It was the first night of a two evening stay at The Dakota for singer & songwriter Joan Osborne. Active since the late 1980’s, Osborne may be best known for her Grammy nominated 1995 album Relish, with the hit single One of Us, but she has been steadily releasing music ever since, with over ten albums to her credit. While a lot of her work has been original songwriting, she has also been a song interpreter, with an album covering soul songs, and most recently her second covering the songs of Bob Dylan, with Dylanology Live released here in 2025. Osborne came to the stage as part of a trio (vocals/guitar/percussion, guitar, and keyboards/piano) and the band started with She Belongs to Me, playing it with a bit of R&B swagger. The first pair of songs focused on the peak mid-1960’s Dylan era, which was a smart way to get the crowd loosened up. Osborne’s first bit of banter had her thanking The Dakota, a place “I think we’ve played 14,000 times”. Saying that she would be doing songs from the two Dylan focused albums, plus other unreleased covers, Osborne and band got back into things.

It was obvious that Osborne was nursing her voice, with a large cup of (presumably) tea at the table on her left. Moving into 1989’s Shooting Star, Osborne’s song choices made it clear that the evening would range over a fairly broad swath of the massive Dylan oeuvre. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35, was a bluesier interpretation with smokier vocals. Osborne’s percussion on a single drum was a nice addition, and there were enjoyable guitar and keyboard solos. A song from 2001 was a great reminder of Dylan’s run as an artist, as that time frame would be forty years into his work, while also being nearly 25 years ago. It also let Osborne soar into some near falsetto which she nailed. It was interesting to hear the genesis of this Dylan focused set, as Osborne had done a two week residence at what is normally a cabaret venue, but she spent digging into what has become this latter period of work.

Love Sick was a number that was a “live performance only”, as it isn’t on any of Osborne’s recorded materials and was a longer, slower paced number. Transitioning to some of her own material, Osborne played a few numbers from her recent 2023 album Nobody Owns You. The song So Many Airports was a great remembrance (and forgetting) number for an artist who has put on as many miles and performances as Osborne and rang very true. Man in the Long Black Coat was a Dylan cover that Osborne had recorded on her hit Relish, and she waxed a little about how that song on that album had moved her career in unpredictable ways. The final three songs were all back to the Relish album, and let Osborne rock out with her own music, starting with Right Hand Man. Ending on One of Us, it was a slower version with deeper piano and letting Osborne ride her way to the big close. A loud ovation from the crowded Dakota audience had Joan Osborne and band appreciative as they finished the night.