The setting was amazing--the largest private estate in SF. Ratdog played on a tiny (for them) stage on the front porch. The party's entertainment prior to Dog was facilitated drumming. As the drum people were starting to collect the percussion items from the audience, it was announced that Mr. Bob Weir wanted to leave the drums in the hands of those who might like to play along and join with the band to co-create the music.
When Bob took the stage, he was presented with a proclamation of some well-earned respect from the City of San Francisco, which was lengthy and wordy. Bob replied, "I haven't got the foggiest idea of how to respond to this, so let's party." He added, "If you're expecting a show, expect something different. We don't know what we are really going to do here," basically saying that we are going to create this out of the space between us.
There was a little dance pit around the reflecting pool. Now musically, this band is very consistent at the highest levels, and this performance was excellent as usual with smoking work from all the band. I don't want to review each song because what was special about this 'show' was how casual it was. The band members were circulating with party-goers and the band members were really good sports about performing for a crowd that had only a few true believers in it. I felt I was representing a thousand heads who would have done almost anything to be there. The few of us had a BLAST. I haven't danced like that for decades and playing hand drum in the beginning was a special treat. Thank you Bob Weir and Ratdog--you had my respect already, now you have more of it. This 'show' was done with class from start to finish. No shortcuts, full sound equipment, nothing held back.
Dana Atkinson, Glendora, CA
