Bob Dylan‘s June 29 present on the Moody Amphitheater in Austin was supposed to simply be a regular cease on an extended tour that’s scheduled to run via the tip of the 12 months. However after guitarist Doug Lancio left the band two weeks in the past, alternative Julian Lage had a previous dedication in Brooklyn that night time, and second guitarist Bob Britt all of a sudden stop the group with a “Sayonara Bobby” Fb publish a few days earlier, no person knew who could also be becoming a member of Dylan, bassist Tony Garnier, and drummer Anton Fig that night time.
Within the fan group, hypothesis ran wild: Would possibly Jimmie Vaughan step into the void? Would Lancio return? Was there any probability {that a} beloved previous member of Dylan’s group like Larry Campbell or G.E. Smith would come again for an encore run? Was there a state of affairs the place Dylan, Garnier, and Fig play as a Ben Folds 5-style trio? May Britt pull a reverse “sayonara” and are available again to assist Dylan out of his jam? And would Dylan have only one guitarist within the band for the primary time for the reason that John Jackson days of 1991, or would possibly we see the debut of two new members?
The reply got here when the lights dimmed and Chicago-based blues guitarist Joel Paterson walked onto the stage to make his debut with Dylan’s band, and confronted the troublesome job of dealing with the entire guitar components by himself. Paterson is hardly a family title, however he has an extended historical past on the Chicago blues scene and has recorded with Dave “Honey Boy” Edwards, Wanda Jackson, Cactus Blossoms, and JD McPherson.
Up till this week, Paterson performed each Monday together with his jazz quartet on the historic Inexperienced Mill Cocktail Lounge in Chicago, which seats nearly 150 individuals. He final carried out there Saturday, June 27, two days earlier than his debut with Dylan.
Hours earlier than Paterson made his debut with Dylan, his Joel Paterson Quartet bandmate Natalie Scharf wrote on Fb that he’d be absent from the Monday gig for the following two or three weeks, and guitarist Andy Brown would take his place. She didn’t point out that he was about to play “All Alongside the Watchtower” and 15 different songs with Dylan at a 5,000-seat amphitheater in Austin.
In accordance with early fan studies, Paterson did a stellar job with Dylan, and appeared remarkably assured. It’s unclear how a lot time he needed to put together for the gig, or when he discovered that Britt wouldn’t be up there to assist him. It’s additionally unclear how acquainted he was with Dylan’s music, however he did play pedal metal on 4 Dylan songs (“If Not for You,” “To Ramona,” “When to See the Gypsy,” and “Inform Me That It Isn’t True”) on the 2022 Cactus Blossoms EP Bob Dylan Songs Vol. 1.
Not lengthy earlier than showtime, Britt posted a extra detailed rationalization of his exit from Dylan’s band on Fb. “Apparently there are fairly a couple of threads on the market with individuals speculating about my departure from the Bob tour,” he wrote. “I’d wish to clear it up. I used to be not fired however left of my very own accord for causes I would like to maintain personal. I’ll miss my band mates and crew. I’m trying ahead to getting again to doing classes (give me a name) and in addition ending up [my wife] Etta’s gospel file. So far as any touring goes, we are going to see what the long run holds. In the meantime, I’ve some flower beds to weed.”
He hasn’t written anything, however his spouse has revealed barely extra on her Fb web page. “Sure, however not due to Julian [Lage],” Etta wrote when requested if Bob left the band. “Julian has gone again to his tour. He loved enjoying with him and mentioned he’s an excellent man.” Later within the remark thread, she wrote “phrase is he’s coming again” in reference to Lage.
Now we have additionally discovered that Lage certainly plans on enjoying further dates with Dylan this 12 months when his schedule permits. He couldn’t make the present in Austin as a result of he was booked at Nationwide Sawdust in Brooklyn for an hourlong Q&A with The New Yorker’s Alec Wilkinson, adopted by an acoustic efficiency. All through your complete occasion, Dylan’s title was by no means uttered as soon as. It appeared to happen in an alternate universe the place Lage didn’t simply wrap up a shock stint with one of the crucial necessary artists of the century.
(I used to be within the entrance row and put my hand excessive into the air in the course of the Q&A portion. I used to be going to ask a multipart query that went one thing like, “You simply spent a few weeks on tour with Bob Dylan. How did that come about, what was the expertise like, and do you propose on going again?” However they by no means referred to as on me. I felt like Tracy Flick in Election, desperately making an attempt to get the eye of the trainer and failing miserably.)
Dylan’s tour resumes Tuesday night time in New Braunfels, Texas. The U.S. leg wraps up Aug. 1 in Nashville. Lage’s schedule makes it attainable for him to make each present apart from the July 4 gig in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri. Issues get trickier when Dylan goes to Europe in October, since Lage is booked up strong that month in America.
No one is aware of precisely how this may play out. Paterson could possibly be a short lived alternative and can quickly be again to his Monday-night gig on the Inexperienced Mill Cocktail Lounge. He would possibly stick round as the only real guitarist. Dylan would possibly rent a alternative for Britt, hold Paterson on a everlasting foundation, and return to the usual two-guitar lineup. Lage would possibly parachute out and in when his schedule permits, leaving Paterson to deal with the present by himself some nights.
We merely don’t know. What we will say is that the By no means Ending Tour hasn’t seen this a lot drama in a really very long time.
