Bob Weir and RatDog | RatDog.Org

Hambone had bragged about the Dog's levitational powers (and SK's sneaky attacks) to a first-timer friend, so when the first set was merely very good and workmanlike, said friend questioned the previews. But the second set brought a Miles Davis tune-Milestones- to a legitimate and explosive boil, and then in a five minute rampage through the Rio Grande outro of Half Step, Mr. Kimock exceeded the goosebump quotient most pointedly; car alarms went off in the street, women wept, the fur was FLYING. Yowza, Steve. A feller could break a g-string. He picks his spots.
Out of a gloriously bottom-heavy Stuff that veered like Cowboy Neal at the wheel of a dump-truck,
Kimock's lapsteel carried Stella into the Bluelight Hotel for a shining glissing dogwhistle moment, a climb up the scale
that left many lucky Dogs tilting their heads at a funny angle; the encore of At A Siding>Uncle John Reprise was a stunning topper, who knew that a studio track with LA horns and synth textures and speedy orchestral tectonics could be recreated, no, reinvented by this six-headed Ratdog? The second set goes down in the Chickenskin Chronicles.
sincerely, Hambone Sparklewell

Buddy at work offers a free ticket to RD,having seen over 200 GD shows in the 80's and about 12 RD shows (last one was 2001)of course i accepted!30 minutes before the show another guy from work sees me and says,you have just been upgraded!!! First row right in front of Kimock,just happens the 2 guys from Palm Beach who i parked next to in the lot were in the seats next to me,so this is turning into something special im thinkin to myself.First set was pretty solid ,some good jams and some songs i really enjoy!During the intermission ,i was able to go out to my van and reload myself,the whole time im thinkin how nice it is to be able to leave and go back in.Second set ,I really enjoy Bob acoustic and like Artificial Flowers ,so here we go again,Catfish John i had never heard Bob do,i could hear it before most knew what was goin down,definately put a smile on my face!!The next few were not some of my favs ,but were ok,then Stella another of my favorite slow ones,Kimock played on this one perfectly,Sugar Mags is always classic,if you dont like Sugar Mags you are not right!!Encore was interesting (I like to hear rockers for encores),but i was definately satisfied.Ok now the sound,I think they had Kimock turned up way too loud(don't know if was just me or what),I had a hard time hearing Bob's guitar and some of his screams at times ,Kimock played some nice stuff and I would have like for him to face the front occasionally,he never once faced the crowd ,always faced Bob,I wanted to see his fingerwork,Of course jay lane was a fuckin animal on the drums as always!!!!! I had a good time and thought the band was pretty tight and looked to be havin fun like everyone else at the show,first row always helps and my ears are still ringin today!!!!

2nd show with Bob, first with Ratdog. Had way to much fun, starting from FLAS. Queen Jane had the crowd singin and moving, the Catfish John was awesome. The highlight of the first set for me was the At a Siding/ Terrapin, which had me in such joy. The boys were on point.

2nd Set was no less fun, starting with the Milestones. That saxophone was incredible, as was the small drum solo; you have to hear it.....
Mississippi half-step was awesome, with an flawless entry in UJB. And Sugar Magnolia put a smile on everyone's face. Everytime the arena lights came on, the crowd just got crazier.

But my fav for the night was the encore. Started with Terrapin Flyer and just had me cheesin like no other. The keyboard and drums had me jumping up and down with excitement, they were so on point. They rode it out nice and slow, nice and slow... thought it would be the end, but boom, a segue into UJB outro that I didn't think possible. Blew my mind. As they were changing, I felt it, closed my eyes and started singing the melody. When I opened them, a guy two aisles ahead of me looked back at me and said, "Dude, can you believe they just fucking did that?"

So fun, can't wait to see them again.....

Yeah. K-I-M-O-C-K. Yeah. Definitely L-O-U-D. Yeah. Definitely too loud. Yeah.

Overall the show was pretty good. I thought there were times when the band seemed a little tired. However, once the jams began - all was right with the world. Great Minglewood, Queen Jane and Terrapin. Everyone keep talking about Kimock (yes, he was great), but for me and my wife - Chimenti is the bomb - great jams on the keyboards. Hopefully Rat Dog will be back in less than a year.

Only my third RD show. The scene was great and it was the best parking lot I have seen since the early 90's. The sound was way too loud (does that mean that I am too old?). Had a hard time hearing Bob play and sing (at times). Cool cops allowed alot of stuff to happen within the theater, everybody seemed happy.

great show. even better than last year. just want to add that at the end of the first set Bobby cranked out the
ENTIRE terrapin. it was one HOT TURTLE. moreover,
kimock set the guitar one his knees and played it like a lap steel. Jorma would have gave a thumbs up for sure.
Did anyone else hear "take me to the river " notes come through the keyboards during the opening jam? lastly,
a the end of space and before milestones there were several minutes of "the other one". the real kicker was that it was the "cryptical envelopement" part of song.

wow....I was seriously impressed with this show! Bobby was sounding and playing great! Steve Kimock is THE MAN!! I was sad to hear about mark's illness, and i hope he is doung well, but Kimock not only fits in well with the band but he SOARS!!

The first set was good...took a while for the crowd to wake up..the terrapin set closer was tight. The second set is when this show got rolling...It was cool to hear bobby sing Catfish john...Mississippi Half Step was off the chain with kimock taking the end solo to new and extreme heights! Milestones really showed how well te band was playing together and it was cool to hear bobby lay down those sweet jazz chords. Stuff was very cool as well with a long "other one" tease....which tuned into "Stella"...man oh man did kimock do this song justice on his lap steel...

Overall i was blown away by KIMOCK who is truly a master guitarist in his own right! The overall scene was great...no security hassels and people just having a ball...the lot was kicking too which is a rare sight for jacksonville!

Look foward to next year? I hope mark gets well soon...maybe when he comes back they could keep kimock around too?