3/2/2007 Setlist, Photos, and Reviews

Well this is my first ratdog show so I'll start by saying holy shit. I cant really compare it to other ratdog shows but i can compare to dead shows i've heard. Bob opened with an extremely tight help on the way>slipknot! where Mike proved, to me at least, that he was an extremely good choice for a jerry stand in. When they got up to she says, the first ratdog song i've ever heard i mistook it for dead someone else had to tell me otherwise. The Odessa>Book of Rules and supplication jam were alright, i didnt pay enough attention because me and my friends were lighting up. Then comes another ratdog song, Tuesday Blues where Mike gets to show off again...I'm really starting to like this guy, then Sugar Magnolia...the whole place blew up at that point, an hour and a half into it and they played it well, not a standout really but typically extremely impressive. We went outside to get drinks and a guy with a red ball on his nose gave me beer water while we frantically searched for cups. Some friends on the balcony were offered acid a bunch of times and stood right next to a mushroom dealer. I headed back to our seats for a while to chill before the next set, i was exhausted from so much dancing. The second set opens with Peggy-O which weir did a good job with, it's pretty hard to jam acoustic but they really impressed me with their acoustic skills. More acoustic songs that were very uplifting but still I wanted some hardcore jamming. We got an offer to go use a bowl with friends of a friend so we headed up to the balcony. The next few songs are kind of a blur and i really wish i had heard althea but the short smoke break was worth it because of THROWING STONES>SLIPKNOT>FRANKLINS TOWER. This is the definitive part of the concert, during the dylan song an older woman was yelling at me to get up and dance "if i was a real dead fan" while she made out with 3 seperate guys...interesting characters here, i also danced next to a supper long haired and long bearded hippy who was trippin like mad. People aside I'm glad I got up because these last 3 songs were simply amazing jams, really good performances of 3 of my favorite dead songs. Jonny B. Goode encore, ok but I'm used to Phish's kickass MSG 95 Jonny so i was a little jaded. Well in summary I cant wait to go again, great concert.

Winter weather advisory? Drive only in case of emergency? Well that answers that Mr. Weatherman, for what could be more urgent than attending the RD tour opener. A couple of hours of white knuckle New Hampshire driving eventually segued nicely into sleet, freezing rain, black ice and other precipitous delights. Parrot and Tomdog, fearing they might miss the opening jam, had skipped town a day early and were fully rested in their motel after spending the day discovering the joys of basic cable.

Off to the Hawthorne, JJ's suite. An excellent video of a smokin Ram's Head show filled the large flatscreen TV. Met many orgers, non orgers and other assorted neer -do -wells.

Time for the show. Lets go. Okay you go this way, I'll go that way, and Tomdog you go straight or uhm forward or whatever. Landmark Theater, what's to say. Check out the website, classic restored vaudville theater gilded to the lily. Love it! Staff and security were for the most part pretty cool. Gotta love the reentry with your ticket stub too.

MK unleashed! Who says Bobby doesn't want a dominant lead guitar sound? JamHelpSlip was all MK all the way. Absolutely shredding during Slip. Dont think I've ever seen him so animated, dancing, leg kicks, fanning. This madness continued all the thru to She Says when things finally settled down a bit. Great first set, band and audience all having lots of fun, Limbo nice, kind of wanted a sing along to the pa pa pows but cut off kind of quick. Sweet mid tempo Supplication with lots of thick rhythm chunks layed down by the twin six stringers. Yay Scarlet B! nice and long. Crowd rewards band with applause usually reserved for the end of the show.

Second set? Big Iron of course, a powerful reading of Hard Rain. Ashes and Glass again had MK going crazy. To Lay Me Down sent shivers through my spine. Great tune and a welcome addition to the Jerry ballad canon. Franklins was long and jammed out but perhaps the only time of the evening the band was unsure where they were heading. Stood at the back of the hall for JBG, which the band gave a real uptempo 50's beat to,driven along by the ghost of some old rocker who still wanders the Landmark to this day.Great show, Great first set, VGood second set, while the bands leader was fantastic as always, MK gets the blue ribbon for best of show. Get the tape, lots of unmentioned nuggets to be mined.

Back to the room to meet some more doggies and some late night foolishness. For those of you catching a show this tour. Enjoy.

Man oh man were the boys tight tonight! i couldnt belive my ears when he opened up with a great jam off of help on the way. man oh man and to end the 1st set with a killer killer and might i add killer version of scarlet. He had the place a jumping before he even left the stage. GREAT GREAT SHOW BOBBY! cant wait to see u again

Dog was awesome, but the fans sucked! I've been going to shows for over 10 years and I’ve never been as disgusted as I was on Friday night. Some fans seem to have lost respect for their fellow deadheads, the venue and the band. I saw a man piss on the seats that other fans were sitting in, I saw a woman nearly raped and the ushers spit at and ignored. These are only a few of the infractions that I was witness to. There used to be a sense of community at the shows, now the vibe sucks! In spite of all that, Bob and RatDog were amazing. Bob’s voice was on point and the band rocked. The setlist included many of my personal favorites and some I haven’t herd in a long while. It's just too bad that when I look back at this show I'll remember how much the fans sucked and not how great the show was!

Great show. From the first moments of the opening jam we could tell it was gonna be prime. Great Help>Slip to start the show. The acoustic Peggy-O and Big Iron were amazing, along with a very nicely done Hard Rain. I thought I was tripping during To Lay Me Down, and I hadn't even ingested any hallucinogenics.

4.5/5 IMO