Bob Weir and RatDog | RatDog.Org

Many people get ready for a concert by listening to older albums by the artist. It reacquaints them with the material. That might've helped for Bob Weir and RatDog's Saturday performance at the Landmark Theater, but wasn't necessary.

The pre-show and in-between-sets P.A. music was all reggae, and that influence was more than palpable throughout the evening.

To begin their first set, Weir, recalling his days as rhythm guitarist for the Grateful Dead, invoked an unhurried jam that hinted at his previous band's "Dark Star" improvisations. This down-tempo improv was characterized by plush keys and a tight bass and drum rhythm, while the reverb guitars marked the chord progression.

This style of music, with variations, is called dub, which is a subset of reggae. Paradoxically, this slow jammer led to a raucous "Bertha," a fan-favorite and hard country rocker. The dichotomy between these two styles - dub and country rock - was the essence of the concert.

For dub to groove, to have that propulsive rhythm that cannot be quantified by any specific instrument, space is necessary. Improvised music, like RatDog's, needs moments where there is ensemble playing without any instrument taking the lead for the music to breathe and grow.

Those potential moments were taken by saxophonist Kenny Brooks' solos, and sometimes the music felt cluttered. Though it's not unusual to hear saxes in dub tunes, they are generally in the background.

When Brooks laid back and followed the chord changes in the country rock tunes, the group sounded positively possessed, as in "Tennessee Jed."

Yet "All Along The Watchtower," the most rock 'n' roll song of their sets, steeped in history from Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix to U2, was the most rearranged.

With the tempo slowed and the chords barely recognizable, the band's sound was the embodiment of dub; rolling on a wave of rhythm, with small hints of melody. When Weir sang "The hour is getting late," the band switched into hyper-gear, the tempo picking up and the rhythm changing to the song's traditional style. Guitarist Mark Karan soloed to piercing heights, only to unwind back to dub after the solo.

Following the last verse, the band resumed the rock flair that marked the solo section.

The ebb of dub and the flow of rock was Weir and band's style of choice for the evening. But the audience couldn't have been prepared for a country rock outfit to be kidnapped by the spirit of dub pioneer Lee "Scratch" Perry. And that surprise is what made the audience smile, smile, smile.