As someone born in the year 2000, I missed out on Dylan going electric, becoming a recluse, a 
preacher, and a bad Prince cosplayer. I wasn't there when the idea of Wilburys tour was a 
reasonable thought, nor when Bob decided to play folk tunes again, or when he won Album Of 
The Year at the Grammys 35 or so years after starting out. My conscious memory, and fandom 
of Dylan starts sometime in 2016. The world had sort of come to terms with all the above things, 
and by most accounts Bob Dylan seemed to just be doing his own thing. He won a Nobel prize 
later that year, and I carried a newspaper with me to school to show all the Bob-deniers around 
me. Life was good. 
Now, having missed out on all that history, and being in a country Bob has never performed in, I 
would have bet a whole lot of money saying I'd never get to experience Bob being booed while 
he was on stage. Last night, that changed. There were boos, angry huffing and puffing, maybe 
even some fits of rage. One person near me told his friends and family as they tried to calm him 
that he's going to boo till "he brings his ass out in front of me." He listed all the years he had 
seen Bob in before, and must have gone back all the way to the industrial revolution. Another 
person went "ain't no one knows that song" before booing a little bit as Bob went into "Early 
Roman Kings." The newspaper carrying kid in me came back to life, and while I usually shut up 
and listen to the man, I sang every single word of "Early Roman Kings" loud enough for this 
person to know that people do know this song. 
All the boos were short-lived for what that's worth. Whether the music won them over or others 
told them to shut it, I don't know. The usual chit-chat that goes on at all the Outlaw dates never 
stopped. Security was strict about pictures from the front though. Lots of disgruntled people 
because of that, many of the people booing and chit-chatting included. "We may not like the 
show but we want to remember it" - maybe these people look at the pictures just to feel enraged 
all over again. 
In my 8 times having seen him since coming to the US in 2022, he had never sounded quite so 
powerful in his voice as yesterday. I couldn't help but think of the way he sings on Live 66. My 
girlfriend, who has also been to 8 Dylan shows now (6 of them with me) said among other things 
that it sounded like "he let the band play this time." I wonder if Dylan told them to play it f***ing 
loud before the show. 
Of course, there was also the mystery of the new band member on stage. No one near me 
realized that there was something funny going on, but I could just feel it in the air. After missing 
out on Farm Aid 2023 and the surprise appearance, I am glad I got to experience Bob doing 
something completely unexpected with my own eyes and ears. It was incredible being the one 
to break the story on ExpectingRain after the show ended. 
This was the last Dylan show for me this year, unless there's something surprising happening 
after the Europe tour. I look forward to next year, and being able to witness wherever Bob takes 
his music next.
 
Shahbaz Khan