you’re not wasting time. If you are dodging a lion, there is absolutely no better use of your time in that moment, nothing else that you ought to be doing, and if anyone ever tells you you’re wasting your time by avoiding getting eaten by a lion, you should tell them to go do some chores or study for a test while the lion waits. See how that goes.

(edit to add: “wasting time” was the line in the original release, but it’s been replaced by the Shakespeare misquote “dodging lions with a mean and hungry look” since at least 2018 - so long that I didn’t notice!)

“Don’t Think Twice” was similar to recent stripped down, soulfully-sung arrangements, with two harmonica solos, the first of the night.

“Soon After Midnight” is one that I usually didn’t get too excited about, but the new acoustic arrangement, without the steel guitar to drive it, was very cool, and worked better for me, turning it into a highlight.

“Nervous Breakdown,” the new Eddie Cochran cover, was a high octane romp that Bob clearly seems to be enjoying. “Every Grain of Sand,” despite being acoustic instead of electric, seemed a bit pumped up from previous versions. The show closed with Dylan walking clear to center stage, still with the white hoodie up, but not just hanging in the back, as he’s done for formations in other recent tours.

This is still a Rough and Rowdy show - the screens and marquees in the venue still said so, and we’re still getting six songs from the album, which is an unusual amount even when an album is brand new. But things aren’t what they were. In my own view of sorting, the original Rough and Rowdy Ways tour ended after Austin 2024. Following the Outlaw shows that summer it was really Rough and Rowdy II. This, then, is Rough and Rowdy III.

All in all, we got a very good show to an appreciative crowd, but one that I think is still coming together, which makes sense given that even songs that have been staples have new arrangements, sometimes radically so. It might not have been as enthralling as those nights when everything just clicks and the band is tight, but Bob was certainly on form, and watching it all come together is incredibly interesting. I’m very glad I’ll be catching more shows in a week, with more of my regular road buddies and with more time to explore the towns. This was number 98 for me - I’m currently eight days out from the big 100. See you in Grand Rapids!