Julian Lage returned to Bob Dylan's touring band on July 6 at the Mystic Lake Amphitheater in Shakopee, Minnesota—five shows after his departure. According to Rolling Stone, the guitarist had last played with Dylan on June 26 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before leaving to attend an event at National Sawdust in New York City while Dylan performed in Austin.
The tour had been unstable. Doug Lancio ghosted in early June, and Bob Britt quit via a "Sayonara Bobby" Facebook post, leaving Dylan with just bassist Tony Garnier and drummer Anton Fig. Joel Paterson, a Chicago-based blues and jazz guitarist, filled the gap and played his first Dylan show without backup guitar support.
On July 6, both Lage and Paterson shared guitar duties, and they worked well together. The source indicates this wasn't a replacement but a collaboration.
The Never Ending Tour has always been Dylan's creative laboratory, but the guitarist instability over the past month reveals deeper patterns. These aren't minor substitutions; they're mid-tour upheavals that would disable most touring operations. Dylan's setlist has remained consistent, with "I Shall Be Released" becoming the closer of choice (though he occasionally plays "Every Grain of Sand"). "All Along the Watchtower"—historically one of his most recognizable tracks—has been dropped entirely.
The question is whether Dylan is intentionally reshuffling his touring band for creative reasons or if managing multiple musicians' schedules has become untenable at this stage of his career. Fan recordings and bootleg footage uploaded to YouTube document every lineup change in real time.
The Never Ending Tour continues with fresh uncertainty.
