Fun fact: Everyone who’s anyone adores Bob Dylan. How else do you explain the range of guests that came out to New York’s Town Hall on Thursday night to celebrate the guy’s 77th birthday? Laurie Anderson, Emily Haines, Mark Kozelek, Nels Cline, Peter Wolf, Natalie Cressman, The Milk Carton Kids, and many more all hit the stage to pay their respects to the American songwriter.
In addition to that juicy smorgasbord of talent, actors Bill Murray and Steve Buscemi also hopped in on the fun. Both performed speech-sing renditions of Dylan’s works; Buscemi tagged in for “Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues”, while Murray came around for “Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right”. As you can see in the fan shot footage below, both brought all the necessary gravitas to the songs.
Dubbed Tomorrow is a Long Time, and produced by tribute maestro Hal Willner, the entire night was a reproduction, song for song, of Dylan’s April 1963 gig of the same venue. At the time, Dylan was prepping his sophomore album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, which would really frame his craft for songwriting as he strayed away from the traditional country tunes of his debut.
Take a gander at the setlist below (via Brooklyn Vegan) and stave off the FOMO with more clips shortly after.
Setlist:
Ramblin’ Down Thru the World
Bob Dylan’s Dream (with Emily Haines)
Talkin’ New York (with Laurie Anderson)
Ballad of Hollis Brown (with Lisa Fischer & Teddy Thompson)
Walls of Red Wing (with Bob Neuwirth)
All Over You
Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues (with Steve Buscemi)
Boots of Spanish Leather (with Geoff Muldaur)
Hero Blues (with Peter Wolf)
Blowin’ in the Wind (with The Milk Carton Kids)
John Brown (with Teddy Thompson)
Tomorrow is a Long Time (with Joan Wasser)
A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall (with Lisa Fischer)
INTERMISSION
Dusty Old Fairgrounds
Who Killed Davey Moore? (with Mark Kozelek)
Seven Curses (with Greg Tate)
Highway 51 (with Terry Adams)
Pretty Peggy-O (with Triumph the Insult Comic Dog & The Milk Carton Kids)
Bob Dylan’s New Orleans Rag (with Gina Gershon)
Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right (with Bill Murray + Joan Wasser)
Hiding Too Long (with Anne Waldman)
With God on Our Side (with Mark Kozelek)
Masters of War (with Emily Haines)
Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie (with Bob Neuwirth)
