And on the fifth concert of his fall U.S. tour, Bob Dylan and his band performed a glorious version of Tom Petty’s “Learning to Fly” in tribute to his Traveling Wilburys bandmate and former tour mate.
Dylan’s tour began on Oct. 13, 2017, a week and a half after Petty’s untimely death on Oct. 2. On those first four dates, Dylan’s 20-song set included such favorites as “Highway 61 Revisited,” “It Ain’t Me, Babe” and “Tangled Up in Blue,” as well as his more recent covers of “Melancholy Mood” and “The September of My Years.”
Shortly after Petty’s death, Dylan released a statement honoring his friend: “It’s shocking, crushing news. I thought the world of Tom. He was great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him.”
On Saturday night (Oct. 21) at 1st Bank Center in Bloomfield, CO, Dylan performed the same set he had been doing with one major exception. The evening’s final encore–following “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Ballad of a Thin Man”–was 1991’s”Learning to Fly,” written by Petty and fellow Wilbury Jeff Lynne, for the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ album, Into the Great Wide Open.
Watch Dylan perform “Learning to Fly” from two different vantage points
Bob Dylan, 1st Bank Center, Bloomfield, CO, October 21, 2017 Setlist
Things Have Changed
It Ain’t Me Babe
Highway 61 Revisited
Why Try to Change Me Now
Summer Days
Melancholy Mood
Honest With Me
Tryin’ to Get to Heaven
Once Upon a Time
Pay in Blood
The September of My Years
Tangled Up in Blue
Early Roman Kings
Soon After Midnight
Desolation Row
Thunder on the Mountain
Autumn Leaves
Long and Wasted Years
Encore
Blowin’ in the Wind
Ballad of a Thin Man
Learning to Fly
1 Comment
Thanks Bob, once a Wilbury always a Wilbury…looking forward to seeing Bob and Co. Nov 8th I hope this song stays in the set…cheers