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.
If he sticks to the formula from the past couple of years, expect a lot of songs from Rough and Rowdy Ways mixed in with old favorites like “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” “Gotta Serve Somebody,” and “Every Grain of Sand.” Any fans that show up hoping to hear “Mr. Tambourine Man, “Like a Rolling Stone” or “Blowing’ in the Wind” or other big hits are likely going to leave quite disappointed. This is a concert for true aficionados.
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.
It’s unclear where the show will head after October, but over the past decade Dylan has wrapped up many tours at the Beacon Theater in New York around Thanksgiving. The theater is currently dark November 18 to November 27. Make of that what you will.
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