Bob Dylan Unveiled Yet Another New Guitarist, Covered Randy Newman at Tour Launch

At the first show of his Lights of Autumn European tour, Dylan played Newman's classic "Louisiana 1927," Guy Clark's "Dublin Blues," and a radically re-worked "Tangled Up In Blue"

Bob Dylan kicked off his Lights of Autumn Tour Saturday evening at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway, with a stunning set that featured rarities, surprise covers, new arrangements of old favorites, and even the unveiling of yet another new guitarist, which is now his sixth in just the past five months. 

The show began in familiar fashion with “To Be Alone With You” and “Man in the Long Black Coat,” but he then played the Basement Tapes classic “Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)” for the first time since 2005. And then four songs later, he broke out “Tangled Up in Blue” for the first time since 2018. It was a radically stripped-down torch ballad rendition, reminiscent of the arrangement on the 1978 tour, featuring many lyrical alterations.

“Way up north in the frozen woods,” Dylan sang. “Teardrops touch the sky/The leaves are falling one by one/And the mornings pass you by/Sometimes it gets so quiet/Sometimes it gets in the way/Look here for another/Tomorrow’s another day/And all the while I was alone/The past was close behind/I seen a lot of women/But I never escaped her mind/And she just grew/Tangled up in blue.”

Just as the shock of all this was sinking in, Dylan pulled out Randy Newman’s 1974 song “Louisiana 1927.” It was not only the first time he’d ever performed the song, but the first time he’d ever played anything from Randy Newman’s vast catalog. 

“Louisiana 1927” chronicles the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, which was a seismic event in the state’s history that inspired Memphis Minnie’s “When the Levee Breaks,” Bessie Smith’s “Blackwater Blues,” Barbecue Bob’s “Mississippi Heavy Water Blues,” and Charley Patton’s “High Water Everywhere,” which sparked Dylan 2001 song “High Water (For Charley Patton).” (Something clearly brought apocalyptic flooding to Dylan’s mind considering his decision to play both “Crash on the Levee” and “Louisiana 1927.” It’s tempting to interperet it as Dylan’s commentary on the state of the world right now, but any attempt to read Dylan’s mind is a pointless endeavor.)

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The surprise covers continued five songs later with “Dublin Blues” by Texas outlaw country artist Guy Clark. This isn’t nearly as famous as Randy Newman’s “Louisiana 1927,” but it’s a stellar song that deserves the spotlight Dylan is shining on it.

As all of this was playing out, hardcore Dylan fans were frantically trying to figure out who was playing guitar on the far side of the stage. New guitarist Joel Paterson was joined at various points by both Julian Lage and Jad Tariq during the summer leg in the U.S., but they both had commitments in America that made it impossible for them to be in Norway for the tour opener. Paterson was back for the show alongside drummer Anton Fig and bassist Tony Garnier, and there was also a new guitarist that many fans believe is Mike Seal, even though setlist guru Bill Pagel is playing it safe by listing him as “?” in the band lineup that he includes under every song listing. 

Dylan was no help in this endeavor since he didn’t introduce his bandmates at any point. (He also didn’t remove the tight hoodie on his head or say a single word to the crowd.) But Ray Padgett’s Flagging Down the Double E’s newsletter features a dispatch from the show by Tom Wilkins that includes a close-up photo of the mystery guitarist. He looks quite a bit like a clean-shaven Mike Seal to our eyes, but we could be wrong. (In most normal situations, there would be a press release announcing the newest member of a major touring act or the musician would post the news himself. But Dylan’s band is like Fight Club. You have to pretend you’re not a part of it even while the tour is happening.)

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What we can say for sure is that the main set wrapped up with “I Shall Be Released,” but Dylan returned to the stage for a rare encore. He went with “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere,” which was the third Basement Tapes tune of the night. And at 19 songs, this was the longest Dylan show in recent memory. 

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The tour resumes October 19 in Horsens, Denmark, and then goes all across Europe before wrapping up with four nights at London’s Royal Festival Hall, which Dylan hasn’t played since 1964. Hopefully we’ll have a positive ID on the new guitarist by that point. (Mike Seal, our apologies if the new guy is merely your doppelgänger. And if it is you, congrats. We hope you last longer than some of the recent fellows. It’s been like Game of Thrones up on that stage this year.)

Bob Dylan’s October 17 setlist at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway: