On Tuesday evening, Bob Dylan turned in his latest set as part of Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour. The mid-week stop at the Ford Amphitheater in Nampa, Idaho, accounted for the 83-year-old troubadour’s first non-instrumental delivery of “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” in a decade. The song’s arrival cemented an affluent feature of Dylan’s current touring cycle, busting out choice numbers and flexing his ample repertoire. 

The Greenwich Village bard sought an entry for the ongoing motif during his initial slot on the spring 2025 edition of Outlaw Music Festival Tour, May 13, turning in a whopping four bust-outs [“Forgetful Heart,” “To Ramona,” Bobby Troupe’s “Route 66” and “Mr. Tambourine Man”] and three debuts [George Butler’s “Axe and the Wind,” Charlie Rich’s “I’ll Make It All Up To You,” and The Pogues classic “A Rainy Night in Soho”]. 

The initial song submissions revived Dylan’s setlist, having proceeded with near identical frames night after night on his own Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour, the arrival of first-time songs and bust-outs provided a window to repopulate his live catalog. The trend continued on night two of the Outlaw Tour with three more bust-outs [“Lonesome Day Blues,” “Blind Willie McTell,” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”] and a debut of Bobby “Blue” Bland’s “Share Your Love With Me.” 

In classic Dylan fashion, as fans started to pick up on the setlist trend, he withdrew the method of song entries during the tour stop at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Bowl, saving his energy for a more obscure location, Wheatland, Calif., for the arrival of the first “Til I Fell in Love With Me,” since 2015. 

Then, during last night’s performance in the Gem State, Dylan positioned the aforementioned Highway 61 Revisited cut in the setlist’s fifth slot. The change-up was accented by Dylan’s shift in instruments, moving from behind the piano to the guitar. The musician delivered a handful of instrumental renditions of “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” in 2019, six in total, before shelving the number till Tuesday’s appearance. Previously, 2014 marked the last time Dylan played the song in full. 

After last night’s gig in Idaho, the Outlaw Tour moves on to Spokane, Wash., where they will perform on Thursday, May 22. Tickets remain on sale.

Bob Dylan 

Outlaw Country Tour

Ford Amphitheater – Nampa, Idaho 

May 20, 2025

Set: Gotta Serve Somebody, Simple Twist of Fate, Forgetful Heart, Axe and the Wind, Just Like 

Tom Thumb’s Blues, Early Roman Kings, Under the Red Sky, I’ll Make It All Up To You, All Along the Watchtower, ‘Til I Fell in Love With You, Desolation Row, Love Sick, Share Your Love With Me, Blind Willie McTell, Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right

Notes:

+ First non-instrumental since 2014 and Dylan on guitar