Scotsman Pennysaver
September 7, 2005
by Tom Kahley
The long strange trip continued at the New York State Fairgrounds on Aug. 28 as legendary Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir appeared with his band Ratdog. Weir’s band has a similar format to the classic “live dead” sound – extended jams and earth blues plugged into the socket of traditional American folk – but has grown into something all its own since its inception in April 1995.
The band started off dipping their feet to test the water and swirled around a mid-tempo blues jam before jumping in head first with a version of “Truckin” that instantly had everyone dancing in the aisles or in their heads – wherever they were – and set the pace for what was to be a truly inspired night. Following “Truckin,” the set-list for the evening was as follows: “Brown-Eyed Woman,” “Lucky Enough,” “Silvio,” “Tequila,” “Silvio,” “Althea,” “Black-Throated Wind,” “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl,” “Ashes and Glass,” “Not Fade Away,” and an encore performance of “Samson and Delilah.”
Lead guitarist Mark Karan emphatically stated, “We definitely bring the blues with us everywhere we go,” and he was not kidding. Their performance of “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl,” the classic Sonny Boy Williamson blues anthem, would have made the likes of Muddy Waters and Freddie King shiver and blush. Karan, like the rest of the members of Ratdog, is a virtuoso on his learned instrument. The guitar solo he improvised during this song painted the evening sky so blue it could have confused the sun into thinking it missed the sunrise. The band – which also features Jay Lane on drums, Jeff Chimenti on keyboards, Kenny Brooks on saxophone and Robin Sylvester on bass – seemed to have reached a collective apex that comes from years of touring and rehearsing. Ratdog has nearly 200 songs in its stage repertoire that it is capable of playing at any time. It rotates the set-lists to keep the music from getting repetitive and to keep the crowd in a state of anticipation as to what songs in might hear that particular night.
Other highlights from this particular evening included an impromptu rendition of the classic instrumental song “Tequila” during the middle of the song “Silvio” that seemed to spin everyone from the floor up. After the song “Althea” had finished, Weir reminded everyone to say a prayer for the Neville Brothers – the opening act for Ratdog – that they “have a home to go back to,” in their hometown of New Orleans.
“Not Fade Away,” a song performed in the early days of the Grateful Dead that features the “Bo Diddley – Who Do You Love” guitar riff and backbeat, turned into a call-and-response between the band and the audience. Even after the band finished playing the song and had exited the stage, the crowd continued clapping the beat and singing the chorus for nearly five minutes until Ratdog reappeared for its encore performance of “Samson and Delilah.”
Ratdog was in top form on this particular evening and everyone in the crowd – positively four generations of fans – were all equally involved and diggin’ the sound and substance that Weir helped start nearly 40 years ago.
Concertgoer Frank Columbo explained the relationship between the band and the audience when he said, “Ratdog is the mind and we are the senses, we become their thoughts.”
They will not let each other fade away anytime soon.