Key developments
Dylan plays 16-song Columbus set
Bob Dylan played the Palace Theatre in Columbus, Ohio, on April 10 as part of the Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour. The Columbus Dispatch said the set ran about 90 minutes, included 16 songs, and mixed "All Along the Watchtower" with Rough and Rowdy Ways material, while Dylan gave little onstage talk and alternated between seated and standing electric-piano performances. Hoodline's event listing pegged the show at 8 p.m. with 6:30 p.m. doors.
Why it matters
It confirms the current live format and song mix on Dylan's active tour leg.
Sources & driving stories
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The Columbus Dispatch coverageHOODLINE · Maya Collins
Hoodline coverageNPR reviews Polito's Dylan late-career book
Ken Tucker reviewed Robert Polito's After the Flood: Inside Bob Dylan's Memory Palace on NPR. Polito argues that Dylan's post-1997 work, especially Time Out of Mind, Love and Theft, and Rough and Rowdy Ways, is as creatively vital as his early catalog. Tucker highlights the book's collage-like method and abecedarium structure.
Why it matters
It adds a new, prominent critical reappraisal of Dylan's late career.
Sources & driving stories
NPR · Ken Tucker
NPR coverageWorth noting
WORTH NOTING
JazzTimes spotlights Dylan in jazz
The feature frames Dylan as a model for improvisation, with Javon Jackson and Bill Frisell discussing Jackson Plays Dylan and multiple versions of 'Masters of War'.
WORTH NOTING
Cambridge society posts 2026 dates
The long-running UK fan group has confirmed five 2026 Bobchat meetings, including April 23, June 25, August 27, October 29, and December 10.
WORTH NOTING
Untold Dylan revisits 1971 output
Tony Attwood's year-by-year analysis says Dylan wrote only five songs in 1971 and singles out 'When I Paint My Masterpiece' and 'Watching the River Flow'.
Still unclear
OPEN QUESTION
Will the tour stay Rough-and-Rowdy-heavy?
Columbus suggests Dylan is still leaning on later material, so the next dates will show whether that pattern holds across the leg.
OPEN QUESTION
Will late-career reappraisal keep accelerating?
The NPR book review and the JazzTimes feature both point to renewed criticism and reinterpretation of Dylan's older and newer work.