bob dylan tour new york city

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Bob Dylan's Greenwich Village Walking Tour

This post is a self-guided tour of places in Greenwich Village that are significant in Bob Dylan's career.

It includes venues he played at, buildings he lived in, and other Dylan-related spots.

SELF-GUIDED TOUR OF BOB DYLAN'S GREENWICH VILLAGE

This self-guided tour has 13 stops and covers approximately 1 1/2 miles. Walking at a casual speed, the tour will take you 90 minutes.

Should you get hungry along the way, there are some fantastic places to grab food and snacks in Greenwich Village. 

See our guide on things to do in Greenwich Village to see a list of places to eat.

This map is interactive. You can make it larger as well as scroll around.

Watch the video clips included with each location for even more detail and images as well.  

(A) Hotel Earle (now Washington Square Park Hotel) -  103 Waverly Place

When a young Bob Dylan (nee Robert Zimmerman) arrived in New York in the winter of 1961, he stayed there for a short while in Room 305.

Back then it was a residential hotel for down-and-outers.

His friend Joan Baez made reference to the Earle in her bittersweet love song about Dylan, Diamonds, and Rust , in the lyric “that crummy hotel over Washington Square.” 

Today the hotel is Washington Square Hotel and, ironically, this former flophouse is one of our picks for an affordable hotel in the Greenwich Village area.

(B) Washington Square Park 

This could be called the epicenter of the bohemian scene and hippie movement of the 1960s. 

Street performers, musicians, and artists frequent the park in all kinds of weather.

Bob Dylan was known to listen to the groups enjoying their daylight hours strumming guitars or banjos and singing — often for tips, or just for the sheer fun of it.  

For a detailed history of the park, check out our post on Washington Square Park .

(C) The Bitter End - 147 Bleecker Street

This small and intimate nightclub, coffeehouse, and folk music venue opened in 1961. 

Every Tuesday night, the club hosted  "hootenannies" where newbie folk artists took the stage, many of whom went on to become legends.

In the mid-1970s, the club was the birthplace of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue, which featured such musicians as Roger McGuinn, founder of the Byrds, and solo folk music superstar Joni Mitchell. 

Dylan hung out here in 1975 when he was recording his album  Desire .

(D) Village Gate - 158 Bleecker Street

Now renamed the Village Theater, this nightclub was opened in 1958 and hosted some of the most controversial (and talented) names in jazz, theater, comedy, and folk music.

In 1962, Dylan was staying with his friend Chip Monck, who lived in the basement of this building.

It was here that Dylan wrote A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall .

Chip Monck too went on to fame. He started his career as a stage lighter at the Village Gate.

He went on to light both the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and Woodstock in 1969, where he was the master of ceremonies.

(E) 94 MacDougal Street  

Dylan purchased this townhouse in 1969 when he returned from a long hiatus in Woodstock with his wife and children. 

This was a surprising choice of location now that Dylan was world-famous.

MacDougal Steet was one a magnet for locals and tourists and would not afford Dylan much privacy.

To this day, MacDougal Street is one of the liveliest streets in Greenwich Village.

It is lined with music venues, cafes, shops, and restaurants. 

A neighbor by the name of A.J. Weberman made the Dylans' lives miserable by invading their privacy by picking through their trash garbage and bringing loads of people to the townhouse.

After asking Weberman over and over again to stop, Dylan lost it one day and beat up Weberman on the street.

Dylan shortly thereafter moved to Malibu in California.

(F) The Folklore Center - 110 MacDougal Street

This book and music shop owned by Izzy Young became the center of the folk music scene in Greenwich Village. 

The young Bob Dylan would sit in the back and listen to the records.

In 1961, Dylan played a few songs here and it was recorded.

The video below contains the rare recording of his 3 song performance set to a still photograph. 

  Izzy Young booked Dylan’s first concert in New York City at the Carnegie Chapter Hall in 1961. In tribute, Dylan wrote “Talking Folklore Center.”

The Folklore Center is, according to Dylan, where he met Dave Van Ronk, who introduced him to the Greenwich Village music scene.

(G) Gaslight Cafe  (formerly Kettle of Fish) - 116 MacDougal Street

This music cafe was located in what was the basement of the Kettle of Fish (now on Christopher Street). 

The album Live at The Gaslight 196 2, released in 2005, is a collection of 10 Dylan performances recorded on reel-to-reel tapes in his early days in the Village.

The Gaslight Cafe is known as the birthplace of the tradition of finger-snapping instead of clapping for a performer! Here's how this came about:

The basement cafe was not deep enough for a decent-sized audience, so the owner shoveled it deeper himself. In doing so, he exposed the airshafts in the building.

When the audience especially enjoyed a performer, such as Dylan who performed here often in the early days, they would clap heartily.

Sometimes these boisterous performances went on as late as 4:30 a.m.

The sound of loud clapping echoed through the airshafts and could be heard by the tenants.

They would often call the police to complain about the noise from below.

Patrons began to snap their fingers to quietly show their appreciation of performers. Thus a tradition was born.

(H) Cafe Wha? - 115 MacDougal Street

  Cafe Wha? is a music venue that has been a launchpad known as a launchpad for new musicians' careers.

In January of 1961, a 19-year-old Dylan (still going by the name Robert Zimmerman) arrived in NYC

He Café Wha? on his first night in town. He did a short set of Woodie Guthrie songs.

Check out our post about  Cafe Wha?  for an in-depth history of the other famous musicians and comedians who performed here.

(I) The former site of The Commons - 105 MacDougal Street

This location was once The Commons, a cafe that held poetry readings, and folk music and jazz performances. 

Today it is a mediocre but popular restaurant, Panchito's. 

You would never know by looking at it that this was where Dylan wrote Blowin' in the Wind.

(J) Jones Street - between West 4th and Bleecker Streets

Dylan fans will no doubt immediately recognize this intersection as the spot where the photograph on the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan  was shot.

Dylan is hunched against the cold weather with then-girlfriend Suze Rotolo hanging on his arm trudging through the snow-covered street.  

At that time Dylan and Rotolo lived at 161 West 4th Street off of Sixth Avenue.

(K) One Sheridan Square

Dylan lived here briefly on the 4th floor, staying with "folk scene den mother" Miki Isaacson whose living room was a permanent crash pad for folk singers. 

Suze Rotolo’s mother lived in the apartment one floor below. Dylan and Suze crossed paths here and began dating.

A year after that album cover was shot, Dylan swiftly rose to fame and he broke up with Suze.

He did write a song inspired by her, however, called Tomorrow Is a Long Time .

(L) Theatre de Lys (now the Lucille Lortel Theater)  -  121 Christopher Street

It was here in 1963 that Dylan saw a performance of Bertolt Brecht's  The Threepenny Opera and heard the song Pirate Jenny.  

Dylan wrote in his book “Chronicles: Volume One,” that he was deeply influenced by Pirate Jenny  which led to his experimenting with his own songwriting.

The results were stunning masterpieces like The Times They Are A-Changin ’, Mr. Tambourine Man,  and A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall .

(M) White Horse Tavern - 567 Hudson Street

Dylan and girlfriend Rotolo would sit in the bar and listen to Irish Rebel songs performed by the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem.

This now well-known tavern was also frequented by writers including the poet British poet Dylan Thomas, from whom Bob Zimmerman took his stage name.

This bar is one of the oldest in New York City and is included in our Self-Guided Historic New York City Bar Tour .

GUIDED TOURS OF GREENWICH VILLAGE

There's so much more to see in Greenwich Village than just the places connected to Bob Dylan.

The Village was THE place where major artistic, musical, literary, and political movements of the 20th Century were born.

Our  pay-what-you-wish Greenwich Village Walking Tour  takes you to places that played a role in these movements as your guide discusses their historical context.

The tour visits  Washington Square Park  which drew hippies and counterculture activists throughout the 1960s and 70s.

Our tour takes you on MacDougal Street  where Beatniks like Allen Ginsburg and Jack Kerouac hung out at cafes that lined the street.

We stop at  Cafe Wha? a venue where so many rock musicians, including Bob Dylan,  got their start.

You'll also see small theaters like the Cherry Lane  that helped the innovative playwrights like Eugene O'Neill and Edna St. Vincent Millay flourish.

We stop at the  Stonewall Inn , where the Gay Liberation Movement took off in 1969.

And no trip to Greenwich Village is complete without seeing the Friends  apartment building!

These are just some of the many places you'll see and things you'll learn about on our  pay-what-you-wish Greenwich Village Walking Tour .

If you prefer to explore the Village at your own pace check out our  GPS-enabled audio tour , narrated by one of our tour guides. 

With or without a tour, be sure to visit this dynamic neighborhood where history was made and still is today!

ROCK JUNKET ROCK AND ROLL TOUR

If your musical taste goes beyond Bob Dylan, you might be interested in taking  Rock Junket's Rock and Roll Tour .

This 2-hour tour takes you on a journey to the past as you stroll the streets and go to locations where punk rock originated.

Learn about the East Village, home to the Ramones, Blondie, and Television. See where The Doors, The Who, and Led Zeppelin played to small but packed houses.

This tour is more than just looking at buildings. Your energetic and knowledgeable guide will bring these sites to life.

The Guardian UK has called this tour the 3rd best tour in the world! The tour has been featured in Rolling Stine, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and more.

Guests give rave reviews of this tour saying it's "absolutely brilliant" and "awesome". The guide is described as "enthusiastic", "very knowledgeable" and "fun".  Read more reviews here .

Tour details:

• Runs Monday - Friday at 2 pm and Saturday at 11 am. 
• $44 per person.
• Purchase tickets here .

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10 Places in New York to Visit if You Love Bob Dylan

1. jones street, 2. 94 macdougal street, 3. cafe wha, 115 macdougal street, 4. the bitter end, 147 bleecker street, 5. fat black pussycat, 105 macdougal street, 6. village gate, 158 bleecker street, 7. the folklore center, 110 macdougal street, 8. 161 west fourth street, 9. room 305 in washington square hotel (formerly the hotel earle), 10. big pink, 11. one more for good luck: the capitol theatre, port chester, new york.

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New York is not a sentimental town. It takes pride in its ever-evolving skyline. It doesn’t have a museum commemorating the Harlem Renaissance. The only jazz memorials are Woodhull Cemetery and the Louis Armstrong House. There is nothing celebrating the folk revival. It’s up to you and your two feet to seek out its history. A good starting point is Bob Dylan and Greenwich Village, a historical neighborhood that maintains much of its original architecture. On a cold Winter day in January of 1961, Dylan arrived in New York City. In the next three years, he left an indelible mark. Forever after, the two would be forever connected.

Start at 1 West 4 th Street.

It’s a big brown building. Peek in a window and you are likely to see an art exhibit. It’s not much now — another bland NYU building — but it was formerly Gerde’s Folk City, a hotbed of folk talent in the 1960s. It was a bit off the beaten path, but it still attracted large touring acts. Dylan’s first professional show was at Gerde’s Folk City. He opened for the great John Lee Hooker. “A bright new face in folk music is appearing at Gerde’s Folk City. Although only 20 years old, Bob Dylan is one of the most distinctive stylists to play a Manhattan cabaret in months,” wrote  New York Times critic Robert Shelton. “But if not for every taste, his music-making has the mark of originality and inspiration, all the more noteworthy for his youth. Mr. Dylan is vague about his antecedents and birthplace, but it matters less where he has been than where he is going, and that would seem to be straight up.”

On this same block is the former site of the Bottom Line. Dylan never performed at the Bottom Line, though he did live nearby in the 1970s, during the club’s hey day. It opened on February 12, 1974 and played a prominent part in preserving Greenwich Village's legacy as a cultural hotspot. Bruce Springsteen played some legendary showcases. Lou Reed recorded the album Live: Take No Prisoners here. A middle-aged Dylan spent some lonely nights here.

Continue two blocks on West 4 th to Washington Square. Go to the fountain and look at the arches … there might even be some folk singers performing.

Folk musicians began performing at Washington Square in 1945. It was rough and tumble music. Then, in 1958, the Kingston Trio had their first hit — a pop-folk version of the traditional song “Tom Dooley.” Folk music boomed and, suddenly, Washington Square Park was flooded with musicians. By 1960, Sundays in Washington Square were the big day when the folkies would descend on the park. It was so popular with both tourists and players that the police put up barricades. When Dylan arrived in January 1961, he quickly began playing at the Square.

Three months after his arrival — in April of 1961 — the police cracked down on public performances in the park, insisting that all performers have a permit. When the folk musicians applied, they were denied. The following Sunday, Izzy Young from the Folklore Center and 500 musicians gathered and sang songs in the park. They then marched down 5 th Avenue to the Judson Memorial Church where the riot squad was waiting. They attacked the singers with billy clubs, arresting 10 people in what is now known as the Beatnik Riot, much to the folkies' disdain.

Continue West on West 4 th toward 6 th Avenue. Cross 6 th Avenue and continue on West 4 th . Dylan’s first apartment is at 161 West 4 th Street.

Bob Dylan was homeless for his first year in New York. When he fell in love with Suze Rotolo, they rented this apartment. She is on the cover of  The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan , which was photographed right down the street.

Continue on West 4 th Street to 1 Sheridan Square, home of the infamous Café Society.

Now turn around and head back toward Dylan’s first apartment. Stop and buy a record at Bleecker Street Records . Maybe something by Bob Dylan?

Turn left at the end of block and cross 6 th Avenue. Take a slight left up Minetta Street. Panchito’s is at 13-11 Minetta Street.

Take a right on Minetta Lane. On the corner of Minetta Lane and MacDougal Street is Café Wha?

Take a right down MacDougal Street. Caffe Reggio is at 119 MacDougal Street.

Keep heading down MacDougal Street, away from the park. At 116 MacDougal Street is the former Gaslight Café.

Immediately to the right is 114 MacDougal Street.

Two doors down, at 110 MacDougal, is where the Folklore Center used to reside.

At the end of the block, turn left on Bleecker Street.

Bleecker Street was a mecca of basket houses. In the '50s and '60s, this street was crawling with amateur musicians toting guitars and hoping to be next big star. Café Figaro was located at 184 Bleecker Street. Today it is a Bank of America.

The Village Gate was at 158 Bleecker Street. Dylan wrote "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" in September of 1962 in the basement apartment. The Village Gate was a notable folk hangout for 36 years. It’s now Les Poisson Rouge and still hosts some of the best events and concerts in Manhattan. If you look at the corner, the original Village Gate sign is still posted.

Across the street at 147 Bleecker is the Bitter End.

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From Macdougal Street to ‘The Bitter End,’ Exploring Bob Dylan’s New York

By Justin Sablich

• Oct. 18, 2016

Mike Porco owned the restaurant-turned-music-venue Gerde’s Folk City in New York’s Greenwich Village, and one October night, a few friends showed up to celebrate Mr. Porco’s birthday.

Allen Ginsberg was there, as were the familiar folkies Phil Ochs and Bob Neuwirth. None were better known than Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, who first met at the original Gerde’s and performed that night as well.

But this wasn’t the early 1960s folk scene. The year was 1975, and Mr. Dylan, not yet a Nobel Prize winner but long since a songwriting legend, was in the middle of his third stint living in the Village.

That night, he and his artist friends weren’t just celebrating Mr. Porco’s birthday, a man who Mr. Dylan said “became like father to me.” They were also rehearsing for his coming Rolling Thunder Revue tour.

Mr. Dylan would soon move on from the Village scene for good, as the neighborhood was far from what it had been during those first years of artistic discovery.

“America was changing. I had a feeling of destiny and I was riding the changes,” he wrote of his early days in New York in his memoir “ Chronicles. ” “New York was as good a place to be as any.”

Greenwich Village is drastically different now from the place Mr. Dylan left behind, but there are still remnants from his days of leading a generation-defining music scene, and landmarks worth exploring for aspiring Dylanologists.

Macdougal Street

“I was there to find singers, the ones I’d heard on record,” Mr. Dylan wrote in “Chronicles,” but “mostly to find Woody Guthrie,” the folk hero he would model himself after in his early performing days.

Robert Zimmerman arrived in January 1961, and would soon find Mr. Guthrie at the Greystone Hospital near Morristown, N.J. (where he was being treated for Huntington’s disease), but not before persuading Fred Neil, who ran the daytime show at Manny Roth’s Cafe Wha?, to let him perform at the Village coffeehouse on his first day in the city.

He described the cafe as “a subterranean cavern, liquorless, ill lit, low ceiling, like a wide dining hall with chairs and tables,” but “that’s where I started playing regular in New York.”

Cafe Wha? is still a fixture of Macdougal Street, and one of the few Dylan haunts still operating under the same name in the same location. But not much else is like it was in the early 1960s.

The club closed in 1968, had a long run as a Middle Eastern restaurant, and opened again as Cafe Wha?, under new management, in 1987. Music is still the main draw, with the talented Cafe Wha? Band headlining most nights. They’ll play at your wedding, too.

Mr. Dylan was fired by Mr. Roth after being late for three gigs, and would soon make his way to the nearby Caffe Reggio, the Commons, Caffe Dante and several other coffeehouses in the Village.

“They were small and ranged in shape, loud and noisy and catered to the confection of tourists who swarmed through the streets at night,” he wrote in “Chronicles.”

Caffe Reggio, which claims to have served the first cappuccino in the United States, remains open and is much as it was, minus the music, on Macdougal Street, as is Caffe Dante (now Dante NYC), where small plates have replaced protest songs.

The Commons, also on Macdougal, near Minetta Lane, was where Mr. Dylan wrote “Blowin’ in the Wind,” and was later renamed Fat Black Pussycat. It has since become Panchito’s Mexican Restaurant and Cantina, which in 2011 erased the last tie to its musical past when it painted over the faded lettering reading “Fat Black Pussycat Theatre” above its entrance.

In Mr. Dylan’s mind, none of these smaller coffeehouses compared with the Gaslight Cafe (116 Macdougal), a “cryptic club” that “an unknown couldn’t break into,” he wrote, though he managed to eventually.

The Gaslight “had a dominant presence on the street, more prestige than anyplace else,” he wrote.

While the Gaslight closed in 1971, the Kettle of Fish bar, which Mr. Dylan and his contemporaries would frequent next door, is still in business, though it is now at its third location, at 59 Christopher Street, and attracts far more Packers fans than folkies these days.

As for the Fat Black Pussycat, it’s now a night spot featuring a lounge, pub and downstairs dance club at 130 West Third Street. Its front room was once Kettle of Fish’s second home, and photographs and paintings still pay tribute to that bar’s history.

Listen to Bob Dylan’s Many Influences

As Bob Dylan has said, his songs “didn’t get here by themselves.” Here’s a sampler of his influences, from Woody Guthrie to the Kinks, alongside the tracks he made famous.

‘Positively 4th Street’

When Mr. Dylan found time to sleep, he crashed on a lot of couches before finding his first apartment at 161 West Fourth Street, which he and his girlfriend, Suze Rotolo, moved into in December 1961, nearly one year after his arrival. They paid $60 a month rent. The structure, built in 1910, sold for $6 million in 2015.

Next door at 169 West Fourth Street remains the Music Inn, where he would sometimes borrow instruments to play. Ms. Rotolo described it in her memoir as “an impossibly cluttered store that sold every kind of instrument ever made in the entire world.” It’s still cluttered, and still sells all kinds of instruments and has an open-mike night on Thursdays.

A short walk from the West Fourth Street apartment is the site of what Anthony DeCurtis in The Times called “one of the most evocative images of Greenwich Village in the 1960s.”

The cover of “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan” captures the couple strolling down a snow-covered Jones Street in February 1963.

“It was freezing out,” Ms. Rotolo told Mr. DeCurtis. “He wore a very thin jacket, because image was all.”

The album, which featured some of Mr. Dylan’s best-known songs, including “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” and “Girl From the North Country,” propelled him to larger New York venues like Town Hall, Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center’s Philharmonic Hall, now called David Geffen Hall.

But the immense fame that followed would chase Mr. Dylan and his eventual wife, Sara, from the Village to upstate New York.

The Bitter End

The house they purchased in the Byrdcliffe artist colony, near Woodstock, N.Y., didn’t provide the kind of privacy Mr. Dylan craved for his family.

They returned to the Village in 1969. Despite Mr. Dylan’s notoriety, he remembered, he was relatively unbothered by those in the neighborhood, and purchased a 19th-century townhouse at 94 Macdougal Street.

But there was no respite from the obsessive fans who tracked him down and “paraded up and down in front of it chanting and shouting, demanding for me to come out and lead them somewhere,” he wrote in “Chronicles.” His family was forced to seek peace elsewhere when they could.

In addition, “the stimulation had vanished. Everybody was in a pretty down mood. It was over,” he told Playboy in 1978. He would later call his return to the Village “a stupid thing to do.”

Still, years later, after his first major tour since the mid-’60s and enduring a bitter divorce from Sara, he found himself back in the Village, this time living alone.

He started hanging out at some of his old favorite spots, like Gerde’s, which had moved from its original location at 11 West Fourth Street to 130 West Third Street, and the Kettle of Fish, and found some peace at the Bitter End (147 Bleecker Street), where he played pool, watched bands and sometimes went onstage to perform.

“I made sure no one bothered him,” the owner Paul Colby said in “ The Greenwich Village Reader. ”

Kris Kristofferson told The Times that the Bitter End was the place “people like me and Bob Dylan didn’t just perform, we came to hang out.”

The Bitter End, which opened in 1961, considers itself to be New York’s oldest rock club and built a legendary reputation after showcasing young performers like Joni Mitchell and James Taylor and comedians like Woody Allen and Billy Crystal.

While the original location of Gerde’s is now the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and the Gaslight is now an apartment building, the Bitter End, of all the surviving Dylan hangouts, may retain the look and feel more than any other.

But while the distinctive brick walls and intimate setting are intact, bar bands now dominate the bill, and you’re no longer likely to find famed musicians hanging around (or at least they’re not famous yet).

An earlier version of this article misstated the building at the site of the original Gerde’s Folk City. It is now the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, not a New York University building.

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Follow Justin Sablich on Twitter: @JustinSablich

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Bob Dylan Returns to New York City: Review, Set List

Bob Dylan ’s Never Ending Tour never really ended, only paused. Last month, he and his band launched his Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour , marking his first live appearances since the onset of the pandemic. This evening he returned to one of his usual haunts, New York City's Beacon Theatre, for the first time in nearly two years.

Dylan, who turned 80 earlier this spring, appeared on a brightly lit but modestly arranged stage, dressed in what appeared to be a velvet suit while his bandmates donned all black attire. Standing with a slight stoop, he took his position behind a piano, his main choice of instrument in recent years, and the band swiftly kickstarted the concert with a rendition of Dylan's 1971 single, "Watching the River Flow."

As the rock icon once noted  of New York at an early 2000s show, “No one has to ask how I feel about this town.” The burgeoning – albeit somewhat pompous — songwriter moved to the city at the very beginning of the '60s, just as the folk scene of Greenwich Village was starting to evolve. It was in these coffee houses and underground venues that the young musician honed his craft and debuted some of what are now his most celebrated songs. These days, he typically returns to the Upper West Side's Beacon Theatre, an ornately decorated neo-Grecian setting, each time his tour rolls through town.

"It's awful nice to be back in the Big Apple," Dylan said from the stage this particular evening. "...Broadway, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Times Square — all of it – Empire State Building, Fifth Avenue. Glad to see it's coming back alive."

Eight of the set list's 17 songs came from Dylan's most recent album, the critically acclaimed  Rough and Rowdy Ways ,  his 39th album and first collection of original material since 2012's  Tempest .  (The only two songs left out of the mix were “Crossing the Rubicon” and the 17-minute “ Murder Most Foul .”)

Backed by an impressive array of both new and old faces, Dylan's band gives off the impression of a more casual jazz collective than rockstar tour. Longtime bassist Tony Garnier switches between electric and upright bass, while pedal steel player Donnie Herron also doubles on fiddle and accordion. The group is rounded out with two guitarists, Bob Britt and Doug Lancio, plus drummer Charley Drayton.

When arriving for the show, I ran into Drayton on the street outside the venue. "How's it going?" I ask. "We'll find out!" he humbly replies. Drayton needn't have been so modest — Dylan's voice sounded to be in some of the best condition of his latter day career. His enunciation is still mysterious, but when he sings a recognizable line, the audience cheers him on.

Dylan, perhaps more so than any singer-songwriter of his generation, has continuously asked his listeners to, in essence, think again. Newly arranged versions of old songs were peppered throughout the evening, including completely reimagined versions of  Tempest 's "Early Roman Kings,"  Slow Train Coming 's "Gotta Serve Somebody," "To Be Alone With You" a track from 1969's Nashville Skyline which Dylan has not performed live since 2005 and the also recently reintroduced " Every Grain of Sand " from  Shot of Love . A Frank Sinatra cover, "Melancholy Mood," which Dylan performed on his 2016 album,  Fallen Angels , also appeared.

Dylan did not come back for an encore, perhaps choosing to save his energy for the next two nights of shows at the Beacon, plus the string of East Coast dates he has planned for the rest of this month and the beginning of next. But at 80, the legendary musician seems energized by simply being back on a stage, surrounded by a supportive band, performing new compositions that most Dylan fans have spent months listening to in the confines of quarantine and now get to hear in their full live glory.

As his Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour moves on, ticket holders can expect a wonderfully rested and still remarkably enigmatic Dylan to greet them, even if it is with only a few words in between songs. As he sang in 1961, " Y ou can step on my name, you can try and get me beat, when I leave New York, I’ll be standing on my feet ."

Bob Dylan, Nov. 19, 2021, New York City

1. “Watching the River Flow” 2. “Most Likely You’ll Go Your Way (and I’ll Go Mine)” 3. “I Contain Multitudes" 4. "False Prophet" 5. "When I Paint My Masterpiece" 6. "Black Rider" 7. "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" 8. "My Own Version of You" 9. "Early Roman Kings" 10. "To Be Alone With You" 11. "Key West (Philosopher Pirate)" 12. "Gotta Serve Somebody" 13. "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You" 14. "Melancholy Mood" (Frank Sinatra cover) 15. "Mother of Muses" 16. "Goodbye Jimmy Reed" 17. "Every Grain of Sand"

Bob Dylan Albums Ranked

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Bob Dylan’s Greenwich Village

On January 24, 1961, four days after the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy, Bob Dylan arrived in New York City at the age of 19. This tour celebrates the 60th anniversary of that occasion, and Dylan’s entry into the dynamic culture of Greenwich Village. Historically, the Village was a magnet for writers, activists, musicians, artists, and outcasts. Its allure attracted creative souls from all sections of the country. Bob Dylan “landed up on the downtown side” on the heels of the Beats and the revival of the folkies. This tour with popular Jane’s Walk leader and MAS Grand Central Docent Robert Depczenski will trace Dylan’s footsteps, visiting places he gathered, lived, and performed. Traversing the Village streets, we’ll relive the forces that influenced his formative years. The ghosts of Village past including Poe, Whitman, and Kerouac, and the presence of Guthrie, Van Ronk, and Ginsburg nourished Dylan and fueled his work. This synergy between place and genius will be the focus of our journey.

All tours are Eastern Time and run about 60 to 90 minutes.

Registration is now closed.

Sunday, January 24 11:00 AM

Virtual Tour

Tickets: Member: $15 Non-member: $25

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• Saturday June 29, 2024 Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and Celisse Outlaw Music Festival 2024, Wantagh
• Sunday June 30, 2024 Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, Robert Plant, and Alison Krauss Outlaw Music Festival 2024, Holmdel
• Thursday July 04, 2024 Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, and Maren Morris Freedom Mortgage Pavilion, Camden

Thursday 16 November 2023

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Even at 82 years young, Bob Dylan is still freewheeling.

The folk icon just announced 15 additional tour dates as part of his ongoing ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour’ celebrating his 2020 album of the same name.

That includes a few stops in both New York and New Jersey.

First, the “Like A Rolling Stone” singer will roll into Rochester, NY’s West Herr Auditorium Theatre on Oct. 24.

After that, he’s set to swing into Schenectady, NY’s Proctors Theatre on Oct. 30, Port Chester, NY’s Capitol Theatre on Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 and Brooklyn, NY’s Kings Theatre on Nov. 14 and Nov. 15 .

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer will close this leg of the tour with a pair of gigs at Newark, NJ’s New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Nov. 20 and Nov. 21 .

And if you need tickets for the newly added dates, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” to grab them today.

Although inventory isn’t available on Ticketmaster until Friday, Sept. 15, fans who want to ensure they have tickets ahead of time can purchase on sites like Vivid Seats before tickets are officially on sale.

Vivid Seats is a secondary market ticketing platform, and prices may be higher or lower than face value, depending on demand.

They have a 100% buyer guarantee that states your transaction will be safe and secure and will be delivered before the event.

Bob Dylan 2023 tour schedule

A complete calendar including all tour dates, venues and links to buy tickets can be found below.

Bob Dylan new music

Although he’s still on the road paying homage to his 39th studio album, the 2020 “Rough and Rowdy Ways,” the Bard released his 40th record “Shadow Kingdom.”

Rolling Stone raved in a four-star review that Dylan’s latest offering “brilliantly reinvents some of his most iconic songs, while also feeling like a definitive recording itself.”

What makes this record unique is that it originally started as a COVID-era concert film featuring Dylan and collaborators Don Was and T Bone Burnett along with masked actors pantomiming his hits.

You can hear the recorded album version here .

Folk icons on tour in 2023

Many of your favorite troubadours are hiking across the country this year.

Here are just five of our favorites you won’t want to miss live these next few months.

•  My Morning Jacket

•  The Avett Brothers

•  The Lumineers

•  Bonnie Raitt

•  Band of Horses

Who else is on the road? Check out our list of the  52 biggest concert tours in 2023 here  to find out.

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Visit Bob Dylan’s NYC Haunts

Bob Dylan in New York: The Sites and Landmarks of Bob Dylan’s Life in the City

By Rachel Siden

The new book Bob Dylan: New York is part of the MusicPlace series by Roaring Forties Press. This series is dedicated to exploring the close relationships between music artists and the cities in which they lived in order to provide a new perspective on popular music.

The author of this book in the series, June Skinner Sawyers, has researched and written on many topics related to music.

Her works include Celtic Music; Tougher Than the Rest, 100 Best Bruce Springsteen Songs, Read the Beatles, and has even taught a class entitled “The Country I Come From Is Called the Midwest: Bob Dylan and the American Song Tradition.”

Sawyers’ knowledge of Dylan creates a vivid account of his life in Bob Dylan: New York. Sawyers takes the reader on a journey through Bob Dylan’s life in New York City beginning with his arrival in Greenwich Village and ending with his return visits to New York throughout the 2000s.

While her book describes the history of how Bob Dylan’s career grew in New York– the city where Robert Zimmerman was “reborn as Bob Dylan,” her book is by no means merely history.

The reader is taken on a journey through New York city with Sawyers as their tour guide: while reading about major moments in Bob Dylan’s life, she points out the city locations in which these events transpired.

Sawyers’ book features over fifty sites where Bob Dylan “lived, worked, and played.” Her listed locations include sites such as the Cafe Wha?, the place where Bob Dylan first played the day he arrived in New York, 161 W. Fourth St.,

Dylan’s first apartment in New York, and even the Supreme Court building where Bob Dylan officially changed his name.

The guidebook-like feel of Bob Dylan: New York is made complete by the maps of Manhattan and Greenwich Village that are included inside. Every location discussed in her book is carefully plotted and labeled with the full address. Using only her book, a self-guided tour of Bob Dylan’s New York is made easy.

Travel Itinerary: Some Notable Sites From Bob Dylan’s Early Years in New York

As described by Sawyers, Bob Dylan has always had an extremely close relationship with New York City. Not only was the name ‘Bob Dylan’ born in New York, but Dylan lived in New York, worked in New York, and became famous from his years playing in New York. As Bob Dylan himself said, “I would not be doing what I’m doing today if I hadn’t come to New York… I was made to keep going on by New York.”

One region in particular that had a significant amount of influence on Bob Dylan’s career was Greenwich Village. It was where Dylan played most of his early shows, and where he lived for the majority of his life.

In Sawyers’ book, many of the locations and landmarks associated with Bob Dylan are located in Greenwich Village, so in this itinerary of some notable Dylan-related sights, Greenwich Village is where this journey begins.

Stop 1: MacDougal Street MacDougal Street is located in Greenwich Village and was a place that Bob Dylan visited often. On the street are cafes that Bob Dylan frequented, cafes that Bob Dylan performed in, and even one of his houses at 94 MacDougal St.

Cafe Wha? 115 MacDougal St. New York, NY This stop is first on the itinerary because for Bob Dylan, this cafe was also his first stop. According to Sawyers, “When Dylan first arrived in New York, he took the subway to Greenwich Village and went straight to the Cafe Wha?.”

In Dylan’s time, the Cafe Wha? was a popular folk club in Greenwich Village that housed various music acts as well as comedians such as Joan Rivers and Woody Allen. Dylan played at the Cafe Wha? on his very first day in New York City, and it was here that he was offered a chance to play harmonica with singer Fred Neil during Neil’s sets (which is the “harmonica job” Bob Dylan refers to in his song “Talkin’ New York”).

Today, the Cafe Wha? is still in operation and continues to host musical acts on different nights of the week. While the cafe may not host the same folk music that it did in Bob Dylan’s time, the New York Times states that the cafe’s musical acts still makes it “a stop you have to make whether you are living or just visiting New York City.”

Caffe Reggio 119 Macdougal St. New York, NY Visitors can also visit another venue of Dylan’s on Macdougal street. The Caffe Reggio was another cafe that Dylan played at and still stands today. But while the Cafe Wha? still houses musical acts, the Cafe Reggio is no longer a folk music venue. However, instead of music, visitors can enjoy the cafe’s “Original Cappuccino” (the first cappuccino introduced to America).

Panchito’s (Fat Black Pussycat) 105 MacDougal St. New York, NY 105 MacDougal St. was the location of another cafe known as the Fat Black Pussycat. It was one of the many cafes that Bob Dylan visited when he lived in Greenwich, and is also the location where he wrote his song “Blowin’ in the Wind”– one of Dylan’s most famous. Today, the cafe is a Mexican restaurant called Panchito’s, but the faded black cat sign from the cafe is still visible on the brick wall above.

Greenwich Artists Mural 125 MacDougal St. New York, NY While New York has no official monuments dedicated to Bob Dylan, there is one sight in Greenwich Village that stands as a testament to his significance in New York. Located just across the street from the Caffe Reggio is a mural that stands next to a music club called the Groove. According to Sawyers, “The mural celebrates the many musicians associated with the Village, including Dylan.”

The mural is painted in bright, fluorescent colors and features artists such as The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and Joan Baez. At the top of the mural can be seen the words: “Keep the spirit of the sixties alive.”

Stop 2: Jones Street Beyond 6th Avenue lies Jones Street. As a Bob Dylan landmark, Jones street is more significant than simply being a street that Dylan has walked. It is included in the itinerary because this street is featured in the album artwork for the record “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan.”

The cover features a picture of Bob Dylan walking down Jones Street with Suze Rotolo (his girlfriend at the time). Any cars parked on Jones Street today will likely look different from those on the album cover, but the street is the very same.

Bob Dylan’s Apartment 161 W. Fourth Street. New York, NY On the block at the end of Jones Street lies the first apartment that Bob Dylan had in New York City. It was a small apartment with a bedroom that Dylan said was “much more like a large closet.” He moved in with Rotolo in December of 1961 shortly after he recorded his debut album. Today, the apartment is still standing, but it is attached to an adult shop.

Stop 3: Carnegie Hall 881 Seventh Avenue New York, NY Carnegie Hall is a landmark in itself as a world-famous venue that has housed many famous artists and musicians over the years. As for Bob Dylan, Carnegie Hall was a significant place in his own life as it was the location for several performances in his own career.

On Saturday, November 4, 1961, Bob Dylan played his first professional concert at Carnegie Chapter Hall. The two-hundred-seat venue he played in is now a rehearsal hall called Kaplan Space but is still located in the same building as Carnegie Hall.

The show that Dylan played that November night was not much of a success, as only fifty-three people attended, but according to Sawyers, “it provided Dylan with some exposure north of Fourteenth St.” It was a show that would bring him one step closer to growing in fame.

Throughout Dylan’s career, he would return several times to play at Carnegie Hall– and the shows would prove far more successful in his return trips.

His first successful Carnegie Hall performance, which was also his first time playing in the actual Carnegie Hall, occurred on September 22, 1962. He played “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” for the very first time in public, and though it was the one song he was able to play in the ten minute slot he was given, Sawyers states that “the crowd roared in approval”– portending the future success Dylan would enjoy on his return visits to the famous music hall.

Even More Stops!

This itinerary only covers a small fraction of the fifty-plus locations listed in Sawyers’ book. There are other residences of Bob Dylan’s that can be seen (such as the famous Hotel Chelsea), other venues that Dylan played at, and many places Bob Dylan visited ranging from cafes to newspaper kiosks.

For the more passionate Bob Dylan fans or pop culture enthusiasts who would want to see more, Bob Dylan: New York has everything you could need to plan your own trip to New York City. Check it out!

Rachel Siden is a former editorial assistant for GoNomad.com. She is a graduate of UMass Amherst with a B.A. in Philosophy and in Religious Studies, and is a freelance travel writer from central Massachusetts.

Bob Dylan New York …buy this book on Amazon

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Bob Dylan Plots Fall 2023 North American Tour

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

Bob Dylan ‘s Rough and Rowdy Ways tour is coming back to North America in the fall. The leg kicks off Oct. 1 at the Midland Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri. An Oct. 30 show at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, New York is the final confirmed date, but Dylan’s website notes that “more Fall 2023 dates will be announced soon!”

The Rough and Rowdy Ways tour kicked off November 2, 2021 in Milwaukee. Dylan had been off the road for nearly two years at that point due to the pandemic. Prior to that, he hadn’t missed a single year of touring since the Never Ending Tour kicked off in 1988. He made up for lost time by taking the show all over the world, but he hasn’t played the East Coast of the U.S. since the fall of 2021.

The show did take a surprise left turn earlier in the year when he started playing songs from the Grateful Dead catalog, including “Truckin,” “Brokedown Palace,” “Stella Blue,” and “West L.A. Fadeaway.” He even trotted out Bob Weir’s 2016 solo song “Only a River,” Merle Haggard’s 2010 obscurity “Bad Actor,” and Van Morrison’s 1970 classic “Into the Mystic.” Dylan fans were thrilled by the additions since it added a degree of uncertainty to every show.

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Bob Dylan’s Fall 2023 North American Tour Dates

Oct. 1 – Kansas City, MO @The Midland Theatre Oct. 2 – Kansas City, MO @ The Midland Theatre Oct. 4 – St. Louis, MO @ Stifel Theatre Oct. 6 – Chicago, IL @ Cadillac Palace Theatre Oct. 7 – Chicago, IL @ Cadillac Palace Theatre Oct. 8 – Chicago, IL @ Cadillac Palace Theatre Oct. 11 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Riverside Theater Oct. 12 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Riverside Theater Oct. 16 – Indianapolis, IN @ Murat Theatre Oct. 20 – Cincinnati, OH @ The Andrew J. Brady Music Center Oct. 21 – Akron, OH @ Akron Civic Theatre Oct. 23 – Erie, PA @ Warner Theatre Oct. 24 – Rochester, NY @ Auditorium Theatre Oct. 26 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall Oct. 27 – Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall Oct. 29 – Montreal, QB @ Place des Arts – Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier Oct. 30 – Schenectady, NY @ Proctors Theatre

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[WATCH] Bob Dylan's New York City: A Historic Walk Through Greenwich Village

Local pro photographers James and Karla Murray have a YouTube series in which they explore neighborhoods around New York City from their unique perspective. Obviously, their normal video tours have been suspended due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but in this recent video, watch as they give you a tour of 15 Greenwich Village spots that are part of Bob Dylan's local history.

In our BOB DYLAN'S NEW YORK: WALK THROUGH GREENWICH VILLAGE we walk with our dog and show 15 MUST VISIT PLACES including folk music venues, cafes, shops and homes associated with Bob Dylan early in his #music career. #bobdylan Must visit Bob Dylan destinations in Greenwich Village, #NYC include: - White Horse Tavern 567 Hudson Street New York, NY - Lucille Lortel Theatre 121 Christopher Street New York, NY - Cafe Wha? 115 MacDougal Street New York, NY - The Bitter End 147 Bleecker Street New York, NY

via James and Karla Murray

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Matt enjoys exploring the City's with his partner and son. He is an avid marathon runner, and spends most of his time eating, running, and working on cool stuff.

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Timothée Chalamet takes New York as Bob Dylan in new biopic set photos

Filming has begun on "A Complete Unknown," the biopic directed by "Indiana Jones" and "Logan" helmer James Mangold.

Nick is an entertainment journalist based in New York, NY. If you like pugs and the occasional blurry photo of an action figure, follow him on Twitter @NickARomano.

The Bard has arrived!

Photos of Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan have been popping up all over the place as the Wonka and Dune superstar films the biopic A Complete Unknown in New York City. This week, the actor was spotted again in character as the legendary folk music hit-maker at locations around the Big Apple.

Chalamet was spotted in Downtown Manhattan in a classic Dylan look: curly hair, sunglasses (even though it was a night shoot), black button-up, and brown jacket. Scenes were being shot around El Quijote, the restaurant inside the Hotel Chelsea, where Dylan notably found musical inspiration.

METROPOLIS/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

The actor was also spotted during a daytime shoot in a local park, where Mangold directed Chalamet through a scene that involved reading a letter on a bench.

Earlier photos captured from the set saw Chalamet donning different Dylan looks, notably a '60s-era paperboy hat, scarf, and jeans, while carrying a worn-down guitar case. He was also seen filming beside a similarly retro car loaded with luggage.

Chalamet has been linked to the role since 2020. James Mangold , who helmed Logan and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny , is directing the young actor in the film, which takes place in 1965 at a time when Dylan made a controversial shift to rock 'n' roll and the electric guitar.

Mangold previously confirmed that Chalamet will be doing his own singing in the role of Dylan. "It's such an amazing time in American culture and the story of Bob's — a young 19-year-old Bob Dylan coming to New York with two dollars in his pocket and becoming a worldwide sensation within three years," the filmmaker had told Collider in an interview published last year . "First being embraced into a family of folk music in New York and of course kind of outrunning him at."

While on the press tour to promote Dune: Part II , Chalamet playfully mentioned how he wants to build a cinematic universe between his Bob Dylan and his costar Austin Butler's take on Elvis Presley. "I'm deep in the Bob Dylan lore and he had tremendous respect for Elvis and Sun Records," Chalamet told NME . "I wish you were in it! There’s an Elvis character in the Johnny Cash biopic [ Walk the Line ]. It’s really brief, it’s very brief, but I was kind of wishing we could create a musical cinematic universe.”

Deadline reported Edward Norton in the role of folk singer Pete Seeger and Elle Fanning as Dylan's love interest, Sylvie Russo.

See the photos of Chalamet above.

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• Timothée Chalamet has unique take on Bob Dylan's voice in new biopic, vocal coach says
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Timothée Chalamet Transforms into Bob Dylan on Set of A Complete Unknown in N.Y.C.

The actor was seen on Sunday in another Dylan outfit while filming the James Mangold-directed biopic

Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Timothée Chalamet is continuing his transformation into Bob Dylan !

The 28-year-old actor — who will star as the folk musician in the upcoming film A Complete Unknown — was photographed Sunday strolling around New York City's Chelsea neighborhood in another outfit reminiscent of Dylan's 20th-century wardrobe.

After last being seen in an old scarf and paperboy hat last week, Chalamet was photographed once more, this time rocking a dressier look from the world of Dylan.

On Sunday, the Dune star could be seen in new pics walking around with his hands in his pockets as he wore a black button-up, green pants, a brown suede jacket and a pair of shades to compliment his messy hair.

Around Chalamet were cars reminiscent of the '60s and '70s, as he stood in front of Hotel Chelsea for one scene in particular.

While not much is known about James Mangold’s upcoming  biopic about Dylan, Chalamet appears to be committed to the wardrobe and the music.  

Mangold, 60, previously confirmed that the actor will be singing as Dylan in the film, which follows a "young, 19-year-old Bob Dylan coming to New York with two dollars in his pocket" before "becoming a worldwide sensation within three years," the director previously shared with Collider  last year.

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"First being embraced into a family of folk music in New York and of course kind of outrunning him at a certain point as his star rises so beyond belief," he said of the plot, before calling the film "an interesting true story and about such an interesting moment in the American scene."

It will reportedly also feature on-screen portrayals of other stars of the time, including Woody Guthrie, Joan Baez and Pete Seeger.   Elle Fanning  will play Dylan's love interest, Sylvie Russo, while Edward Norton will take on the role of Seeger.

To prepare for the role, Chalamet — fresh off his blockbuster performances in Wonka and Dune: Part Two — visited Dylan's high school in Hibbing, Minnesota where he spent quality time with the school's drama department in their Hibbing Auditorium.

"He was a total gem," the department shared on Facebook after his visit. "In town researching all things Bob Dylan for an upcoming biopic, he asked his tour guide if he could meet with the drama students who were working on their competition one act."

He also "sat down with them one on one, and talked acting and theater" with the students at the school. "After our guest left, our students had their final dress rehearsal. And they nailed it. Something must have inspired them," the post continued.

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Chalamet's vocal coach Eric Vetro described the actor's dedication to the role in a recent interview with PEOPLE, noting that audiences are "going to be shocked because you're going to think you're hearing Bob Dylan sing."

"Once again, he just has this uncanny ability to not impersonate, but really breathe life into it," he explained. "He's embodying Bob Dylan and what he was like at that age."

Vetro added that going from Willy Wonka to Bob Dylan is a "completely different character, completely different voice, everything."

"He could turn on a dime. He's so talented that he is able to just switch into one role or the other really quickly," he said, comparing Chalamet's performance to "what  Renée Zellweger  did with Judy Garland in 2019's Judy.

A Complete Unknown  currently does not have a release date.

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Bob Dylan- Rough And Rowdy Ways Tour

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Bob Dylan is one of our culture’s most influential and groundbreaking artists. In the decades since he first burst into the public’s consciousness via New York City’s Greenwich Village folk music scene in the early 1960s, Bob Dylan has sold more than 125 million records around the world and amassed a singular body of work that includes some of the greatest and most popular songs the world has ever known.

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See Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan on the set of 'A Complete Unknown': Photos

The film is directed by James Mangold.

Timothée Chalamet is channeling Bob Dylan in new set photos from production of "A Complete Unknown."

The "Dune" actor was spotted in downtown Manhattan on March 24 filming for the project.

The photos show Chalamet wearing a brown jacket with his hair wild just like the "Like a Rolling Stone" singer.

MORE: Willie Nelson joins forces with Bob Dylan for Outlaw Music Festival Tour

Some images show him wearing sunglasses at night, strolling down the streets of New York City with period-specific details in the background.

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James Mangold, known for films like "Walk the Line," "Logan," "Ford v Ferrari" and "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," is directing the biopic.

Searchlight Pictures shared an Instagram post on March 24 to show that production had begun and that the film is "coming soon."

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Bob Dylan is back in Memphis for two shows at the Orpheum: 5 things to know before you go

At 82, Bob Dylan — Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Famer, 10-time Grammy winner, Pulitzer and Nobel prize recipient and international music icon — has nothing left to prove, yet he continues to drive himself with an unusual sense of purpose.

Dylan has unofficially been on what’s known as his “Never Ending Tour” since 1988. Officially, he’s been out in support of his 2020 album "Rough & Rowdy Ways" since late 2021. Last year, Dylan played shows across Europe, Japan and North America. This year, kicked off the latest leg of his tour in early March with a series of shows in Florida, before moving on to dates in North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee.  

This week Dylan arrives in Memphis for a much anticipated two-night stand at Downtown’s venerable Orpheum, on Friday and Saturday. Here are five things to know ahead of this week's shows.

Bob Dylan's love for Memphis

A serious student of American music and early rock ‘n’ roll, Dylan has always paid homage to the great artists and innovators who came from Memphis — including making pilgrimages to Elvis Presley’s old haunts like Humes High School or working at legendary local studios like Phillips Recording Service.

Although Dylan rarely conducts interview anymore, in 2015 he gave a long and deeply felt speech when he was honored as “Person of the Year” by the Grammys' MusiCares Foundation. While most of the coverage of the speech focused on Dylan’s disses — he took shots at country music legends like Merle Haggard and Tom T. Hall, as well rock 'n' roll pioneers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, and Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun — he was also full of praise for a group of Memphis icons, specifically the alumni of his beloved Sun Records .

Dylan was especially eloquent in discussing Sun founder Sam Phillips. He noted that Phillips’ work with the label “shook the very essence of humanity. Revolution in style and scope. Heavy shape and color. Radical to the bone. Songs that cut you to the bone. Renegades in all degrees, doing songs that would never decay, and still resound to this day.”

Dylan also remembered his longtime pal and former Sun artist Johnny Cash as “a giant of a man, the Man in Black. And I’ll always cherish the friendship we had until the day there is no more days.”

But Dylan’s strongest praise was saved for Sun Records’ underdog, Billy Lee Riley. Riley, who died in 2009 at age 75, is perhaps best known for his classic 1957 single, “Flyin’ Saucers Rock & Roll” — a rockabilly number inspired by the era’s U.F.O. mania — which birthed the name of his band, the Little Green Men.

That year, Riley also released the equally memorable rave-up “Red Hot.” In his MusicCares speech Dylan spoke at great length of his first exposure to and eventual friendship with Riley. “He was a hero of mine,” Dylan said. “I’d heard ‘Red Hot.’ I must have been only 15 or 16 when I did, and it’s impressed me to this day. I never grow tired of listening to it.”

Bob Dylan's Memphis concert legacy

Dylan’s love for Memphis can also be measured in how often he has performed in the Bluff City. He's been an especially frequent visitor to the Mid-South over the last quarter century.

In 1999, the Memphis venues visited by Dylan ranged in size from the New Daisy theater on Beale Street to the Pyramid arena (on a double bill with Paul Simon). In 2005 and 2013, he played at AutoZone Park. In 1997 and 2001, Dylan appeared at Memphis in May’s Beale Street Musical Festival. Dylan also played regional dates at BancorpSouth Center in Tupelo in 2002 and the former Pringles Park in Jackson, Tennessee, in 2004.

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Just like this year, in 2006, Dylan played back-to-back shows at Downtown’s Orpheum. It would be nearly a decade before he returned to the venue in 2015. In early 2020, Dylan had a summer show on the books for Southaven’s BankPlus Amphitheater, a concert that was postponed and ultimately canceled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He would eventually make it to Memphis in 2022 as part of the "Rough & Rowdy Ways" tour, again appearing at the Orpheum in April of that year, marking his most recent local stop.

Rough & Rowdy Ways tour setlists and reviews

Casual fans might expect Dylan to be like most of his veteran rock ‘n’ roll peers and play the expected greatest hits set. But Dylan, being Dylan, does nothing of the kind. The setlists on the Rough & Rowdy Ways tour have focused extensively on the material from his most recent album, as well as a few deep cuts from his catalog, the odd “hit,” and occasional often unexpected cover.

The best resource for Dylan these days is Ray Padgett’s Flagging Down the Double E’s . Padgett who published 2023’s essential collection, “Pledging My Time: Conversations with Bob Dylan Band Members,” runs his Dylan-dedicated substack/newsletter, which features the author and occasional guest reviewers covering Dylan’s concerts, among other related matters (be sure check Padgett’s 50th anniversary deep dive into Dylan and The Band’s 1974 Memphis show).

The most recent review, done by musician Jon Wurster (Superchunk, Mountain Goats), captured the contrarian spirit of Dylan's current tour, offering a preview of what fans in Memphis can expect.

Wurster, who witnessed a pair of Dylan dates in North Carolina earlier this month, noted that “there’s a lot of legacy artists out there on the road doing what are essentially crowd-pleasing, hit-packed victory laps,” he wrote. “This is what makes Dylan so enjoyable for so many of us: He knows exactly what people want, and it appears to mean absolutely nothing to him. We forget that Dylan has a handful of genuine hit songs in his quiver. And so does Dylan.”

Wurster added that, “these current concerts feature almost all of his most recent album, and a handful of album tracks and covers a casual listener wouldn’t recognize. It’s almost diabolical when you think about it. But that unique mix of free spirit survivor and flagrant contrarian is what’s so inspiring about Dylan. Most people his age are in the ground, yet he’s out there giving some of the best, weirdest performances of his career. It’s kind of the most punk thing anyone has ever done.”

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A Bluff City special?

Last year, during his tour, Dylan was customizing the covers in his set, playing tunes with a local flavor or connection unique to each market. So far this year, Dylan hasn’t been as consistent or thematic with his cover songs — which have ranged from the Jimmy Rogers blues classic “Walking By Myself” to Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven.”

However, Memphis should provide ample inspiration for Dylan to dig deeper and maybe break out something special. He’s already been playing Johnny Cash’s “Big River” — which would certainly make sense at the Orpheum — or he could pull out a different surprise, perhaps an old Sun or Meteor classic, a Riley chestnut, or something else appropriate to the environs.  

Good seats remain for Bob Dylan's Memphis shows

Somewhat surprisingly — given his record of sold-out shows in town — a fair amount of seats are still available for both of Dylan’s Orpheum concerts.

A few VIP “Gold Hot Seat” packages — which includes premium seating, a commemorative ticket and exclusive merch package — are still available, but they will cost you, as those run just over $600 each.   

General seating, meanwhile, offers a few more reasonably priced options for both shows. Tickets in the middle of the orchestra sections can be had for $92 per seat. Just a handful of mezzanine seats remain, which also run $92 a pop. More plentiful options in the various balcony sections and upper gallery areas are also available, starting at $71.

To purchase or for more information go to Ticketmaster.com .

Bob Dylan in Memphis

8 p.m. March 29 and 30 at the Orpheum, 203 S. Main St.

Tickets: $71 to $628. Go to Ticketmaster.com .

Now filming: Timothée Chalamet tours N.J. landmarks as young Bob Dylan in ‘A Complete Unknown’

Timothée Chalamet swung by the Miss America Diner in Jersey City recently as part of filming for the Bob Dylan movie “A Complete Unknown.”

The diner, which with its prominent red neon sign stands as a longtime landmark at the corner of West Side and Culver avenues, is among many New Jersey locations to be visited by Chalamet and director James Mangold this spring.

As NJ Advance Media previously reported, the movie, which just started production in Jersey , was slated to film here through May — offering plenty of opportunities for “Chalamaniacs” to try and spot the actor.

But now they’ll have even more time.

Searchlight Pictures says “ A Complete Unknown ” will be in town through June.

Chalamet, 28, who plays a young Bob Dylan in the movie, filmed in New York before the production came to Jersey.

More: Bob Dylan movie starring Timothée Chalamet, ‘A Complete Unknown,’ filming in N.J.

Staff at the Miss America Diner said the restaurant would be closed March 22, 25 and 26, when Chalamet-watchers shared video of the actor there during a night shoot.

Mangold’s film, which he co-wrote with Jay Cocks (”Gangs of New York”), focuses on Dylan during the ’60s, when the teen famously traveled from Minnesota to New York and visited his hero Woody Guthrie at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Morris County.

Chalamet, who is also a producer of the movie, has been photographed filming in downtown Manhattan and outside the Chelsea Hotel where Dylan stayed.

Mangold, director of the Oscar-winning film “ Ford v Ferrari ” (2019), recently posted a photo showing the “ Dune: Part Two ” star in full Dylan mode outside the hotel.

Earlier this month, Steven Gorelick, director of the New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission, told us that plans were underway for the movie to film in Hudson, Passaic, Essex and Cape May counties .

“Among the things they’re doing is they’re duplicating Woodstock in New Jersey,” he said. “So they’ll be up in the northwest (of New Jersey), I’m sure, too. They’re still scouting locations but that’s one of our biggest projects on the horizon. We’re really excited about that one.”

Dylan lived in Woodstock, New York in the ‘60s.

The movie’s title, “A Complete Unknown,” comes from Dylan’s 1965 song “ Like a Rolling Stone ” (“How does it feel, how does it feel/To be without a home, like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone?”).

Besides Chalamet, the movie stars Oscar nominee Edward Norton as folk singer Pete Seeger ; Monica Barbaro (”Top Gun: Maverick”) as fellow folk icon Joan Baez , who had a relationship with Dylan; and Elle Fanning , reportedly as a Dylan love interest based on his relationship with artist Suze Rotolo .

Jersey actors in the film include Charlie Tahan (”Ozark”), who grew up in Glen Rock, and P.J. Byrne (”Babylon”), who hails from Old Tappan.

Other cast members are Boyd Holbrook (”Logan”), Scoot McNairy (”12 Years a Slave”) and Dan Fogler (the “Fantastic Beasts” movies).

Also in the movie: Will Harrison (”Daisy Jones & the Six”), Eli Brown (”Pretty Little Liars”) and blues singer Big Bill Morganfield, who is the son of blues legend Muddy Waters .

The full ensemble includes Nick Pupo (”Halt and Catch Fire”), James Austin Johnson (”Saturday Night Live”), Laura Kariuki (”The Wonder Years”), Joe Tippett (”Monarch”), Eric Berryman (”Atlanta”) and David Alan Basche (”Egg”).

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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at [email protected] and followed at @AmyKup .

©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Q&A: James Taylor on his 2024 U.S. tour, the possibility of new music and his legacy

Not long after his 76th birthday, james taylor & his all-star band will hit the road for a u.s. tour, by maria sherman | associated press • published march 27, 2024 • updated on march 27, 2024 at 4:12 pm.

He's gone to Carolina in his mind and on tour for much of 2024 .

Not long after his 76th birthday,  James Taylor & His All-Star Band will take their show on the road in the United States, hitting 24 cities for 31 shows in five months.

Over Zoom from his studio in western Massachusetts, Taylor tells The Associated Press “It's been September since the last time I've been out." That, he says, is “a long time for me.”

The tour kicks off in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Bowl on May 29 and ends at Wolf Trap Filene Center in Vienna, Virginia, on Sept. 15.

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The tour hits Salt Lake City; Morrison, Colorado; Kansas City, Missouri; St. Louis; Highland Park, Illinois; Noblesville, Indiana; Nashville, Tennessee; North Little Rock, Arkansas; Thackerville, Oklahoma; Clarkston, Michigan; Darien Center, New York; Syracuse, New York; Bethel Woods, New York; Bangor, Maine; Gilford, New Hampshire; Lenox, Massachusetts; Philadelphia; Wantagh, New York; Saratoga Springs, New York; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, and Boston.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

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AP: Before the continental U.S. tour, you're headed to Japan, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii. What keeps it interesting?

TAYLOR: The audience, always. The event itself has never failed to supply the motivation and the energy that is required. You know, it’s very compelling to go a great distance and to find a crowd of people that have bought tickets to come see me and the band play again.

Over time, it’s something you learn to do, to keep your strength up, keep your health... also, I don’t do more than a couple of shows in a row without a day off. I’ll do more than that if I’m in one town, but generally speaking, we pace ourselves now.

AP : That's good advice.

TAYLOR : I definitely burned myself out a few times.

AP: You're performing at Tanglewood, in your home state of Massachusetts, 50 years since you first performed there. What significance does it hold?

TAYLOR: I was trying to figure out whether or not it was 50 years or 50 shows that I’ve been playing at Tanglewood, and it turns out it’s both. 1974 was the first time I played there. It averages out to one a year, although at one point we skipped a whole decade.

We had an episode where one of my crew members, in a fit of pique, drove a truck across the Tanglewood lawn and made a mess of it. He was told he had to get the truck off the lawn because it had been raining and it was making an imprint on it. As we were breaking down after the show, he was driving out there to unload the mixing board and stuff. But he put it in reverse, stomped the accelerator and tore a great trough, a great furrow in the Tanglewood lawn. And they never asked me back. It was only when (my wife) Kim came along and resurrected my reputation that I was allowed to come back.

It’s been a great privilege... It's turned out to be a great thing for me, to play Tanglewood every year.

AP: Does an anniversary like that — 50 years — allow you to reflect on your career?

TAYLOR: This is  the time of life  when you feel like you ought to get in touch with a lawyer and make a will. You see, the older generation, the people that were your friends and mentors, sort of  checking out one by one . It is a time when you feel as though things are being summed up a little bit and you start thinking about, the whole thing as a totality. You know, a line from one of my songs, “Copperline,” is “I'm only living 'til the end of the week,” and I think that really does describe me.

But, you know, it is a period of time when you look back and see the whole thing, it's important not to internalize that idea of being a big deal. It's important to focus on what it is that you do — and that thing as a craft that allows you to have your place in the world.

AP: What has that allowed you to learn?

TAYLOR: As time goes by, I think it’s wrong for people to judge other people and even to evaluate them, and yet it’s something we constantly do, and we can’t avoid it. But we should mitigate it by knowing that when we judge someone, we’ve got it wrong. They know who they are, and not we. But, of course, in a million ways, all day long, we evaluate ourselves and other people and it’s complicated. It's not up to me determine what my ultimate position in popular culture turns out to be 50 years from now.

AP: That's a value judgment, too.

TAYLOR : I see people selling the rights to their catalogs. That baby boom generation musical expression, which happened between '62 and 1980, that sort of 20 years of amazing activity that happened, I was in the center of it and actually got my start in London  with the Beatles . So, I had a real sense of this generational phenomenon that the music that I was part of, was a big feature in the landscape and we were communicating to each other. We invented a kind of music there. It was predicted by rhythm and blues and folk music. And those two resurgences sort of fueled it and supplied it. It was big.

You see those people now, being in my sort of age group generally, selling the rights to their catalogs and sort of evaluating what their life’s output was worth. You know,  David Bowie  ’s went for like 250 million. I think  (Bob) Dylan ... got like 300 million...  (Bruce) Springsteen  is said to have gotten more than that, like half a billion or something. It’s sort of like monopoly money.

AP: What do you hope people take away from your live show, and are you working on a new album?

TAYLOR: I feel like I’ve got another one in me — sounds like an egg — but I'm writing a little bit.

And as to what I hope people take away from live performances, I hope they take away a sense of connection. You know, live music — the thing that I’m so attached to about it, why I can’t let it go — is that there’s something (that) happens when people come together for a couple of hours for two or three hours and have a sort of collective experience.

It's indescribable. You prepare for it, but when it happens, it’s spontaneous and, in a way, unique. I love it when that happens, and it does most nights.

AP : Give us a call if you consider selling your catalog.

TAYLOR: If someone comes sniffing around, I'll get in touch.

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