Bob Weir and RatDog | RatDog.Org

Incredable Show! Saw the Dog at St. Pete and know that HOB is always a good venue. Out of all the Doggie shows that I have been to, this is among the top 2 or 3.
Prior to the show, there were 2 songs that I really wanted to hear: Help on the Way>Slipknot>Franklins and Days Between. Oh yeah, and maybe 2 Djinn and Brown-eyed Women.
When Jay kicked off the opening jam, I thought that the tempo was too slow for Help, more along the lines of Stranger (which was played the night before-so I knew that was out) Surprise - a slower Help>Slipknot! !! Steve's playing and tone were awesome! And then into Tomorrow never Knows. Kimock the feedback god. Not the Hendrix kind of harmonic feedback, but pure microphonic feedback. At times he took his guitar off and waived it in front of his speakers. Very loud, very sick and very right for this song. Then we again got Even So>October Queen, which was played Tuesday in St. Pete!?! Maybe Bobby forgot-or just needed to howl again. Nice loser and Brown-Eyed Women. For me Brown-Eyed was the place to compare /contrast Mark and Steves playing styles. For Marks playing, check out the Mt. Fuji Jazz Fest. He played 4 verses in a row, each different, each great. Steve played 5 verses last night, and kind of noodeled around on several. Don't get me wrong, both are great players and serve the music, but here, IMO, Mark is better at this style of playing.
The set list shows Lazy River Rd was next, but not played.
Between sets the great Roadie Bill passed out pieces of birthday cake to us in the front !!!
Second set acoustic sing along was great. Good thing Bobby has a tele-prompter!!, 'cause we know every word and phrasing on those songs! Audiance 3 part harmony on The Weight was perfect!
Althea and Ashes & Glass were great, once they figured which they would play first. Stuff was very good, starting with Jays solo. All the playing was reckless and hot. At the end of stuff, it slowed down a little and the notesgot more sparse. I'm listening (and hoping) intently and then Steve starts that filigreed intro to Days Between. Yes!! It's not an easy song to do, and the lyrics are intense, some of Hunter's best. Gives me chills listening to it. They played it well. Damn well. That raised lighter up front was mine!
Well I've about rambled on more than I should. The jams were massive, Robin and Jay pushing it and Kenny, Steve and Jeff all over the place playing their butts off.
As I told Roadie Bill - Thank you for a hell of a good time!

Fair at the best. No real flow of music. Hope tonight is better.

First time for me seeing steve,haven't beeen able to see a show with my busy schedule,well the boys came to my backyard,and wondered my way down to disney.WOW..WOW.WOW..explosive..franklins tower was nicely down..i must agree i have seen the dog many times and i must say that was one of the best i have seen..or maybe i haven't been to enough shows lately...sounded great..thanks guys..i am sure jerry was smiling

WOW.WOW.WOW... I'm not sure why I didn't have the same experience as Red and Kay, but this was absolutely the most depressing RatDog show I've ever seen! Maybe I've attended too many epic nights, or maybe I wasn't in the right state of mind, but last night’s show was a sleeper! After the previous night in Jacksonville, the boys must have been tired. For a setlist encapsulated within Help and Franklin’s (both played at their slowest pace ever) the song choice, as well as their tempo, was sluggish at best. Don’t get me wrong, they all played well, it’s just that they played in slow motion! There were a couple of standout moments… October Queen built up to a remarkable jam and the drum solo and Stuff were on fire, but I’m sorry, it just wasn’t a good night. Like Einstein said, it’s all-relative, and compared to what I’ve begun to expect, the show was not up to par. All yawning aside, I’d still rather be at a bad RatDog show than just about anywhere else! Let’s just hope they were saving some energy for tonight’s final show of the tour…

My first time at House of Blues and now I know why the venue gets raves. Nice wooden surface to dance on and “Brown Eyed Women,” oh my, I was right in the middle of the floor where the girl with the fluorescent hoops went down so had room and this nice Doghead danced with me and I was in hillbilly heaven. I wanted card playing cowboy jail songs and oh boy, I got them. “Loser” was exquisite, “Me and My Uncle” was primo, Bobby you are the best, you old rascal, and before Bob’s falsetto final verse of “The Weight” in Set II we get that bass sax sound from Kenny in Set I and I nearly dug myself into a hopping, twisting, jiggling hole in the floor with “Big Railroad Blues.” This nice young thing turns to her boyfriend and says, “was that the encore?” and he says, “that was the first set.” Yeah. I’m getting ready for the Boca Show. Will post again, more thoroughly.

hey ! first time seeing the ratdog at HOB - ive gotten accustomed to janus landing but this was a good new experience - i was surprised how many jams they did - it seemed like on every song - the sound was good but the voices at times was hard to hear - steve needs to face the audience and show off some of his guitar picking -he never did let the audience see that guitar and exploit his talent to the fullest - the first set was awesome esp tomorrow never knows - im getting used to hearing even so and october queen - i guess they feel really satisfied palying those tunes - the long space/jam in the second set was deja vu to the old dead days and well received - all and all a great crowd and great music - long live the dog
kimasabe - tampa fl

COULD NOT MAKE THE SHOW,BUT MY TWO BONEHEAD FRIENDS DID BOBBY BRAIN !!!!!!!!!!!AND SACHMO SHAWN?????AFTER TALKING TO YOU TRIPPY DRIPPYS,SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT SHOW.YOU GUYS REALLY SHAKED THOSE BONES !!!!!!!!!HAVE A GREAT TIME AT BOCA !?????GET HOME SAFELY. GOD BLESS MK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well it is always great when the boys come to town, but this was not up to a WOW WOW WOW. 4/3/2001 AT Tampa, and 4/18/2003 at HOB were that, tonite wasn't.. Dance all night and still sharing those tapes. This show was a little better that ok. Dance, Slow down, sing along, slow down, Dance. Help, slip great start!! TNK was even hard to noodle, maybe a flashback would have helped. Killer Big Railroad, worked up a graet sweat. Second set showed promise and a graet Althea and Ashes Drums and space were this old heart pumping away. Days was beautiful but Djinn, just didn't seem a set closer. Franklin was OK. It was good to see a bunch of old travel guys and girls, and meeting new people as well. Thanks for the hugs for Brandon, he may be missed but he was damn sure loved

Great set list and very good performance but I must say the hob itself stinks. Not a lot of good views if you are not dancing on the floor, very limited view on the upper floor and $6 cheap beer?

Outstanding show.I've been all around this world blew me away, everyone I met down here were great people. I planned my vacation around this tour. HOB is a great venue, it did get a little crowded on the floor for this overweight bonehead so I headed up to the higher levels to breath and dance. The ginger snap cookie really did the trick also.Keep on dancing!!! Uncle Lenny

Setlist for Mizner

November 1&, 2007 Mizner Park, Boca Raton, Orlando, FL
I: Jam>Jack Straw>Odessa>Little Red Rooster>Slow Train>Dire Wolf>Lazy River Road>Dark Star>
II: You Win Again@>Masters of War@>Friend of the Devil@>Money for Gasoline>Jam>Eyes of the World>Jam>Stuff>Sugaree>Dark Star>Going Down the Road Feelin’ Bad
E:Brokedown Palace>One More Saturday Night

After the Dog's last performance @ Mizner, I swore I'd never spend another dime seeing these guys again. Well, this wasn't the first time I swore off the Dog and yet again I was unable to keep my promise of not traveling to the ends of the earth to see Bob & Co. I was actually really looking forward to these shows seeing that it would be the first time I would see Kimock back on stage with Bob since the Other One's shows in '98. Those were some fantastic shows, IMHO.
I was quickly reminded of my declaration to avoid further disappointment on Friday as I again sat through another uninspired, downright boring set of music in Orlando. WOW is right! WOW I can't believe it was that bad! If it hadn't been for last year's Mizner show, this would have been hands down the worst Ratdog show I ever witnessed. B-O-R-I-N-G! Thankfully a different band showed up on Saturday @ Mizner this year. The Jack Straw opener set a hot tone for the night for sure. There were your standard stinkers in the first set as well, but for the most part it was very good. Set II was hot, hot, hot all the way through. GREAT Eyes! Love what Steve brings to the band. Mark and Steve on the next tour? That gets my vote for sure! It's a proven winner, why not? So, it seems that these guys can count on emptying my pocket yet again next time around. Peace.......................

It was a good show and setlist but a tad too slow and not enough rocking songs to get the crowd moving.....I was a bit disapointed but they made up for it as far as songs last night. Just don't enjoy the pushing and those kids that shove their way to the front like they own the place all the time. It takes alot of the peace and fun out of the old atmosphere of "Dead" shows for us. So many of these newbies are just all about me attitude and it does effect the atmosphere tremendously!

People are entitled to there reviews, but honestly what do you people think you are going to see. HOB and Boca were two phenominal performances. Peaks and valleys abound the music at time would take me down into the depths and then pick me up to the highest peak. Been all around this world was straight up gospel. I dont know what you people want, but if you want to swear off Bob please do we dont need your drain on the energy. If you want rock and roll go see the who or someone. If you want some rock, jazz, jam, country then Ratdog is going to deliver.

I sent a review, where is it?

Hey Winterpark Jeff,
I don't think it was the band, I think you just ran out of the crack your smoking.
What an amazing show...the band was having a great time and crowd energy was amazing. Bob, Steve, Robin, Jay, Jeff, Kenny, from the lows of Mahaffey to the highs of HOB and everything in between, it was much appreciated. Jay busted right into Hot For Teacher on Drum Solo at HOB. Check Plus, Gold Star and Smiley Face on this one. Good Times...Thank You Boys!

Well, Here goes....After reading all of the other reviews, my opinion still can't be swayed. I thought the show was incredible! To put things into perspective, I've seen the "Grateful Dead" 48 times (Mostly in the Northeast) After Jerry left us I had seen "The Dead" twice here in Fla.& this was my first "Rat Dog" Show, So i may not qualify to critique the show as much as many of the other reviewers, However i do know what great music sounds like, and that's exactly what I heard. Sure some of the songs were new to me and the tempo was a bit on the slow side, but isn't that what makes the show different every night? In my opinion, if the band went full tilt boogy all the time, what would all you negative reviewers have to complain about?
The band was tight, the sound was crisp and clean and if you're too jaded to realize it...the atmosphere was crackling with energy and excitement. I would recommend to anyone who hasn't seen the band before...go, see them. Money well spent.
Hell, like I've always said...A bad day off is better than a great day at work. And even if the band has an "off" day, a mediocre Dead/Rat Dog show is better than no show at all. Just remember what it was like after Jerry went away, that void empty feeling we all felt, when there was no show to go to. Keep the music alive, quit complaining and just enjoy the shows....Until the Music Stops.

THANKS FOR A REAL GOOD TIME!!!!

Autobiography of Blue

On the road with Ray, my best Deadhead buddy, it’s been ages since I’ve seen back-to-back shows and I can’t be happier. Never been to Downtown Disney and it was a bit chilly, but I had my red stocking cap and waited in line with other Dogheads. We swapped stories, business cards, marveled over the Miami Arena shows in the late ‘80’s. Even though I got padded down and wanded, security was polite and it was like being at the airport and I’m getting ready to take a trip, RatDog, so I’m cool. Once inside I like the House of Blues, that crazy art all over the walls, high ceilings, balconies, little corners to meet in, I move around freely, never a line in the bathroom, guys offer to buy me drinks and I only drink water. I’m cool. I find the spinners upstairs, talk to FlaLarry the taper and even though there’s too much chatting, I pick my dance spots and it’s groovy. First set opener Help/Slip is solid and the cover of The Beatles’ Tomorrow Never Knows is full of freaky, feedback loops from lead guitarist Steve Kimick. I like Steve’s playing a lot, even though I miss Mark Karan. Bobby tunes are still growing on me with Even So’s “wish you were naked” and “midnight rodeo” and howling wolfdogs, nice, and October Queen, okay, I’m getting into jazz, and off into The Deep End, I believe in artistic freedom. Hey now, the Band needs to have fun, improvise, they say they’re a jazz band, America’s homegrown improv jam band genre.

Ray and I were jamming old tapes on the way up and I put Cowboy, Jail, Card-playing songs on my wish list. I can’t believe I’m getting Loser, how perfect. I wiggle down on the crowded dance floor, nice wooden surface, move slowly up front and hit my spots. And then Brown-Eyed Women, oh my, I’m dancing where the girl with the fluorescent hoops went down so I have room and this nice Doghead dances with me and I’m in hillbilly heaven, not just because I have brown eyes or because I heard it at my first show, but Brown-Eyed is classic Americana, old and sad, beautiful and poignant. Easy to Slip is okay, “try to remember to forget” but I have nothing left to forget, and then a big YES to Big Railroad Blues, I’m a dancing fool, nearly dug myself into a hopping, twisting, wiggling hole in the floor with all the wailing saxophone and keyboard, screaming guitars and booming drums, advice to live by, how to stay out of jail, yeah Blues for the House of Blues, jailbird blues and bluegrass, loud and rocking. This nice young thing turns to her boyfriend and says, “Was that the encore?” and he says, “That was the first set.”

Eric (name change to protect the convicted) is at the show, pupils so wide I’m amazed he can even speak. Eric says he was kidnapped by the Feds, they took all his stuff. His dreadlocks are gone. He’s wearing a hat, incognito, says he’s in hiding. Must have surfaced just for the shows. We reminisce about Fisherman’s Wharf and Crazy Fingers and the good times during and after. I head for the balcony to check out the view and ask one of the colorful Heads, “what’s it like upstairs?” which must be code because he says “take a sharp left and meet me at the cow pasture.” I find the little alcove but choose instead to wander until the second set.

Nice sweet acoustic Been All Around this World, hang me oh hang me, and I got another funeral song to choose from but Me and My Uncle is a big treat, and I’m back down on the dance floor, I saw that song in the front row in Atlanta, and The Weight, another front row Atlanta song from 1990. Bobby’s final falsetto verse for The Weight is great fun and I will always love Althea, the next song, not just because the twins are named Stella and Althea, but “loose with the truth, baby it's your fire, baby, I hope you don't get burnt” are words to live by. It gets too crowded on the dance floor for me, so I go upstairs with the spinners for Ashes and Glass, see the drum solo from the balcony, pretty cool, and actually had to sit down for the rest of the show, sorry Bob. But I queued up for my live soundboard CD’s, they’re great, listening right now in fact.

We prepared for Boca, after a quick night’s sleep in a local Downtown Disney motel. What a nice drive, we took US 27, after breakfast at the Wafflehouse. Wendy, our waitress, was topnotch and I had a lot of coffee, and plenty of carbs for my next dance marathon. Just love those hashbrowns, smothered, covered, diced, peppered and capped. We stopped for lunch at Wendy’s in America’s sweetest city, Clewiston. Yes, back to back RatDog, perfect solution for the Blues, House of Blues, I forgot to be blue, forgot about my Ex-, on to the next venue.

well i am sorry for all you critical candy asses who are not pleased with nothing..hey i will retire if thats what you want i don't have any problem with that,just to walk out on stage and pick up a guitar at the age of 60,,still impresses me..thanks guys ..i have been lisening to the dead ever since i was a pup..in my mothers tummy and have been attending shows since i was a infant,,and yes some shows are better than others but hey man give bobby and co. a break man..tickets sales are for the ones who want to see the show..if you are not happy stay home don't go..stay home and watch a movie ..some of you heads who talk all this jivey talk like bad mouthing the band and being cridical and disapointment like you know everything stay home you hateful heads...and to all the ones who appreciate the deadacation bobby and phil and all the members of the grateful dead thank you for a real good time over the years..it's beeen a long strange trip..extreamly outstanding ......god bless the grateful dead and everything that has become after..i have been grateful for the deadacation even after the pasing of our best freind jerry..i am forever grateful...forever dead..thanks gentelman..and ladies of course

this was the best of the 3 i saw in florida.. get set lists, the band was smoking, every single one of them. that ashes tease (jam) was phat. the csds sound great, this one!

HOLY COW BATMAN, thirty years since my first show in Syracuse NY, I will not stop. Thanks Bobby for keeping the music alive. We caught the Jacksonville, this HOB, and Boca Raton. Let me say first that the shows are way too crowded. having seen the dog just around 15 times may i please ask that you winey ass babies, you haters stop going to the shows please. what the hell did you drop before the show? The Jacksonville show was tight and excellent, (last years Jacksonville show was my favorite until this HOB show). this freaking show was phenominal from the opening note until closing. had they finished the show after help and Tommarrow never Knows i would have been happy, and blown away. but wait, they're gonna play for 3 happy hours, Thanks guys!!!!!!!! Loser, The Weight, Me and me uncle, I can not stress how much I loved this show. I found the Boca show slower, less energy, but i'm not hating, i saw three shows, and thankful for it. because Boca wasn't my fave, it might have been yours, happy for you. if you are so critical, don't go, more room for me to dance. I can not thank Bobby and the boys enough for their time and efforts. Thanks for sharing, thanks for entertaining all these years. i will continue going another 30 years if possible. Steve was an excellent addition, God Bless you Mark, I hope your back soon. We got to shake hands with Steve after show, seems like a very nice cat, i mean dog. Thanks for the extra Florida shows guys, you all know it's nice down here, a final wine about the haters, how could you not like the Boca Venue, it was beautiful!!!

So I hit the whole florida run, and all the shows were smokers in my Opinion.
Help > Slip to open was sweet. The show was a little oversold. I danced most of the first set on the floor. I got to meet a few new .orgs, they were a couple from carolina, and were teachers. livlovgrow? The HOB had great jumbollia. A guy bought us jamison at the bar, and I take it lijke a shot. I guess its sipping wiskey? sorry, hahaha
back to the show. The Venue is cool, I got the go to the head of the line pass while eating dinner. I think Bobby wanted to practice his howling. I had a a great second set hanging upstairs with alex and his buddy at the bar. THe Weight was sick, and Franklins Tower was swweeet. Overall a great show. everyone is allow to have an opinion.
Steve has so many cool instruments he likes playing, I like setting up on jeff and kenny side, so I can watch steve.
Jeff is pounding on Brents old keyboard which I think is cooool.
Jay rocks during Stuff

The Band is working great together by florida

RATDOG ROCKS OR STFU. The VeNUE was awesome, setlist kicked butt.