REVIEW: Joan Osborne Sings the Songs of Bob Dylan

Apr 13

4/10 @ Universal Preservation Hall, Saratoga

“Some damn fine folk rock with hints of rockabilly throughout. Osborne arranges these songs in a way that truly honors Dylan’s creative spirit, and her versions are more like reimaginings than covers.”

As I settled into my seat on the side of the stage at Universal Preservation Hall (UPH) on Thursday night, one of the volunteer ushers told me that this show was among the most sold out shows they’ve hosted at the repurposed Saratoga church. As the room filled in around me, it was clear that this show would indeed be full from the jump with a crowd anxiously awaiting Joan Osborne and her famous renditions of the legendary songsmith Bob Dylan. UPH has all of the immersive ambience and acoustic prowess you’d expect from a classic church-turned-venue, and blue-lit stained glass is a great touch that only adds to the feel of this truly unique space. I always feel right at home seeing a show in a spot like this, which makes the experience of live music feel a little extra spiritual to me.

The fun thing about a Bob Dylan tribute show is that his catalog is so extensive with so many different eras, you never know what you’re going to get from the setlist. Osborne is far more than a Dylan tribute act; she has her own impressive set of songs to go with a critically acclaimed 2017 album tackling some of his material on Songs of Bob Dylan. April 10th also happened to be the first night of the tour, and Joan announced during the show that a live album would be released on April 22nd, including Dylan songs that were not recorded on the 2017 album. The Saratoga crowd would be among the first to hear those renditions.

To start, Joan strutted out with confident presence and true swagger as the full house erupted in excitement. They were on her side immediately as she launched into the opening “She Belongs to Me” from 1965’s Bringing It All Back Home accompanied by lead guitar and keyboard while leading the trio on vocals and an individual snare drum; she would provide all of the percussion for the evening via that drum and the occasional tambourine. The sound mix was immaculate, with the band sounding clear as crystal and only enhanced by the atmosphere of the Hall. Osborne’s vocals were clear and powerful when they had to be, yet subtly vulnerable when called for with an occasional rasp right at home in these tunes. Her performance truly spanned Dylan’s entire career: his beginnings in the sixties with an excellent performance of “Highway 61 Revisited” full of Joan’s distinct personality and passionate vocal delivery, a very outlaw country spin on “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”, a fun and cheeky rendition of “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat” (a personal Dylan favorite), even to newer songs from 2020’s Rough and Rowdy Ways, to the closing “Tangled Up In Blue” from 1975’s Blood On The Tracks.

The announcement of the final song drew moans and groans from the capacity crowd, who had enthusiastically joined in on the party all night long with plenty of audience participation and banter. At one point during their back and forth, Osborne quipped “I don’t mind making myself ridiculous”; the true essence of the performer I thought to myself. She went on: “Dylan is such an iconic figure… might as well have fun with it.” When the set drew to a close, she was showered with adoration and met with a standing ovation, which led the band to return for an encore that would span three songs. Osborne took this opportunity to delve into her non-Dylan repertoire, starting off with “St. Teresa” and her cover of Eric Brazilian’s “One Of Us” from her 1995 album Relish leading to a second standing ovation from the crowd. Osborne wasn’t finished yet, though, and she dazzled once more with a spirited performance of the title track of her most recent album, 2023’s Nobody Owns You (which included her stomping vigorously with her high heeled boots for percussion), fully showcasing her own music as a bonus for the crowd that was clearly there to hear Joan Osborne, not just Joan Osborne singing Bob Dylan. As the band hit the last note, the UPH crowd rewarded Osborne with an epic third standing ovation.

All in all, this was some damn fine folk rock with hints of rockabilly throughout. Osborne arranges these songs in a way that truly honors Dylan’s creative spirit, and her versions are more like reimaginings than covers. She fully embodies his adventurous and free-wheeling tendencies to experiment with his catalog, and it allows her to fully inhabit these songs as something much more than a tribute set. She also performed enough of her own music throughout the night to remind you that she’s an absolute powerhouse of a songwriter and performer in her own right, as if anybody possibly forgot.