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After three years, the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour comes to an end this week at the Royal Albert Hall. Any speculation that a Beacon show or two could still get added, however unlikely at this late date, was finally squashed by a longtime crew member writing that these were the “last 3 shows of the year.” This is it. Until whatever’s next.
Following this fall tour from afar, as I had been up until last night, it looked like an odd way to end things. For one, it seemed unlike Dylan to turn the page—as he did this summer, switching to the entirely different Outlaw Tour—and then turn the page back. Once he was done with Rolling Thunder, he was done with Rolling Thunder, you know? He didn’t revive it for another go-round after the 1978 tour.
The other bit of on-paper oddness was the setlist. After the entire 2.5-year tour featured an almost entirely unchanged setlist (say it with me: except for the covers), suddenly the Rough and Rowdy setlist has looked different these last two months. The songs from the titular album remained, naturally, but jettisoned were some equally core older songs. “Most Likely You Go Your Way,” “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” “Gotta Serve Somebody”—staples up until now, as seemingly integral to the show as “I Contain Multitudes,” all given the boot (as was “River Flow” briefly, but, like a cockroach, it always finds a way to survive). Even weirder: In their place? A bunch of “voice of a generation”-era greatest hits. Very un-Rough and Rowdy.
So my question going into night one of the Royal Albert Hall was: Does this even feel like a Rough and Rowdy show anymore?...
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