Bob Dylan plays “Not Dark Yet” for the first time in seven years in Düsseldorf

Bob Dylan played “Not Dark Yet” on 27 October at Mitsubishi Electric Hall in Düsseldorf, the first time in seven years he has performed the song, according to Rolling Stone. It was the sixth show of his Lights of Autumn European fall tour, and the Time Out of Mind track sounded unlike any of its 191 previous live outings over three decades.

The new version runs about four and a half minutes, two minutes shorter than the 1997 studio recording, even though Dylan sang every verse. He gave it a slight reggae touch and stripped away much of its somber mood. At recent stops he has also introduced new arrangements of “Trying to Get to Heaven” and “Million Miles”, both from Time Out of Mind, the album that won him the Grammy for Album of the Year. Dylan has never been happy with producer Daniel Lanois' arrangements; in 2001 he told Rolling Stone he heard “a sameness to the rhythms”. The songs were revisited on the 2023 box set “The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996–1997)”.

The tour runs through 8 December at London's Royal Festival Hall, where Dylan last played in 1964. The dates closest to Romania: Vienna on 11 and 12 November (Wiener Stadthalle, Halle D) and Salzburg on 14 November (Salzburg Arena), according to the artist's official site.

Born in 1941 in Duluth, the American singer-songwriter's newest studio album is “Rough and Rowdy Ways” (2020), according to MusicBrainz. In October mbuzz reported that the tour opened on 17 October at Oslo Spektrum with a 19-song set played from behind an electric keyboard. His last concert in Romania was on 25 June 2014 at Sala Palatului in Bucharest.