Bob Dylan opens Lights of Autumn tour in Oslo with first Randy Newman cover and a new guitarist

Bob Dylan opened his Lights of Autumn European tour at Oslo Spektrum on 17 October 2026 with a 19-song set. It included the first Randy Newman song he has played live and a guitarist whose identity has not been confirmed, according to Rolling Stone's Andy Greene.

A set of long-absent songs and covers

The show began with 'To Be Alone With You' and 'Man in the Long Black Coat'. Third in the running order came 'Crash on the Levee (Down in the Flood)', which Rolling Stone says Dylan had not played since 2005. 'Tangled Up in Blue' followed in seventh place, its first outing since 2018. Greene describes a slowed, stripped-back ballad treatment with many changed lyrics, reminiscent of the arrangement Dylan used on his 1978 tour.

Newman's 1974 song 'Louisiana 1927' was the first Newman song Dylan has performed, and the first from Newman's catalogue of any kind, per Rolling Stone. Later in the set he played 'Dublin Blues' by Guy Clark, whom Rolling Stone describes as a Texas outlaw country artist.

The main set closed with 'I Shall Be Released'. Dylan returned for an encore of 'You Ain't Goin' Nowhere', the third Basement Tapes song of the night. Rolling Stone calls the 19-song show the longest Dylan has played in recent memory. Dylan did not address the audience or introduce his band.

The guitarist question

Rolling Stone reports that this is Dylan's sixth guitarist in the past five months. Joel Paterson was joined at points during the summer US leg by Julian Lage and Jad Tariq. According to the report, both had commitments in America that kept them from Norway.

Paterson was on stage in Oslo alongside drummer Anton Fig and bassist Tony Garnier. A further guitarist, on the far side of the stage, was not identified. Many fans believe it is Mike Seal. Setlist chronicler Bill Pagel lists the player only as "?" in the line-up he attaches to each song, and Rolling Stone says it could not be sure either way.

What lies ahead

The tour resumes on 19 October in Horsens, Denmark, before moving across Europe. It ends with four nights at London's Royal Festival Hall, which Rolling Stone says Dylan has not played since 1964.

The report covers only the opening night, so it does not indicate which of the Oslo songs or arrangements will return in London. Rolling Stone says it hopes the new guitarist will have been identified by then.