On the traveling Outlaw Festival this summer, when he’s not playing a ton of songs from 2012’s Tempest or covering songs from the ‘50s, Bob Dylan has been having fun with his setlists. The legendary musician has seemingly been including certain songs because they’d just had pop culture moments. For example, last week he played “Silvio” for the first time in 20 years after Barack Obama included it on his summer playlist and last month he played “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” for the first time in seven years right after Timothée Chalamet sang in the trailer for A Complete Unknown.

In Cuyahoga Falls, OH on Thursday, Dylan broke out “All Along The Watchtower,” and it was probably for a reason: John Mellencamp covered the classic song during the set that immediately preceded Dylan’s at the fest.

“All Along The Watchtower” has been performed more than any other song by Bob Dylan over the years, but this was the first time he’d performed it since 2018. The first time Dylan ever played it was 50 years ago — and that recording can be heard on the new 27-CD The 1974 Live Recordings box set Stereogum happens to be giving away.

Mellencamp, incidentally, covered “Watchtower” at a show in April too, but prior to that he hadn’t covered it in 24 years. We’ll see if he attempts it again at Outlaw Music Festival in Burgettstown, PA tonight.

Compare below.

Last year Dylan debuted a live cover of Mellencamp’s “Longest Days,” and Mellencamp directed Dylan’s video for “Political World” back in 1989. So Dylan’s “Watchtower” performance probably isn’t any sort of “fuck you” to his fellow songwriter. He’s just a master troll.