On the road together for an extended period for the first time since 2009, Willie Nelson, 91, and Bob Dylan, 83, each brought the house down Wednesday night at the Hollywood Bowl, where the two living legends performed separately as part of this summer’s traveling Outlaw Music Festival.
Here are 10 highlights from the sold-out show:
1. Nelson, who launched the annual Outlaw tour in 2016, was forced to pull out of the first few dates of this year’s edition due to illness. Here, though, he seemed in fine fettle as he shuffled onto a bare stage with his six-piece band, took a seat next to his son Micah and opened his hour-long set with a frisky rendition of “Whiskey River” as he’s done so many times before.
2. Nelson’s other son, Lukas, was missing from his usual spot in his dad’s ensemble on Wednesday. Yet Nelson had a handful of unannounced guests in John Densmore of the Doors, who manned various percussion “doohickeys,” as the singer put it, throughout the gig; Amanda Shires, who played fiddle in a spirited “I’ll Fly Away”; and Lily Meola, a former “America’s Got Talent” contestant who joined Nelson for a smoldering take on their “Will You Remember Mine.”
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3. “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground” sounded like a piece of eternal wisdom when Nelson wrote and recorded it for 1980’s “Honeysuckle Rose.” Nearly half a century later, the country-jazz ballad is still a showstopper; indeed, if anything, the song’s beauty has only deepened as Nelson somehow continues to find new ways to twist its winding vocal melody. A+ guitar solo too.
4. This longtime progressive activist didn’t say anything election-related from the stage, though it seemed notable that in a crowd-pleasing set long on hits — “On the Road Again,” “Always on My Mind,” “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys” — one new tune Nelson opted to play was the title track from this year’s “The Border” LP: a stark depiction of the moral complexities at work in a place often reduced to a political cartoon.
5. Memories of the Dylan-goes-electric days have been in the wind lately thanks to the just-released trailer for James Mangold’s upcoming biopic starring Timothée Chalamet. Yet here Dylan reached back to before that epochal shift with loving covers of late-’50s classics like Chuck Berry’s “Little Queenie” and the Fleetwoods’ “Mr. Blue,” the latter of which felt lighter than air.
6. Then again, Dylan’s snarling take on the delightfully nasty “Ballad of a Thin Man” — which he performed, like most of Wednesday’s set, in a wide-legged stance behind a grand piano, his shirt open nearly to his belly button — suggested he can still find fresh irritation in the misunderstandings of the mid-’60s.
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7. Longtime pals — and onetime “We Are the World” collaborators! — Dylan and Nelson never teamed up at the Bowl, though Dylan did invite Nelson’s harmonica player, Mickey Raphael, to sit in for a very lovely “Simple Twist of Fate.”
8. In addition to the two headliners, the Outlaw tour features a third veteran of American roots music in John Mellencamp, whose fervent, if somewhat parched, readings of “Small Town” and “Pink Houses” on Wednesday made you ponder how radically ideas about the heartland have changed over the last four decades.
9. Mellencamp’s way of boiling down the message of his song “Longest Days”: “Stop giving a f— about stuff that’s not f—worthy.”
10. A young face among all the grizzled visages, Brittney Spencer — who got a boost this year when Beyoncé featured her on “Cowboy Carter” — opened the concert with a sly and buoyant performance that climaxed with a mashup of Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places” and her own “I Got Time.”
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FAQs
OCT 1963. Bob Dylan makes his debut at the Hollywood Bowl. He returns in 1993, 1999, and 2012.
Are Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan friends? ›
Tomorrow night, Willie Nelson kicks off his annual Outlaw tour. This year, he's bringing an old friend along for every single show: Bob Dylan.
When did Willie Nelson tour with Bob Dylan? ›
Dylan joined up with the Outlaw Festival for a couple of shows in 2017, but this is the first time he's participated in the entire tour. His friendship with Nelson, however, goes back several decades. They co-wrote the song “Heartland” together in 1993.
Who was playing with Willie Nelson? ›
In February, Nelson announced an "unprecedented" lineup including himself, Bob Dylan, Robert Plant, Alison Krauss, John Mellencamp, Billy Strings, Brittney Spencer, Celisse and Southern Avenue among acts scheduled to play a run of two dozen North American dates through October.
What are some facts about the Hollywood Bowl? ›
The Hollywood Bowl is the first amphitheater in California to be certified as an Audubon Society Cooperative Sanctuary. Los Angeles Philharmonic Association and Los Angeles County are partners with the Hollywood Bowl and encourage recycling. The Hollywood Bowl has many recycling bins located throughout the venue.
What was the first concert at the Hollywood Bowl? ›
The Summer of '22
After playing home to concerts, theatrical productions and an Easter Sunrise service, the Hollywood Bowl kicked off its first official season on July 11, 1922. It was a barebones experience for spectators, who sat on temporary wooden benches to watch Alfred Hertz conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Who was Bob Dylan's best friend? ›
The “Louie” in reference was Louie Kemp, Dylan's best friend since they met at Hertzl summer...
Who is Willie Nelson's best friend? ›
“'Me and Paul' is not a straight autobiography,” Ritz writes in a brief introduction. “This is something different, a collection of tales — some short, some tall — told by Willie Nelson and his best friend, Paul English. …
Who was the love of Willie Nelson's life? ›
Willie Nelson is married to Annie D'Angelo.
In his memoir, titled “Me and Sister Bobby: True Tales of the Family Band,” the musician wrote, “My love for Annie was all-consuming, but winning her over wasn't easy.”
Did Willie Nelson meet Elvis? ›
Did Willie Nelson and Elvis Presley ever meet? Yes they met.
Bob Dylan has a net worth of $500 million. Much of his most acclaimed work was during the '60s, though his works have spanned five decades. Since the late 1980s, he has toured consistently on what has been called the Never-Ending Tour.
Who performed at the Willie Nelson 4th of July picnic with Bob Dylan and Robert Plant? ›
Willie Nelson has unveiled the artist lineup, date, and location for his esteemed Fourth of July Picnic, slated to occur just outside Philadelphia at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, N.J. The occasion, which dates back to 1973, will feature an all-star assembly of decades-deep talent during the 2024 offering, ...
How is Johnny Depp related to Willie Nelson? ›
How is Johnny Depp related to Willie Nelson? Johnny Depp and Willie Nelson share a friendship that has been highlighted in various media. They have collaborated in the past, with Depp appearing in Nelson's music video for "You Don't Know Me" and the two often seen together at events and concerts.
What surgery did Willie Nelson have? ›
Thursday, a Washington Post interview with Nelson revealed that the singer and songwriter had recently had a stem cell procedure. It was an attempt to try to help his lungs which Nelson described as "really screwed up" from years of emphysema and pneumonia. That procedure left him too sore to perform.
Did Willie Nelson play football? ›
Nelson attended Abbott High School, where he was a halfback on the football team, guard on the basketball team, and shortstop in baseball.
Who performed at the Hollywood Bowl 1968? ›
The Doors | Hollywood Bowl 1968.
Where did Bob Dylan perform in 1965? ›
On July 25, 1965, he performed his first concert with electric instruments at the Newport Folk Festival, joined by pianist Barry Goldberg and of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, guitarist Mike Bloomfield, bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay, and with Al Kooper playing organ on "Like a Rolling Stone".
What famous bands have played the Hollywood Bowl? ›
Since its opening in 1922, the Hollywood Bowl has been the premier destination for live music in Southern California, hosting everyone from Billie Holiday to The Beatles to Yo-Yo Ma under the iconic silhouette of its concentric-arched band shell.
