The Bust Out Bard: Bob Dylan Continues Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour by Reviving “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” “Blind Willie McTell” and “Lonesome Day Blues,” Live Debut of Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party”

Bob Dylan cemented his spring 2025 status as the bust-out bard during last night’s set on Willie Nelson’s ongoing Outlaw Music Festival tour. After establishing his current motif, dusting off beloved originals and inserting seasoned covers into a single set during night one of the multi-artist run in Arizona, Dylan kept up the habit last night, reintroducing three originals and using the set’s final slot to evoke a first time take on Rick Nelson’s “Garden Party.”

Before the arrival of the set’s most talked-about moments, Dylan found an entry point on “Things Have Changed.” Notably, the number was a setlist staple from its initial 2000 debut, clear through 2019, when it fell off for five years, only to reappear during the musician’s live shows in 2024. Last night’s performance represented the first and only play this calendar year. “Simple Twist of Fate” preluded Tuesday night’s bust-outs, turned setlist arrivals, “Forgetful Heart,” and George Butler’s “Ace and the Wind.” 

Dylan and his longtime instrumental supporters positioned “To Ramona” ahead of the Tempest cut, “Early Roman Kings,” before running through the title track off his 27th studio record, Under the Red Sun, which set up an entrance for their follow-up, Charlie Rich’s “I’ll Make It All Up To You.” Seeking a moment to reflect on this catalog, Dylan produced a tight run of originals: “All Along the Watchtower,” “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry,” “Desolation Row,” and “Love Sick.” 

The segment above preluded the concert’s initial dust off, “Longsome Day Blues,” performed for the first time since the musician’s June 2017 slot at Firefly Music Festival. The move effectively established a pattern that included a bust out of “Blind Willie McTell” [entering Dylan’s live repertoire for the first time since 2017], and the beloved “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright,” last performed nearly five years prior, on July 7, 2019 in Germany. 

For the bard’s final move, he offered a live debut of Nelson’s original “Garden Party.” Watch the first time cover below.

Bob Dylan 

Outlaw Music Festival 2025

North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre – Chula Vista, Calif.

May 15, 2025

Set: Things Have Changed, Simple Twist of Fate, Forgetful Heart, Axe and the Wind, To Ramona, Early Roman Kings, Under the Red Sky, I’ll Make It All Up To You, All Along the Watchtower, It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry, Desolation Row, Love Sick, Lonesome Day Blues#, Share Your Love With Me, Blind Willie McTell#, Don’t Think Twice#, It’s All Right

Enc.: Garden Party+

Notes:

# Bust out 

+ Debut 

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