THE POLITICS AND POWER
OF BOB DYLAN'S LIVE PERFORMANCES

     Ephemeral by nature, the concert setlist is a rich, if underexplored, text for scholarly research. How an artist curates a show is a significant aspect of any concert’s appeal. Through the placement of songs, variations in order, or the omission of material, Bob Dylan’s setlists form a meta-narrative speaking to the power and significance of his music. These essays use the setlists from concerts throughout Dylan’s career to study his approach to his material from the 1960s to the 2020s.
     These essays, from various disciplinary perspectives, illustrate how the concert setlist can be used as a source to explore many aspects of Dylan’s public life.

- PLAY A SONG FOR ME, edited by by Erin C. Callahan and Courtney Patterson Carney. Routledge 2023, hardcover, 264 pages. ISBN 978-1032315416 Thank you to Knut Högvall for the information.