Bob Dylan has been adding unexpected songs into his live set ever since his Lights of Autumn tour kicked off October 17 in Oslo, Norway. The trend continued Saturday night in Bologna, Italy, when he dug out the Love and Theft classic “Sugar Baby” for the first time since 2012. There’s no video since fans have to place their phones in pouches, but remarkably clean audio has emerged.
Throughout the course of the tour, Dylan has broken out covers of Randy Newman’s “Louisiana 1927,” Guy Clark’s “Dublin Blues,” and completely new arrangements of “Tangled Up In Blue” (including a new verse) and “Tryin’ to Get to Heaven.” He’s also brought back “Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood),” “Girl From the North Country,” “Million Miles” and “High Water” after long absences.
When the tour began, jazz/blues guitarist Mike Seal had joined the band alongside guitarist Joel Paterson, bassist Tony Garnier, and drummer Anton Fig. But after eight shows, Seal exited the tour without explanation. He was replaced by Julian Lage, who has been parachuting in and out of the tour as his schedule permits throughout the year. Amazingly, this is his fifth stint in the group since June.
Lage has no solo shows on his calendar until January, so it’s possible that he remains on the Dylan tour until it wraps up December 8 at London’s Royal Festival Hall. But it’s impossible to be sure since six different guitarists have shared the stage with Dylan in just the past few months. The list includes Bob Britt, Doug Lancio, Lage, Paterson, Seal, and Jad Tariq.
On the U.S. summer tour, Tariq was in the band whenever Lage had a prior commitment. But that duty fell to Seal once the show headed over to Europe in the fall. Tariq racked up only five dates in total, and Seal beat him by lasting three more.
The tour continues Monday at the Arena Stozice in Ljubljana, Slovenia. If more surprises come into the set, expect them to come from The Basement Tapes, Time Out of Mind or Love and Theft. For whatever reason, those three albums have been his focus over the past few months.
