Forty years ago, Bob Dylan‘s impromptu comments at Live Aid inspired Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp to stage the original Farm Aid in Champaign, Illinois. And on Saturday night, Bob Dylan returned to the Farm Aid stage to celebrate the event’s 40th anniversary at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The musician reportedly spent two days in a New York studio with members of his band.
He wound up wearing the hoodie, though not pulled as tightly around his face as it has been at recent shows, and he agreed to both the projection screens and the livestream. There weren’t closeups, the stage was pretty dark, and much of the stadium audience had a hard time seeing him clearly, but these were major concessions given his history. Very few Never Ending Tour shows have been professionally filmed like this, let alone broadcast on the Internet.
According to a press release, Dylan recorded at White Lake Studios in Albany, New York, on August 5 and 6 with “members of his band”.
“We want every artist and guest to feel relaxed and at home,” said David Bourgeois, the studio’s CEO. “We’ve had the privilege of working with many remarkable talents over the years, but this visit was truly special. I’m incredibly proud of our team.”
It comes after Dylan recently announced the UK and Ireland leg of his ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways’ tour, which sprung from his 2020 studio album of the same name and has been running since November 2021. The 10th leg of the tour ran across North America in March and April this year and saw him dipping into his back catalogue, including the first performance of ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’ in 15 years.
Bob Dylan will play:
NOVEMBER
7 – Brighton, Brighton Centre
9 – Swansea, Building Society Arena
10 – Swansea, Building Society Arena
11 – Swansea, Building Society Arena
13 – Coventry, Building Society Arena
14 – Leeds, First DIrect Arena
16 – Glasgow, Armadillo
17 – Glasgow, Armadillo
19 – Belfast, Waterfront
20 – Belfast, Waterfront
23 – Killarney, INEC
24 – Killarney, INEC
25 – Dublin, 3Arena
