Bob Dylan has been tweaking his setlists. The musician, who has kept his performances relatively predictable during the current European leg of his rolling Rough and Rowdy Ways Tour, initiated a change in pace last Thursday during his second night at Waterfront Hall in Belfast, where he paid tribute to a local friend, Van Morrison, debuting the latter’s 2016 Keep Me Singing track, “Going Down to Bangor.” The globally renowned artist’s arrival at Gleneagle INEC Arena in Killarney, Ireland, saw him pull out a similar move. Dylan revived a traditional cover of the Paul Brady-associated “Lakes of Pontchartrain,” played for the first time since July 6, 1991. 

Like the bulk of concerts put on by the Greenwich Village bard, he played a nearly identical setlist as the stops prior, initiated by a run-through of “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” “It Ain’t Me, Babe,” and “I Contain Multitudes.” “False Prophet” welcomed a continuation of tracks from the musician’s 2020 studio LP, before going with a timeless classic from the canon: “When I Paint My Masterpiece.” “Black Rider” and “My Own Version of You” supported the tour’s mission, before the arrival of Nashville Skyline cut, “To Be Alone With You.” The motif continued, with Dylan and his band nailing a career-spanning set that ultimately ended with a surprise return. 

After turning in the typical concert closer, “Every Grain of Sand,” the time was right to mix things up, leading the artist to tack on a final musical feature during night one in Killarney, Ireland. Before closing the show, Dylan appeared behind the keys for the first cover of the folk ballad with Irish roots, “The Lakes of Pontchartrain,” since his 1991 appearance in Nashua, N.H. According to the setlist.FM, Dylan first covered the track on June 7, 1988, and returned to the tune a total of seven times in the span of a month, before shelving it until the following June 1989. Following a similar pattern, during the summer and into the fall of ‘89, the song remained part of his live show, arriving on eight occasions. 

“The Lakes of Pontchartrain” petered out of practice in 1990, only receiving two plays, and ultimately just one return the year that followed. During his gig on Nov. 23, 2025, the cover song’s placement on the tracking list ended a 34-year gap in plays. Like prior bust-outs, Dylan considered time and the artist’s association with the number, using his Killarney performance to nod to a regional staple, Paul Brady, and his association with the track, which was covered on his LP, Welcome Here Kind Stranger.  

Dylan has long admired Brady. When the pair met in 1984, Brady reportedly taught Dylan to play “The Lakes of Pontchartrain,” which later arrived on the Minnesota-bred musician’s album of traditional folk songs and covers, Good as I Been to You. 

Bob Dylan 

Gleneagle INEC Arena – Killarney, Ireland 

Nov. 23, 2025 

Set: I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight, It Ain’t Me, Babe, I Contain Multitudes, False Prophet, When I Paint My Masterpiece, Black Rider, My Own Version of You, To Be Alone With You, Crossing the Rubicon, Desolation Row, Key West (Philosopher Pirate), Watching the River Flow, It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue, I’ve Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You, Mother of Muses, Goodbye Jimmy Reed, Every Grain of Sand, The Lakes of Pontchartrain+

Notes: 

+ Bust out, last covered on July 6, 1991 

Setlist and notes via boblinks.com.