Sunday Night at The Gorge - Bob Dylan for 7 Songs?

Dylan's set gets cut in half thanks to some scary winds and looming storm

Friends, your old pal was very sad last night and this morning. But after spending the day traveling back home, drinking coffee and watching all the amazing up-close videos I got from last night, I think I’m ok. Let’s dive right in.

The Trip:

After a delightful day in Seattle I drove 2 hours to Quincy, WA to finally check off 1 of 4 of my Bucket List Bob Items. What are the four you ask?

1. Bob at The Beacon in NY - ✅

2. Bob at The Hollywood Bowl - ✅

3. Bob at The Gorge - ✅

4. Bob in Europe - TBD

I was ready for it!🐍

The Venue:

What can I say? The Gorge is as advertised. It’s absolutely stunning from all angles. It definitely lives up to the hype and is worthy of a bucket list. After exploring a bit I went down to my seats which were in the SECOND row on the aisle. Just absolute perfection. I got there in time for Billy Strings who was FANTASTIC. He opened up with one of my favorite folks songs, “Blues Stay Away From Me”

His set was fantastic but the most thrilling part had to be what Tony Garnier in his civilian gear wandered over to watch 3 songs. I texted everyone I know with the question, “Is Tony scouting Billy for another walk on?” If he was, we’ll never know….

The Crowd:

Really nice crowd of folks of all ages who were ready to party and support whomever was on stage. They were there for Willie but stoked for Bob and everyone else. Everyone who I met was super nice. If you read my review on the Birthday Show, you know that I was kind of bummed till I found my Bob people. I didn’t have to look far as the man in the long black coat, the Early Roman Kings defender, Peter Hayward and his super cool wife Brie, were two seats down from me! We ended up commiserating for most of the night, much later.

The Show:

Bob came out ready to go, and truly en fuego 🔥! Everyone was on their feet for “Gotta Serve Somebody” and grooving. My jaw was on the floor when I saw how close I was to him. I’m still not over it. See for yourself.

Diving right into “Simple Twist Of Fate,” the crowd seemed really happy to be hearing another familiar one. I didn’t want to be holding up my phone the whole time, so I just grabbed a clip of my favorite line where he does this thing where he’s having a conversation with himself:

Bob: “Found a note she left behind.”

Bob: “What’d it say?”

Bob: “Said you shoulda been here in ‘58”

He started doing this variation on the lyrics back in 2019 and it makes me chuckle every time.

Remember how I said I didn’t want to be holding up my phone the whole time? Well that sort of went right out the window on the next song, “Forgetful Heart".” I was so excited to hear this gem once again. I tried to capture Doug and Britt on those big chords after each line. Here’s something different than the night before - most people sat down once this one started, but many stood to sway and dance and no one complained. A great vibe from this crowd. See if you can spot Dougie’s rockin’, loud chords around the :50 mark.

Ok, “Axe And The Wind.” THIS SONG RULES! I’ve been humming it in my head for the last 3 days. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite covers he’s ever done. Just a damn good blues rocker that he and the band have fun playing. Check out when Dylan gives the nod to Britt to take a solo.

Up next would be what would become the highlight of the night, only because we’re more than halfway done with the set. “To Ramona,” one of the signature 60’s songs Bob brought back. What a joy to hear him sing the words “Cracked Country Lips," shoutout to bestie Olivia! And seeing him play harmonica on this one, wow. I was in awe and truly moved to tears.

I normally don’t have much to say about “Early Roman Kings,” because I’ve seen it so many times and would swap it out for any other song but a Muddy Watersesque blues jam with this crowd was just what we needed. Heavy blues riffs, Bob bopping, what more can I say about it? By this time, the wind started picking up pretty heavily and we were all nervously looking at the sky and at our weather apps wondering what was going to happen.

Well, that brings us to the final song, “Under The Red Sky.” There was something ominous and creepy about Bob singing, “Let the wind blow low, let the wind blow high” as his lyric sheets were flapping all over the place, his hair blowing (swoon) and PAs, security and Livenation workers scurrying around panicking. The irony was Bob was really cooking at this point. He seemed either completely unaware that anything was wrong, or just didn’t care. Show must go on attitude. What a pro.

The End:

This was where things unfortunately went off the rails. The second the song was over a PA scurried over to Bob and Tony, whispered something in his ear and in one swift move whisked him away.

This was followed by an announcement of a pause in the show and to move to the plaza for safety. We hung out for about an hour, and even started to move towards the exit. The winds were definitely scary and the sky didn’t look good but we didn’t get rained on at all. The whole time we wondered, “Will Bob come back?” We were told the show would continue so we started to head back. Much to our dismay (and delight of the Willie fans) they were setting up for Willie’s set. Next the question was, “Could Bob come out and join Willie for a song?” Nope. After about another hour of waiting we were getting close to 10:30 and I just had to hit the road for my 2 hour drive, followed by a 7AM flight.

If I’m being completely honest, it was a sad way to end a magical trip and I was very dissapointed. However, I’m trying to force myself to focus on the positives.

1. The Gorge was beautiful and amazing

2. I had the best seats I’ve ever had for Bob and got amazing up-close pics and video of that gorgeous man

3. According to Bobserve and the great Dylyricus, I saw the shortest set list since 1988! So I was a part of history! LOL.

I don’t know for sure when my next show will be, but likely June 19-20 in the Midwest. Until then enjoy these videos, audio of the show and if you’d like to see more pictures send me a message and I’ll add you to the shared album.

Thanks for reading and we’ll see you again next time.

Your Pal,

Henry

P.S. Shameless plug for my merch site which has lots of fun stuff perfect for Outlaw Fest!