| Review Palm Desert, California Acrisure Arena June 20, 2026 |
Review by Alex Sherman
Palm Desert v. Berkeley night one
Bob’s Long Hot Summer tour curiously skipped the largest county in the
country (Los Angeles) so I booked a flight to Berkeley to finally get to
the Greek and check that legendary venue off my bucket list. It was so
worth the trip. What the venue lacks for comfort makes up in vibes in
spades. The UC belltower chimed a series of traditional songs at 6, and I
played makebelieve it was Bob at work. Before the show began, we saw Wavy
Gravy and Tony Garnier chatting affably for quite a while - Tony played
the recent 90th birthday benefit as I recall. Wikipedia has some good
trivia on Bob and Wavy's deep connections. Wavy in his trademark rainbow
chapeau and clown nose, but looking very much his age. I am guessing the
Greek theater was designed as a relatively precise replica of an ancient
amphitheater — so this is the closest I'm getting to my dream of
seeing the Bard in Athens or Rome. For a summer outdoor show the audience
is focused and attentive like everyone had a post-doctorate and it is a
"serious" show (even though all shows are either serious — serious
serious or serious fun). I won't go song by song, but for me it was a
perfect show. His voice was coated in honey. Every line delivered with
intention and tenderness. His phrasing on the simple rhymes of under the
red sky was majestic. His reading of I Can Tell was like Brando taking on
a Tennessee Williams monologue. Those were the peaks for me, but the
entire show was at a very high level. And the band was excellent.
Intuitive and locked in. Controlled intensity with carefully dosed
catharsis. It will go down as one of my favorite shows ever.
Now when I heard Julian Lage replaced Doug Lancio, I was extremely
excited. I wasn't planning to see Bob in the LA region but by Saturday
morning, reviews were coming in that Julian was helping time fold in on
itself in San Bernardino, so I bought a ticket at 3pm and hopped in my
car, drove past and through the Boyle Heights airborne toxic event (very
concerning), and arrived at the "Acrisure" Arena by John Doe's first
song. The long hot summer desert air was blowing hard on this ice hockey
rink — an ice hockey arena in the desert feels like a betrayal of the
lords creation and the vibe out there is not so good. People are
complaining about lines where there are literally none. Where Berkeley
felt communal — we had the founder of Hog Farm in the house, come on —
Palm Desert was the polar opposite. Cops in militarized outfits for some
reason. John Doe and Lucinda sounded great. Their vocals were perfect in
the mix. Then Bob came on and from where I was sitting there were constant
sound issues. His vocals were low in the mix and sounded dry. He fidgeted
with his mic several times. There were a few instances of feedback. Also
Julian's guitar was low in the mic. I struggled to hear it but it was
there. But beyond the sound issues, Bob's vocals were shaggier than in
Berkeley. There was a lot more growl, and his phrasing was off, like his
breath control was fatigued. The band was also far from gelled. Julian had
some excellent solos, but was too often on the verge of cooking. He is a
subtle player but this felt like he was being kept on a short leash. He
was about to explode on Masterpiece when Bob abruptly ended the song.
Maybe there were stage audio problems, but the chemistry didn't seem to
be there. I wish I could report otherwise. Others will have different
opinions, I'm sure.
As a final note. Security is heavily policing phone use during the bob set
with extremely obnoxious strobing flashlights. They were using them in
Berkeley and Palm Desert. My guess is the strobes are traveling with the
tour. People should not use phones as Bob requests, but it feels a little
too much like the medicine is worse than the disease.
Review by Mike Stillman
I really enjoyed the Bob Dylan show in Palm Desert last night. Though I
had seen him play about forty times in previous decades and millennia, I
had not experienced a live performance since 2009, and I was glad to be
back in the fold.
With the wisdom of age, he has learned not to push his vocals too hard, or
hold notes too long. He frequently sings in a hushed, confiding voice, as
if he's telling you a personal secret, and this style colors his lyrics
well, along with the subdued stage lighting (no spots, amber color only).
He uses subtle, knowing inflections, like the great jazz vocalists Billie
Holiday and Dinah Washington.
Speaking of jazz, guitarist Julian Lage has been on board for the last few
shows, and no one seems to know if he is a temporary substitution or a
more permanent change. Since he has his own recording and touring career
as a bandleader on Blue Note Records, it seems more likely to be
temporary. But he fit very well with the veteran band last night, taking
concise, focused solos that occasionally hinted of jazz with a well-placed
and well-voiced chord among the single-note lines.
The show started with a few familiar classics, though in different
arrangements and/or tempos from the studio albums. "Watching the River
Flow" was interesting, but Bob and the band, as well as the audience, were
still warming up and calibrating their ears. "The Man in the Long Black
Coat" and "All Along the Watchtower" were dramatic but different, as if a
new director had taken charge of a film and kept the script and moods
intact while changing the settings and line readings. Some casual fans
have been annoyed by this kind of rearrangement, but it forces them to pay
closer attention to the lyrics and exist in the present moment.
"Trying to Get to Heaven," the only TOOM song of the evening, was
well-sung and appreciated. The evening's first of five Rough And Rowdy
Ways songs was "False Prophet" which, among other pithy lyrics,
entertainingly quotes a Ricky Nelson song over a riff that wouldn't be out
of place on a Bo Diddley album, which juxtaposed well with the next song
"I Can Tell," a rambunctious rocker that is most well-known from a Bo
Diddley album of the early '60s, though written by one Samuel Smith.
"Black Rider" was my favorite from the "Rough and Rowdy Ways" album, and
it has sharpened and intensified in live performance. This was the song
that first gripped the audience last night, drawing full attention from
the attendees who had been chatty earlier, and we were all listening
intently from here to the end of the set. Bob and the band were fully
involved, playing and vocalising at a very high level. Though the venue
was a minor-league hockey arena, not necessarily designed for acoustics,
the sound was surprising good, and every instrument and vocal cord could
be discerned in the mix, with no boominess or off-color reflecting pools.
Next was "Share Your Love With Me," which was popularized by Aretha
Franklin on her Fillmore West live album, though written by Alfred Braggs,
and credited to Alfred Braggs and Deadric Malone. Bob dug into the piano
part with an approximation of Lady Soul's jam at Fillmore West, and sang
it well in his own style.
One of the evening's highlights for creativity and just plain fun was the
jaunty rearrangement of "When I Paint My Masterpiece." It used a samba
beat and chords in a style that was a little like the 1927 Irving Berlin
hit "Puttin' on the Ritz." There were thousands of surprised facial
expressions and smiles as people were nodding their heads to the tune and
then recognized the lyrics. I'll have to listen again and live with this
one for a while to decide how well I think the arrangement conveys
meaning, but if it works for Bob, it works for me.
Then came "I'll Make It All Up To You," a Charlie Rich song that charted
in a cover by Jerry Lee Lewis. This was one of four covers in the setlist,
all lesser-known songs by well-known talents that Bob maybe wanted to
bring to our attention, delving into some deep catalogs of excellence that
haven't been fully appreciated. Mr. Dylan's current stage persona probably
was influenced a little by Jerry Lee Lewis, but more by Charlie Rich as a
singer/songwriter/pianist with sincere and nuanced but mature and
restrained expressive powers.
"Crossing The Rubicon" is another recent original that has improved in
live performance, with changes in tempo and a great dynamic range from
soft to loud. Drummer Anton Fig could carry the song on his own without
any guitars, and his intentionally off-beat percussion accents were
inventive and ear-catching.
The rest of the show was superb too. Bob's set started about 8:55pm and
lasted for about 90 excellent minutes and sixteen songs. "Under the Red
Sky" had the first harmonica of the evening, which drew a big cheer from
the crowd, and there was also harmonica on the concluding "Every Grain of
Sand" which was beautifully sung and played, and of course appropriate for
a show in the desert (or anywhere else). What a great show it was, and I'm
glad I went.
Mike Stillman
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