Photo Credit: Bill Kelly

Yesterday, the 2024 Outlaw Music Festival commenced with a stop in Alpharetta, Ga., surprisingly without its founder and one of two headliners. Only hours before the outset, Willie Nelson announced that he would be absent from the first three performances of the tour on doctor’s orders. In his place, the festival welcomed Shotgun Willie’s elder son Lukas Nelson and his Family Band.

In a statement released to Nelson’s social channels, the country superstar’s team disclosed, “We regret to inform you that Willie Nelson is not feeling well and, per doctor’s orders, has been advised to rest for the next four days. He is expected to make a quick recovery and join the Outlaw Music Festival next week.” Until then, fans can expect further appearances from Lukas, as well as an ensemble of currently billed Outlaw artists and special guests to deliver a set of Nelson’s classic originals.

Nelson’s absence was not the only surprise from the Outlaw kick-off. Amid murmurs of major shifts in his performance plans, co-headliner Bob Dylan delivered a set loaded with twists. Shifting dramatically from his recent performances, which have been defined by a rigid selection of entries from his 2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways, Dylan let loose a retrospective mix of golden oldies and recent originals, with only two Dylan cuts from his 13-track show released before the 21st century: 1975’s “A Simple Twist of Fate” and 1990’s “Under The Red Sky.” Among the highlights from the set were four first-time covers, including the opener of Willie Dixon’s “My Babe” and Chuck Berry’s early rocker “Little Queenie,” plus entries from The Fleetwoods, Hank Williams and Sanford Clark.

Beyond these classics, Dylan staged four tracks from 2012’s The Tempest. Hardcore fans would note the bust out of 2009’s “Beyond Here Lies Nothin’,” which the artist performed for the first time since 2019. Dylan’s band also saw some seismic changes, with early drummer Jim Keltner tapping in for Jay Pentecost and pedal steel mainstay Donnie Herron leaving the stage after 19 years.

Elsewhere on the bill, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss treated the crowd to a cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” and “The Battle of Evermore.” Singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Celisse opened the show. While Dylan and Nelson with helm the 25-stop Outlaw Festival through mid-September, all other players will rotate through the tour’s regional legs, with John Mellencamp, Billy Strings, Brittney Spencer, John Mellencamp and Southern Avenue slated to appear at coming engagements.

Outlaw Music Festival returns tonight, June 22, with a show at PNC Music Pavillion in Charlotte, N.C. For tickets and more information, visit blackbirdpresents.com. Read on for Dylan’s complete setlist.

Bob Dylan
Outlaw Music Festival
Ameris Bank Ampitheatre — Alpharetta, Ga.
6/21/24

Set: My Babe*, Beyond Here Lies Nothin’, Simple Twist of Fate, Little Queenie#, Mr. Blue%, Pay in Blood, Cold, Cold Heart^, Early Roman Kings, Under the Red Sky, Things Have Changed, The Fool+, Scarlet Town, Long and Wasted Years

Notes:
* Willie Dixon cover
” Chuck Berry cover
% The Fleetwoods cover
^ Hank Williams cover
+ Sanford Clark cover