Singer, songwriter, Nobel Prize winner, and one-time Victoria’s Secret spokesperson Bob Dylan has made headlines this week, announcing more North American tour dates and being the subject of a Cat Power cover album titled Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert.
Dylan’s famous “Never Ending Tour” had been on a roll since 1988, only taking a hiatus during the two years of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, with over 30 years straight on the road, many fans expected the now 82 year old folk singer to call it quits. He has not. From the moment venues reopened Dylan was back on the road, strumming his acoustic guitar and reassuring fans “don’t think twice, it’s all right.” His ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’ tour has been ongoing since late 2021, with Dylan hitting stages worldwide to promote his 2020 album of the same name. Now he has added more dates to the upcoming US leg with shows in Boston, Brooklyn, Newark, and more, including a performance November 19 at The Fillmore in Philly. Tickets to the latest string of shows go on sale Friday via Ticketmaster with a Live Nation presale taking place on September 14th (using code STUDIO).
Meanwhile, the prolific alternative folk songwriter Chan Marshall, better known as Cat Power, has announced a cover album of Dylan’s fabled 1966 live set at the Royal Albert Hall where Dylan famously switched from acoustic to electric guitar mid-set to the dismay of folk purists and social activists at the time. Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert comes out November 10 via Domino Recording Co. Recorded in late 2022 at Royal Albert Hall, the new record offers a song-for-song recreation of one of Dylan’s most fabled and transformative live performances. Ironically, the actual concert was held at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in May 1966, not the Royal Albert Hall, but has long been referred to as the “Royal Albert Hall Concert” due to an old mislabeled bootleg.
“More than the work of any other songwriter, Dylan’s songs have spoken to me, and inspired me since I first began hearing them at 5 years old,” said Marshall in a recent press release. Two of the tracks are currently out, “She Belongs To Me” and “Ballad Of A Thin Man”, both faithfully interpreting Dylan’s original compositions as, “for the show at Royal Albert Hall, I, of course, sang it the way it was originally written – with the respect for the composition…and the great composer.”
Listen to Cat Power sing “She Belongs To Me” and “Ballad Of A Thin Man” below, and get ready for tickets to go on sale Friday for Dylan’s upcoming performance at The Fillmore.