u/-IamTom

This was my fourth time to see Bob in the last three or four years, including Chattanooga show earlier on this 2026 tour.

My random observations include:

+ there was an incredible lack and security. Cell phones were everywhere.

+ the band did a surprising amount of soloing. There must’ve been four or five songs where the guitarist ripped for two or three minutes, which is a big contrast to the previous shows I’ve seen, especially the Chattanooga one earlier this year.

+ the two new guitarist, Jad Tariq (on Dylan’s left) and Joel Paterson (on Dylan’s, right) absolutely ripped it up! during solos they shared lead absolutely harmoniously, and throughout the songs they played, as usual, subtly in the background, in complete support of Bob’s vocals and the pace and sound of the song.

+ as in Chattanooga this year, Bob’s vocals were strong and, for him, clear. He sounded great last night!

+ that “putting on the Ritz” version of “when I paint my masterpiece” was very clever and well done.

+ he played two songs not on the previous set list. Starting out with “let the river flow” as the first song and “ trying to get to heaven as the fourth. Note, they are older songs… It seems something Bob is done a little bit more recently.

+ Bob played harp twice! And not just a couple of bars, he went on for a good bit. He played a long solo for the obscure “under the red sky” and a somewhat shorter solo during the evening’s last song of “I shall be released”.

+ in Chattanooga, the audience was decidedly gray haired. In Richmond, I guess somewhere between 20 and 30% of the audience was young. We walked in with a group of four late teenage girls that looked like they were going to a Britney Spears concert. They said they liked Dylan! It was a wonderful feeling to see the young people discovering or rediscovering Bob’s greatness.