Just got back from the Outlaw Festival at Jones Beach. First saw Dylan there 
in 1988 for two nights. The theater, an outdoor amphitheater used to be 
exclusively for concerts by Guy Lombardo and The Royal Canadians. In the 1980s
it was taken over by the promoter Ron Delsner who turned it into a rock venue. 
Located on Zach's Bay it can be a humid sticky affair and tonight was no 
exception. The crowds are usually obnoxious and inconsiderate, more interested 
in their cell phones than the music. There was a fairly large contingent of 
Bobcats up front and multiple standing ovations throughout the night.
Same set list as the last few shows with Micky Raphael guesting on harmonica on 
Simple Twist Of Fate. Bob's vocals were clear and strong and the arrangements 
worked well for the most part. Under The Red Sky was a real treat complete with 
an extended harmonica solo. To my surprise Mr. Blue really worked. Stella Blue 
was greeted with applause once the crowd heard the chorus. The only arrangements 
that didn't work for me were Things Have Changed and Can't Wait. The latter is 
more suited to a small venue and the former sounded too much like Highway 61 as 
strange as that may sound. The band still seems a little unsure at times. The 
ending of Ballad of A Thin Man was a complete cluster fuck with the band totally 
lost as they started slowing down to end the song while Bobby had other ideas.

Stephen Goldberg

How was the show last night?

I thought it was a fantastic show start to finish. The opening act Celisse
is a real talent. You  will like the Robert Plant & Alison Krauss's set.
Two great singers and they play their versions of a couple Zeppelin songs.
I thought Dylan was in excellent voice with a brilliant backing band. You
might want to look at the setlist which is fixed and read over some of the
lyrics because the songs are largely deep cuts. 'Dylan-heads' know them all
by heart but for more casual fans they probably will not sound familiar. I
was greatly impressed with Simple Twist of Fate and Ballad of a Thin Man.
Perhaps, because it is a festival tour, he does more covers than usual
including Chuck Berry's Little Queenie, the poignant Dead song Stella Blue,
and the song Six Days on the Road. The venue was great and Dylan allowed
them to use the big screens for his performance which is very
uncharacteristic. If tonight's show (Holmdel) were in the city or more
easily accessible, I'd go see him again in a minute. He played fifteen
songs and left you wishing he played longer. My regret is I missed most of
Highway 61, the opening song, because of French fries! that I waited in a
long line for! An embarrassingly bad trade-off. I am a hardcore Dylan fan,
having seen him for the first time with The Band in 1974, as well as
catching two Rolling Thunder shows in 1976. Since then I catch him every
time the tour comes to Nyc (I have lost count at this point). That said, a
less smitten attendee may have a completely different take-away. I thought
his singing was very clear, even with his idiosyncratic phrasing. If I had
my druthers, I'd swap out some of the songs for others, but as a composite
it flowed smoothly and had good variety in terms of tempo and lyrical
styles, from the surreal to nursery rhyme, to americana and folk. His three
year foray into the Great American Songbook and Sinatra tunes may have
trained him to be a better singer, or at least a more versatile one.
Willie Nelson's son Luke did his Dad proud. He and the band sounded
fantastic. As good as it was, we left before the end of Nelson's set,
having heard what we mainly came to see and hear. I am confident you will
come away appreciating Dylan's music even more than ever. Enjoy!

Michael Sobsey

It was great to see Bob command Jones Beach last night, equipped with a
refreshed arsenal of his classic songs and a slightly rearranged band. The
setlist and the tempo of his current show are a departure from the R&RW
tour, but it feels as though Bob and his band have been practicing. Bob's
voice was loud and clear for the entire night and each musician tight and
playing with vigor. Honorable mention to Thin Man, a song I'd never fully
warmed up to but stole the show last night. Under The Red Sky was the
perfect outdoor summer song and was sung with great finesse. His rendition
of Stella Blue was fantastic - having seen him cover this song in Boston
2023, I can tell he's worked at perfecting it since then. Many of the
other rock and roll covers were rollicking and cause for dancing. Neat to
see him bring out Mickey Raphael on harp for Simple Twist - I'm not sure
I've ever seen Bob bring out a special guest. Always evolving! I enjoyed
I'll Be Your Baby tonight as the set closer, a nod to the monumental R&RW
tour which gets farther in the rear view mirror with each passing show.
Bob's piano playing continues to improve and he is blowing on the harp
exceptionally well. Looking forward to Holmdel tonight and then wherever
else Bob may take us.

Dan D.

Saturday afternoon/night, Jones Beach Theater on Long Island, in the
suburbs of NYC.

It feels good to be back on the road following Bob for a few gigs. Goodbye
Rough and Rowdy ways tour... hello Outlaw Tour. This is the first of four
shows I will catch on the tour. A warm summer day and an easy 45min. drive
to the venue by the bay. I was accompanied by my wife Jacqueline (her 22nd
Bob show) and our friend Michelle (her 1st Bob show... she loved it).
I'm not of fan of festival shows, but I make an exception for our hero.
The festival shows usually include too many drunk, chatty people who seem
uninterested in whoever is on stage. Tonight was not too bad, a decently
behaved crowd.

The Jones Beach theater is oddly placed at the water's edge and the tour
buses are parked in a lot beside the water. The easiest way for the
performers to get to the stage is by walking along the aisle on the
water's edge and up the stairs behind a wall that leads backstage (not
sure how else they get backstage, but I know they must have an alternate
entry point). My seat was situated on the aisle, so I figured I may get a
chance to see some performers walk past me. But I also knew that there was
no way in hell Bob was going to do that walk along the side of the venue,
although his security guard was constantly going from the stage to the
parking lot/buses. The roadies were also in constant motion moving gear
off the stage and moving it past me to the parking lot/buses. I kept an
eye on those buses. There were also a couple of police boats moored at the
pier and scores of people moving back and forth from the stage to the
parking lot. At one point before Plant/Krauss came on, Bob Britt came down
the stairs from the stage walking down the aisle towards me... I was the
only one who noticed him... as he walked by, I said, "Hi Mr. Britt, good
luck with the show tonight", he turned and said, "Thank you", and
proceeding walking towards the buses. A bit later Celise walked past me.
Anyway, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss came on around 6:30pm and gave a
great show. They had the crowd up and singing/dancing many times. Good
setlist. After their set, as the stage was being prepped for Bob, Robert
Plant came down the stairs with some well disguised security guards, and
he himself was hidden under a pullover. But I noticed him, and I gave him
a big shout out, "Great show Robert!". My wife was now relaxing 10
rows back with her friend Michelle and she did not see him... she misses
all the stars! Sorry honey.

Still, no way Bob was coming past me. I was wondering if he would take one
of the police boats to the backstage. So, I kept my eye on the parking
lot/buses/boats, and lo and behold who do I see... shrouded like a boxer
coming into the ring was Bob Dylan, along with Tony Garnier. It happened
quick, but I saw it all... Bob and Tony are walking towards the police
boats, security/police jump into action, one of the cops grabs the line
from the boat to secure a bit for Bob. But Bob stops at the boat, looks at
the set-up and turns and walks the other way. I could see the body
language on Bob... "There's no way &#)@#*ing way I'm stepping over
the edge of the pier onto that boat!" So Tony follows Bob as he walks
towards a bunch of black SUVs and hops into one... Bob gets driven to the
backstage! Cool! But, oh, of course my wife missed the whole thing!

Now to Bob's show, and I'll keep it short. He sounded great, although
as usual he enunciated when and where he wanted. Intriguing setlist.
Firing from the get-go with HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED. I loved hearing SHOOTING
STAR... this was not his best version, though it was good. The covers were
great to hear. Unlike others, I thought the sparse arrangement of CAN'T
WAIT was really cool. Same thing for THINGS HAVE CHANGED which to me was
reminiscent of the way he treated MY OWN VERSION OF YOU on the last of the
Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. The highlight of the night for me was SIMPLE
TWIST OF FATE, and if you asked me if I wanted to hear that song again in
concert... no way... to many times... give me something else. But tonight,
that song WAS something else. Bob sang it with clarity, passion and
wistfulness. It was filled out by great harp playing from Mickey Raphael
(from the Wilson Band). Sublime, and worth the price of admission. We were
treated to a rousing I'LL BE YOUR BABY TONIGHT to finish the show...
number 86 for me.

Stayed for the Nelson Band, they were good, but I was not too impressed,
although it was nice to see/hear Edie Brickell as a surprise guest.

It was great to see some familiar Bobcats in such a large crowd. Always
great to see Ed, who was relaxing in a chair with a beverage with Michelle
nearby. It would not be a Dylan show without the woman who has the license
plate DYLAN. Hello to Sue and her sunflower shining daughter Chelsea!
Thanks for the hits Chelsea... I owe you. Hope the drive back to Canada
goes/went well for you ladies. Visit me in NYC when you get in town next
time. I saw Fanboy. Also saw Jayne... you're welcome... I would never
have left you alone in the streets of Brooklyn, NY. Jacqueline and I also
met a nice couple, Eric and Stephanie (hope I got that right).

Next show Holmdel, NJ.
Don't you miss it!

The dancing cowboy from NYC