12/6/2005 Setlist, Photos, and Reviews

Howdy ya'll. My first Dog show since Red Rocks a couple or three years ago was blown up. The Stranger opener took a minute to get going, but when they locked in it was sweet. Bobby looked and sounded great and the youngsters around him ripped; the guitarist particularly scorched the Rialto. The first set was particularly tasty; who ever would've thought a Big River could get so dancy. The Queen Jane was tight, ALL of his Dog songs were great, not a moment was wasted. My highlight was a fierce Weather Report Sweet to close set one putting the big smile on everyone's face. Hey Flagstaff--4 hours too far to drive to see Bobby?

Set 2 was nice but lacked the high octane of set one, but just barely. Blackbird was lovely, the Weight fun as usual, with nice details from Bobby to make it his own. The Help-Slip was good, but not near what Phil did in the stadium at Vegoose, but I'm not complaining, not at all. And for sure the encore had everyone screaming "Go Go! Go BOBBY GO!" I mean he was FIRED UP, and pholks, so was I. Thank you Bobby, see you next time.

I have to say from seeing both shows in Arizona that Tucson was better as far as sound quality. The opener was a smokin' Stranger into cry, cry, cry. Nice song to hear after recently seeing the new movie about Johnny Cash. If I am not mistaken, Ashes and Glass seemed to have some Cassidy teases. The guitar solo on Two Djinn was amazing. Got me jumpin'. Great show and am looking forward to next year. Glad to see two shows in Arizona. Come back soon!!!!

Just wanted to mention the absolutely incredible Slipknot! > "Stuff" > Slipknot! > Wharf Rat sequence. The Wharf Rat was beautiful, and for one brief shining moment, IT was definitely present. Bobby sounded great on this one, especially. Bobby was really energized and totally present for this show. It was fun watching him and Mark making faces at Kenny from offstage during Kenny's touchpad work in the second set jam. Thanks, Bobby.

It was a cool winter day in the desert Southwest for the band to grace the historic Rialto Theatre. The Rialto is undergoing a major renovation, and quality of the sound is now astounding. RatDog opened up with a great jam that spilled into a Stranger opener. The pairing of Big River and Queen Jane was extremely well done. This band is very professional, putting solid efforts in each rendition. The next pairing in the first set gave us This Time Forever and Shade of Grey. RatDog has played these two together since their inception. The jams were great with MK all over the solos. The closing with Weather Report > Let It Grow was powerful, and the CD will bear that out. The second set may have had the best acoustic phase of the tour. Tucson got Blackbird > The Winners > The Weight. All three were well played and sounded great in the Rialto. After the bluesy Schoolgirl, we got a great version of Ashes and Glass that segued into Help > Slip > Jam. Bobby came back for a solid Wharf Rat > Two Dijnn > Slip > Franklin's. They closed the show with the rocker, Johnny B Goode. Thanks for bringing these great jams to our town.