Following Bob Dylan’s one-night-only streaming event Shadow Kingdom in July 2021, Rolling Stone asked of the concert, “What happens to it after that? Does it turn to dust and exist only in bootleg form? Will it be sold as a download? Will there be a soundtrack?” Now, we finally have our answer.
Shadow Kingdom — recorded at a still-unknown venue and featuring Dylan reinterpreting over a dozen classics from his catalog — will be released as both a concert film and live album this June.
Ahead of the June 2 release of Shadow Kingdom, Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings have shared the evening’s performance of “Watching the River Flow,” which marked the first time in seven years that Dylan played the 1971 single live:
In announcing the Shadow Kingdom event in 2021 — which, recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic, was Dylan’s first concert since 2019 — Dylan promised “renditions of songs from his extensive and renowned body of work created especially for this event.”
The “handpicked” 14-song set list featured classics like “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight,” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” alongside deep cuts “Queen Jane Approximately” and “The Wicked Messenger,” plus the closing instrumental “Sierra’s Theme” that was exclusive to the livestream. (While the concert was recorded in the wake of Dylan’s 2020 LP Rough and Rowdy Ways, no song from that album were played during the show.)
Shadow Kingdom, available to preorder now, will be released on both CD and 2LP vinyl, while the concert film itself will be available to both download or rent digitally.
Earlier this year, Dylan released Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996–1997), the 17th (and final?) installment in his beloved Bootleg Series. “We have no idea what’s next,” a source in the Dylan camp told Rolling Stone earlier this year. “We’re at a loss. We don’t know. Let’s see how the market receives this one. But the Bootleg Series is definitely winding down.”
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Shadow Kingdom Track List
When I Paint My Masterpiece
Most Likely You Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)
Queen Jane Approximately
I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Tombstone Blues
To Be Alone With You
What Was It You Wanted
Forever Young
Pledging My Time
The Wicked Messenger
Watching the River Flow
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
Sierra’s Theme
