Show Review: Bob Dylan Brings "Rough and Rowdy Ways" Tour to Sacramento
Bob Dylan
Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
Sacramento, CA
June 25th, 2022
Review by Jared Stossel
If you’ve followed this outlet for any amount of time, you’ll notice the heavy reliance on live music photography with our show reviews. Photojournalism is the foundation of our live music coverage. However, not all artists allow photography. From time to time, as the editor of this outlet, I must decide whether it’s worth it go and cover an artist whilst providing no photography after the fact. I’ve made certain exceptions over the years, most recently with Stevie Nicks when we covered her excellent performance at Shoreline Amphitheatre earlier this month. There is no denying that Bob Dylan had to be one of these exceptions. I understand that all music is subjective, but this is a fact: Bob Dylan is one of the greatest songwriters to ever live. This is a fact that is as immovable as gravity itself. There are so few artists that can claim this title, and even fewer that can cite having a Noble Prize in Literature under their belt for their contributions to the American songwriting lexicon.
I’ve heard a lot about Bob Dylan’s shows over the years. I’ve heard he doesn’t play as many of the hits that he’s become known for over the last several decades, often opting to hang out behind the piano rather than pick up a guitar. For older Dylan fans, this has led to heavy criticism of Dylan’s more recent performances. After attending yesterday evening’s performance at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, I found those observations to be true. But to be completely honest, I didn’t care all that much. I knew this was going to be a different kind of show. Dylan is 81 now. The higher-pitched vocal tenor that Dylan is known for has evolved into a deeper, gravely rasp, and when you’ve released thirty-nine (!) studio albums and have been on a “Never Ending Tour” since June of 1988, you’re pretty much bound to perform whatever you want. The audience is just along for the ride at this point.
Bob Dylan took the stage to the sold-out crowd a little after 8 PM, opening with the Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits, Vol 2 opener “Watching The River Flow”. This would mark his fifth and final Northern California show this month, already having performed three dates at Oakland’s Fox Theater and a night at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. A majority of the songs in his current setlist come from Rough and Rowdy Ways, his most recent studio album and collection of original material. It was surprising to see Dylan focus so much on his newer material than opting to just pull out the hits, and I commend him for it. I find it astonishing when people get worked up about an artist playing their newer material. Why do you think they wrote it in the first place? To play it live.
A selection of classic Dylan cuts were featured throughout the night, including “Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine” (Blonde on Blonde), “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” (John Wesley Harding), “To Be Alone With You” (Nashville Skyline), and even a cover of Frank Sinatra’s “Melancholy Mood”. Dylan barely moves from behind the piano, only standing up and moving to the forefront to bow to the audience (I counted at least three standing ovations throughout the nearly ninety minute performance). I don’t think he said a single word throughout the evening that wasn’t his song lyrics, with the exception of the band introductions that took place at the end of “Goodbye Jimmy Reed”, the evening’s penultimate track.
As the band played through to the closing notes of “Every Grain of Sand” from Shot of Love, the audience stood up as Bob Dylan and his band walked off into the night and the house lights came up. I would have loved to have seen more, and I would have loved to have heard songs like “The Times They Are A-Changin’, “Like a Rolling Stone”, or “Shelter From The Storm”. But I didn’t get my hopes up. I was just grateful to see a living legend.
Bob Dylan Set List
Watching The River Flow
Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine
I Contain Multitudes
False Prophet
When I Paint My Masterpiece
I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Black Rider
My Own Version of You
Crossing The Rubicon
To Be Alone With You
Key West (Philosopher Pirate)
Gotta Serve Somebody
I’ve Made Up My Mind To Give Myself To You
Melancholy Mood (Frank Sinatra cover)
Mother of Muses
Goodbye Jimmy Reed
Every Grain of Sand
Bob Dylan
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