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Bob Dylan, Phil Lesh Reportedly Planning Winter Tour
Bob Dylan will reportedly tour the Midwestern and Eastern U.S. with Phil Lesh and Friends in October and November, according to a tentative tour plan released by Dylan reps on Tuesday (8/24).
Preliminary routing shows the tour kicking off on in late October in Illinois and wrapping near New York City in mid-November. In all, about a dozen shows are planned. Dylan is currently in the midst of a two-month tour with Paul Simon, which is set to run through Sept. 18.
Lesh underwent a liver transplant last December after becoming seriously ill from the effects of a long-known hepatitis-C infection. Surprisingly, he returned to the road in full-force in 1999, with an ever-changing lineup of artists serving as his bandmates. In April, Lesh joined Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and keyboardist Page McConnell for three benefit concerts billed as Phil and Phriends, with proceeds earmarked for Lesh's Unbroken Chain foundation.
The Grateful Dead bassist also played the Western U.S. stretch of the Summer Session '99 tour, which featured Gov't Mule, moe, The String Cheese Incident, and Galactic.
Dylan isn't far removed from some fairly serious medical issues himself. He was hospitalized in 1997 with histoplasmosis, a potentially life-threatening fungal infection that causes swelling of the sac surrounding the heart. The condition forced Dylan to cancel a tour of the U.K. and Ireland. After antibiotic treatments and some rest, Dylan was playing a U.S. tour by August.