section_path: Never Ending Tour
section_name: Never Ending Tour
paragraph_text: Never Ending Tour
  
  The Never Ending Tour commenced on June 7, 1988. Dylan has played roughly 100 dates a year since, a heavier schedule than most performers who started in the 1960s. By April 2019, Dylan and his band had played more than 3,000 shows, anchored by long-time bassist Tony Garnier.
  
  To the dismay of some of his audience, Dylan's performances are unpredictable as he often alters his arrangements and changes his vocal approach. These variable performances have divided critics. Richard Williams and Andy Gill argued that Dylan has found a successful way to present his rich legacy of material. Others have criticized his live performances for changing "the greatest lyrics ever written so that they are effectively unrecognisable", and giving so little to the audience that "it is difficult to understand what he is doing on stage at all".
  
  In September 2021, Dylan's touring company announced a series of tours which were billed as the " Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour, 2021–2024 ". The Rough and Rowdy Ways World Tour replaced Dylan's varied set lists with a more stable repertory, performing nine of the ten songs on his 2020 album. Nevertheless, the tour has been referred to by the media as an extension of his ongoing Never Ending Tour.
  
  In February 2025, Dylan announced that he would undertake a U.S. leg of his Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour, commencing in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 25, and ending in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on April 22. It was also announced that Dylan would take part in the Outlaw Music Festival 2025 Tour, appearing alongside Willie Nelson and other artists, beginning on May 13 in Phoenix, Arizona, and finishing on September 19 in East Troy, Wisconsin. Alex Ross has summarised Dylan's touring career: "his shows cause his songs to mutate, so that no definitive or ideal version exists. Dylan's legacy will be the sum of thousands of performances, over many decades... Every night, whether he's in good or bad form, he says, in effect, 'Think again.'"
  
  The Never Ending Tour commenced on June 7, 1988. Dylan has played roughly 100 dates a year since, a heavier schedule than most performers who started in the 1960s. By April 2019, Dylan and his band had played more than 3,000 shows, anchored by long-time bassist Tony Garnier.
  
  To the dismay of some of his audience, Dylan's performances are unpredictable as he often alters his arrangements and changes his vocal approach. These variable performances have divided critics. Richard Williams and Andy Gill argued that Dylan has found a successful way to present his rich legacy of material. Others have criticized his live performances for changing "the greatest lyrics ever written so that they are effectively unrecognisable", and giving so little to the audience that "it is difficult to understand what he is doing on stage at all".
  
  In September 2021, Dylan's touring company announced a series of tours which were billed as the " Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour, 2021–2024 ". The Rough and Rowdy Ways World Tour replaced Dylan's varied set lists with a more stable repertory, performing nine of the ten songs on his 2020 album. Nevertheless, the tour has been referred to by the media as an extension of his ongoing Never Ending Tour.
  
  In February 2025, Dylan announced that he would undertake a U.S. leg of his Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour, commencing in Tulsa, Oklahoma on March 25, and ending in Williamsport, Pennsylvania on April 22. It was also announced that Dylan would take part in the Outlaw Music Festival 2025 Tour, appearing alongside Willie Nelson and other artists, beginning on May 13 in Phoenix, Arizona, and finishing on September 19 in East Troy, Wisconsin. Alex Ross has summarised Dylan's touring career: "his shows cause his songs to mutate, so that no definitive or ideal version exists. Dylan's legacy will be the sum of thousands of performances, over many decades... Every night, whether he's in good or bad form, he says, in effect, 'Think again.'"