4/4/2008 Setlist, Photos, and Reviews

The River Song???????? Now I've seen it all. China/Rider was the highlight of the night. Pretty good Eyes as well.

mamoth prudence, one of the hottest ever, powerful hard rain, nice horns on the eyes, too bad mark's guitar string broke during his jam, china rider always a treat, casey jones especially hot tonight, but the prudence stood out. first set had its moments, sweet limbo, nice even so etc. although the big railroad was not over the top. Crazy rappers, bleep bloop blahp, what else can you say? A fun and entertaining show with some peaks mostly on the horns and later on the geee-tar. ralphy

thank you rat dog you again put a smile on our faces

I must say that Ratdog's crew really sucked the life out of this one with multiple, long mistakes. They must be stoners or something b/c I've never seen any band have to wait so long for someone to fix a microphone for Ms. Fuchs or fix the broken guitar string, etc. Fuchs came out and sang an ENTIRE song on a mike that wasn't on. Then, they turned it on at such an INCREDIBLY LOUD VOLUME that everyone basically screamed in pain. And they left it this way for a while. Ratdog = fine. Crew tonight = lame. For me, they basically took a mediocre show and pushed it to bad.

ok...a very interesting night indeed...first set was smokin!!! highlights being west la into even so into october queen....bobby seemed really into it tonight, more so than night 1....big railroad blues really got the crowd amped and dancing like crazy..
set 2 brought on memories of dead shows of yesteryears...sound problems galore...hard rains gonna fall soared, boby sounding great...then the cosmic sound curse that follows bobby appeared its ugly head...dana fuchs mic was f-ed up...she sang with no sound for the whole song, but appeared to not even realize till half way through....but then they figured it out and turned her up to piercing blood curdle level and everyone almost lost an eardrum....eyes was a treat with the horn section...for those who love the horns with the dead, this eyes is for you....dear prudence was suupper intense, as well as a pretty smokin china cat know you rider....classic but boring casey jones encore.....definately more energetic than night 1, crowd was waaayy more festive, i saw 4 different people puke all around me, so people were rearing for a party, but due to technical problems, i cant give it more than a low 4 out of 5...

The horns were awesome, the rappers were fun, the mic problem was indeed strange and Bobby and the boys were fantastic. The second set, one might say "only in New York".

TURN DOWN THE FRONT FILLS!!!! PLEASE GOD!!!!

I am deaf in my left ear this morning, with a solid ringing continuing throughout. Well over a 100+ dead/dog shows combined and never have my ears felt like this by the morning after. Totally irresponsible on the part of the FOH mixer.

Pretty fun show - the guests are fun - BUT I felt like the strongest parts of the night were the dog doing there thing, and the guests do break up that sense of a show being a complete thing with peaks valleys and a beginning middle and end... to me at least.

Tonight I am hoping that

A) the mix from the fonts will be TURNED DOWN!! and

B) that the dog will limit the guests and give out a cohesive band oriented show tonight.

Because they are playing really well and getting just a tad lost in the "Ratdog Allstars" atmosphere of the last couple of nights. IMO

Just my hopes.

It was horrible...rappers...give me a break. They sound was horrible. Reminded me of last dead show.

Smokin show - Thanks Ratdog!!!
But a bigger THANKS goes to whoever found my wallet and brought it to Lost & Found. You made my night. Deadheads rock!!
john

the show was amazing.... enough sed

Great energy from the crowd. They really carried things when Dana Fuchs' mic didn't work. Not a big fan of rap, in fact I hate it, but it was kind of fun. With an amazing band backing them up, it was tolerable. Eyes and China/Rider were highlights.

not happy with fridays show, bobbys mike was very low & the sound from the balcony was poor. The first set lacked energy, seemed like they were stuck in 1st gear. Second set had potential until those rappers came out & made a mockery of the show! Bobby & rap not what i paid for. I give the show about a 4 rating, i've seen better.

Never missed a night of Bobby at the Beacon. Usually love every show but must say this was the weakest EVER. The rappers were horrible and the set list mediocre. Let's hope for an original set tonight. Or will they play the same encore as every year "one More saturday night"....lame

While there were some High Points, overall very poor. The whole first set played with a tempo stepped down to a speed of drowsy. I know this is deliberate, but just isn't working Bobby. The exception was Big Railroad Blues. Yay, you got that one right. One song in a whole set worth waking up for....2nd set: Broken guitar string renders Mark helpless and angry spoiling Eyes of the World. Half of a Chinacat into a rushed Know you Rider. Mic problems during Weight (despite the mic problems may have been the best performed song of the evening)....Hip Hop Yo Boys grinding on Dana talking bout gettin "naked". What an embarrassing show for Bobby, and what a waste of my $$. All on the guy who shuts down SDB downloading using words like "value-added information" and "See ya" who is now selling CDs of shows immediatley following said show. In this case, you may need that recording just to validate how crappy a show can be. I sure hope you fired some of your crew last night Bobby and learned a lesson about too many guest. I will be selling my ticket for tonight. What a rip-off dude.

Sounds like fun!
A lot of mixed reviews for this tour.
That doesn't bode well.
Not that bummed I skipped Syracuse.

First set solid. Nice ``Playing in The Band`` and great ``Even So,`` finished awesome with Railroad Blues. Second set I had to leave. Rat Dog's guests, the saxes, the rappers and Ms. Fuchs took over the show instead of blending in with spirit of the band. Sound was either too weak or painfully loud or off entirely (Fuchs in The Weight) and often sounded distorted. Rappers especially egotistic in their performance. Because of all this, and the nasty staff at the Beacon who wouldn't even let me stretch my back near the Loge area, I will never again see Rat Dog at the Beacon.

great show, no idea why everyone is complaining, so happy to see mark again!!

4/4/2008 Beacon Theatre, New York, NY
I: Jam > Playin in the Band > excellent execellent the opening jam was perfect not just finding a groove but a nice segue of sound
playin set the stage
Tomorrow Never Knows > very groovin
Tennessee Jed, brought some "good old gd" sound home and Mark shined through this one
He is truly the guitar player in this band (even if you absolutely love kimock the guitar spot in this band we call ratdog has been and belongs to Mr. Karan)
Sitting in Limbo > very silky nicely played
West L.A. Fadeaway, this one punched it up quite a bit
Even So > October Queen > The Deep End > brilliant just about perfect Ratdog was the band tonight and this set proved all there gears were in mesh on this one
Big Railroad Blues SMOKED! Once again Karan opened it up and ripped it

II: K.C. Moan@ always a nice song but for some reason I could hear Jays drum thing as good as last night could have been where I was sitting
4, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, solid
The Weight@* tall slinnky blonde back out again tonight
thank god her mike was off for the first verse she tried to sing
then they turned it on oooooooooooow one of the most painful sounds ripped through the theater
It sounded like everyone screamed in pain at the same time
She was a ball of energy on stage but Wow this girl cannot sing
she screams but singing is not her talent
, Eyes of the World jusy fantastic three guys on horns 2 keyboard players drove this home
awesome jam that just kept going
made you forget about the weight debacle instantly
The River Song > Stuff > river song huh? two rappers come out on stage and kick the energy up to 11
just a whole lot of fun
I think they were singing "dance to the center" or "dance to the rythym" bob doing backing vocals and the band playing a franklins kind of jam behind
after they had finished up the blonde stayed on stage a little too long
Jay took control and crescendo the jam to create a compleletion otherwise I think she would have stayed out there until the jam died an ugly death
Dear Prudence* > good not the best I have heard them do but nice the girl once again should probably just have stayed off the stage for this
China Cat Sunflower% > brought the show right back into the groove
I Know You Rider% nice ripppin strong
E: Casey Jones was dynamite nothing less

overall a great show
much much better than last night
more of what I was expecting from these beacon shows
Ratdog has Returned and they are stilll on fire
they showed tonight once again what its all about
keep it come boys
tommorrow night is going have a hard time toppin this one
good night

i thought the show was great except someone stole my dang sweatpants! highlights for me were west la, the weight (esp. when the vocals kicked in LOUD!), big railroad, hard rains gonna fall, the 3 sax, 2 keys eyes, and china>rider to close the 2nd set. first time inside the beacon, first time to nyc, first time seeing and ratdog rap show...thought it was cool although i felt they took a little advantage of it. keep it up boys, see you guys in baltimore. peace

Unbelievable how negative people are. I thought it was a excellent show. I had no problems with the Beacon staff or from people puking all over. The only negative was the problem with the mic not working.
If you don't like the band - don't go
I used to hear the same nonsense after GD shows.
Go have a good time and enjoy the great music & quit yer bitchin!

Sick of fans bitchin about shows!! Being a musician I have seen hundreds of shows. From Allmans to Zeppelin name a band & I have probably seen them. NONE do what these guys do. Improv jams, no set the same etc... great musicians!! I don't care what they play - It's all GOOD!! 1st saw jerry & boys in 77-80. then didn't see a show till 2003. Now if they come close to L.I. or NY I go. RATDOG, LESH dosen't matter - see them while you can!! Cause- when they are gone you'll really be bitchin!! & then you will have DSO and thats it!! But they are good too!!! The music lives on in the musicians and crowds and I am happy to spend 1 night with them. Fans who go to all shows and some shows , you don't know how good you got it!! Dana Fuchs was right these guys are one of the best bands on the planet!!! Can't wait for DSO at Westbury, LESH at the beach, RATDOG with Allmans? Ratdog at Westbury I WILL BE THERE!

To Jack Straw from NJ - Dana Fuchs not only sings great, she acts and moves too.
Your song by song critique is quite snobby..............
Like the last dude says - YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU GOT UNTIL IT'S GONE...............
when going to DEAD Shows it was always a treat having a guest performer jammin.
DO NOT DISS DANA! As this was one of her first times GA on someone else's stage. Especially Bobby being one of her favs as well. Nervous maybe...........but she puts anyone in her genre to shame, vocally.
BTW - her version of Dear Prudence was on a Grammy Nominated Album.

Just happen to luck into a couple tixs from the box office that day dead center about 15 rows back, for some reason ate half a strip of acid some kid handed me. For reviews, enjoyed the Playin, the Tommorrow Never Knows was great, the Jed, the Weight, but that Dear Prudence sent me for a loop, don't remember the mic problems or rappers due to mental state, but the Beacon was a great venue, NYC deadfans are pretty damn cool totally different vibe from west coast shows, the china, rider, and jones ending was great, a sort of sing along night for front runner dead fans like myself who have just enjoyed getting ripped up at shows and going with whatever happens. Like someone said before, see the deadbase shows while you still can, because once Bobby and Phil are gone, so will go the magic. Looking forward to the summer west coast swing see you there.

First set opener of Jam>Playin>Tomorrow>Tennessee made me glad i was there. Just wish GDTSTOO would not sell seats under the balcony. My appreciation of what was probably a fine Limbo>Even so>October>Deep end is lacking for the dearth of clear sound underneath. All the same, the way the dogs delivered Big RR is the way to end a first set. Love the acoustic trio segue Bobby offers as a second set opener and this setlist is proof positive. Best KC Moan I ever heard. There have been angrier Hard Rain's from the Ratdog stage, but not many - and then I went deaf. It's a week later and my right ear is just beginning to feel pain. Gotta say, somebody musta noticed Dana Fuchs' mike was off, didn't they? Jerry mighta given her his on the spot, but in appreciation of the moment, Bobby was too far away both meta and physically. Our bad luck guys; especially those of us who can compare it to that night in the Nassau when that other band shook off its gift box for a second set opener. My temporary hearing impairment is wearing off today, I caught myself singing "Catch a cannonball . . ." while fixing breakfast. The Eyes was a terrific 12 minute version but my post Weight ears could not catch the finer nuances of the superb impromptu horn section. Kinda brought back memories of Branford and Bruce stealin' the show at MSG until Jerry began making rude Jeff Beck noises with Tiger. The River song was hilariously fun. Thanks Bobby and Jay for the innovation for the Band of Brotherz redux. Fun to have Franklin's in the background too. I am always up for Stuff, like Drumz and Space of yore. The Prudence>China>Rider closer gave the whole night's offering a wonderful Ratdog dessert. The Casey Jones was like a fine claret of a meal finisher. Glad to be getting my hearing back even a week later. Gotta agree with Bobilo on the observation of the technicians performance. Good call Bobilo. See ya further on up the road.