It would have been impossible to find a better way to end this fine night in Dublin, than to play Shane MacGowan’s and Pogues’ beautiful “Rainy Night In Soho”, the audience on fire from the first chords of the song, Dylan standing by the piano. Easily the highlight of the evening, Dylan’s heartfelt tribute to Ireland, Dublin, the audience and to late Shane himself with this song. A very touching moment, and a wonderful way to end the touring of this year. The 84 years old Dylan made his 84th show of the year in Dublin. And yes, it was a really great show, new friends sitting by my side called it excellent, first time they saw Dylan since 2001. I will not disagree, but it was the third show in three days after a long year of touring, and I think we could register a voice with some restraints tonight, Dylan sometimes holding back, almost whisper, using a bit more tenderness than last night’s tour-de-force in Killarney. It might also explain why the harmonica was reserved only for some beautiful bits in “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and “Every Grain of Sand”. Very understandable and not a big problem, just an observation of what might be the need of a well deserved vacation, before more concerts in 2026, as mentioned from the Bob Dylan Twitter account.

This night’s concert was obviously building on the triumph from yesterday in Killarney, the piano playing great and thunderous on a string of songs, as Dylan was attacking both “To Be Alone With You” and “Watching The River Flow” the same way he did last night to great success, but tonight without the harmonica. “Black Rider” was delivered in a great and more tender version than usual, while “Desolation Row” upholded the powerful fever dream version and some playful phrasing throughout. The before mentioned “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and “Every Grain of Sand” were among the highlights of the night, as were phenomenal versions of both “My Own Version And You” and “Crossing The Rubicon”, with lots of appreciation of the fabulous piano playing from a very present and responsive audience.

Maybe more than most countries in the world, Irland is a land of music, and a great and enthusiastic audience showed their presence through the whole show with shouting, cheering, clapping and standing ovations after some of the songs, of course even more at the end of the show. “We love you, Bob” was heard many times. Dylan’s love for the Irish and Irish music as something very unique is well known, and tonight it was like we could both see and feel the mutual respect between the artist and the crowd in the room.

Bob Dylan — A Rainy Night In Soho. Dublin, Ireland. November 25, 2025
https://youtu.be/XrrYKs8aVVQ?si=nASOofDZ53zepCdN

Thanks, Mr Dylan – it has really been one helluva year, one more time.

Johnny Borgan