7/19/2009 Setlist, Photos, and Reviews

Great show, odd set list to me, but it rocked. I was never a moe fan before, I had never really seen them or listened to them, however great openning act. I would definetly see them again. Rat dog was on, great jams on a hot summer night. The only bad thing - its my only show of the tour.

This show was one of the best I've seen or heard. It reminded me why I still follow these guys after all these years.
It looked like Bobby was glad to be jamming with The Dog after a summer tour with the Dead.
Great venue, exceptional band & music and an awesome audience. The stars aligned.

What a great show after a few years of being away from the scene! I had never heard moe, but I really enjoyed them and will be listening to them more in the future. RatDog's set was a LOT of fun, a great mix of high energy jams and soothing mellow stuff. The venue was great, except for uncomfortable chairs and a couple security guys who kept stopping people from dancing in the aisles.

What great energy last night, they were bringing it.....I had a fantastic time...they tried channeling the rain: Cold Rain & Snow, Hard Rain, LL Rain...and squeezed it all in before the 10:30 ordinance.....great, great show

Wow - what a show! After missing the last florida run, I needed this one and it didn't disappoint. The band jammed the night away at a great little venue. No intermission was a new twist that kept the crowd movin' and groovin' - Lets hope for another FLA reunion come Nov!

Wonderful.

I don't try to categorize or rank all the Dead shows I've seen since 1970. This evening stands on its own.

Moe was great and earned thousands of new fans last night, but what seperates RatDog from other jam bands is the emotional content of its performances. Moe jams
like Phish jams are virtuosic but I don't know what they are about. More familiarity may breed respect. Their lead guitarist sure added a layer of glistening beauty to Dear Prudence and Rio Grande.

Althea, which could be turgid even when Garcia did it, was perfect in its pace and place. The Tequila sections of Silvio, which cour border on bar band, were crisp and for the first time made sense to me. Saint/Heaven: This was one of those nights where it all seemed true.

Mark did not miss a note or an opportunity including the opportunity to lay back. Enthuisiastic and tasteful, meditative and wild.

Thanks Dog.

The Saint Augustine Amphitheatre is close to the sea,
set in sawgrass and live oak and hummocky dunes.
Flying discs, tie dye, campers and guitars and lawnchair freaks, the usual parade of Shakedown activities in the sandlot parking lot.
moe. played for two hours, sun slanting down, humid as July,demented lopsided grooves launching the guitars-
Derhak's bass was thudding ostinato, almost toneless, but still propulsive-
the sweaty multitude shook its collective ass and sang the
choruses, "St Augustine" the predictable crowd favorite-
(yrs truly, however, stood up in wonder when one of their jams meandered into Mountain Jam for minutes on end, oh sneaky moe surprise).
Ratdog also played for 2 hours, deconstructing Playing in the Band,merging Silvio and Tequila, playing Althea so sludgy and slow that it almost became a reggae electronica-
Weir's guitar gated by an envelope filter and chaos pedal, bizarre lo-fi radio static and tiltawhirl noises punctuating the changes-
Lost Sailor and Saint led to an endless Hard Rain-acoustic- and Looks Like Rain slowed the groove
until HalfStep led to space to a majestic Dear Prudence peak-then Throwing Stones, Johnny B. Goode.
These bands both demand a patient listener who can accomodate dissonance, incremental i.e. aimless jam bridges from song to song.
And who knows when to stuff plugs into his/her ears.
Yet, as Gide wrote, one cannot discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time.
sincerely
Zebulon Zunstroke

WOW. What a show. MOE as the openor with a 2 hours non stop jam is amazing in its own... and then to top it off with an amost near perfect set by ratdog as they were clearly on top form. Has to be the top dog show i have seen.

Venue was perfect. Crowd was as energitic as i have seen in ages. Just an all out blast. Thanks dog!:)

Coming off the Dead shows I saw in Chicago in May, this was a needed shot for the psyche and spirit. Nice venue, Moe brings a good opening groove, and the Dog howled! Maybe a little less MOE, more Dog, and security was in force, too many folks cuffed and walked, but at moments the jams were face melting. Overall a serious power show for recharging the vibes. Florida needs many more like this.

Wow,
Definitely one of the best RatDog shows I've seen, this show was epic. I hadn't seen moe. before but I had heard about them quite a lot and was looking forward to seeing them and they did not disappoint, during one of their jams I definitely heard a Playin tease as did the dude next to me. I think it was the quality of moe.'s jammin that spurred Bobby and RatDog to such heights. Moe.'s Playin tease came to fruition when RatDog opened with an awesome playin, I had called Cold Rain & Snow before they started and I did get it but in the second song slot. I took my 12 yo niece to her first dead show a few months ago in Greensboro so this was her second "dead" show and when it sprinkled lightly near the end I told her that if Bobby's gonna play three "rain" songs you're gonna get a little rain :-) Now she wants me to put some moe. on her mp3 player, I love turning on a new generation.
Cheers y'all
are you having fun? then you're doing it right

Rockstarinjapan

Strange setlist. Was it raining????

WoW!...after all the years of chasing the dead around it was nice to have Bobby play in my backyard. The show eclipsed my expectations tenfold. "Althea" was slow and psychedelic and "Lost Sailor" was also a standout.Hearing "Tequila" during "Silvio" seemed real appropriate. It never really rained but we heard all the rain songs and after the wet summer we've had it made perfect sense. Thanks Bobby!!!...and Mark..who indeed would make Jerry very proud.

I'd only seen Ratdog once before and that show had been a little slow and draggy so I was a bit skeptical walking into this one. However, after missing my chance at catching the Dead reunion, Bonnaroo, and Rothberry, I figured this was the last shot I had for a good show before the summer was out, and man Bob did not disappoint. Everyone on that stage looked like they were having a great time, and it definitely sounded like it. MK was on point all night and I can't wait to hear this show on Archive. The best part of the night for me was just about when Lost Sailor started up, my buddy, that actually got me into the Dead, called me right then from Parris Island, SC where he is in his last week of marine boot camp (I guess they get one phone call towards the end). This kid has been jonesing for some Dead since he first got on the bus for boot camp, and after three months of being without a single lick from Jerry, he got to listen to three minutes of Bob singing his heart out. Made my night and I can't wait until the dog is this far south again!

To me, the boys seemed hit or miss a few years ago. Every other show I saw was, as Ace described, "slow and draggy"... but the last two Florida runs have been stellar... and last night was no different. The boys absolutely blew it out of the water! It was just 1 set, only lasted til 10:30, and they closed with my least favorite song in the repertoire (Johnny B. Goode), but none of those things mattered... it was a rockin' show! Awesome work boys... see you in November!

All I can say is, Thanks Boyz!!! The band was really on it and the crowd was taking it all in with a smile. This was one of the best Ratdog shows I have seen. Great set list great vibe and in a very cool venue.
Hope to see the band this fall in Florida!!

Peace, Drew

Pretty killer show. Bummed they had to shut down at 10 30 but still a great time. Wasn't expecting a Silvio>Tequila>Silvio since they played that at Mizner last Fall. Lost Sailor really shined.

Wow...outstanding.....so many words...so little time. My firs Dawg show was in 96... and I've been at least once...every year since. We road tripped to St. Auggie for this one...and it was the most increditble trip ever. Ok..show was fantastic but before the show...went to fountain of youth for a little peace and tranquilty before rockin out....and walked in to see Bobby and the band. I was so overwhelmed...i was in tears. This is the most peaceful man i've ever been lucky enough to share a room with. Amazing moment in time I shall never forget. Thank you Bobby-may the music never stop....

Awesome camping in the state park right next door.
Took the full family wife and myself, and first timers 11 and 14 year old sons.
11 year old ready to tour.
14 year old did not like it.
Very strong show, sound a little distorted to the end (slightly) good ole Dead song selections. Got me a wife been trouble all my life.
Intense croud volume and energy, I'm sure Bobby enjoyed that too.
Overall Ratdog Experience 8
See ya in November.

Hey ya'll, for me to try and describe this show in proper terms for the dead-a-cated following here can't be done. I will say that I and my friends knew it was a very special performance; I say "one hell of a rock-n-roll concert". Rock shows of this timbre confirm why, that, we all know that it's all about the music. I've got a"few" shows under me belt and yes the stars were in sequence and what ever cycle of life one finds oneself, up, looking down, or down, looking up, the total experience that Sundays show was as close to rock nirvana and the absolute release of worldly issues that all of us need...Now about the "Wendys" that I stopped at just about a mile south of the venue. I walked in to get a base for the evening and being the only one in there and hearing a live "Dead" show on the house system, I knew was good juju. I, not knowing the song just heard the line "I should have been a batchelor" or something to that effect stuck in me head and I asked later of my Bobby/Dead concert mates Mark and Stu the title, (Althea) and to give me a heads up if they recognized it later and of course it "happened". Just a small part of a wonderful evening. I've thought about the stature of rockers like Bobby and the elite few that can still evoke magic, and the best I can figure is that "they" ie Dylan, Young, Weir, etc. respect the music. They, "the tribal elders", always respect their elders, peers, and the giants that came before and why those "great ones" still among us can give "us" the chance to "feel the music". See ya'll in South Carolina in a week and a half for Nelson, Mellencamp, and of course, Zimmie.....

The boys were great, that Ampitheatre has to be one of the best I've ever been to for a show. It was great sound and just the atmosphere was so nice! Wish they were that pleasant in South Florida venues.
Well worth the trip up there for a fun weekend and awesome show, would have liked a bit more "rockin" but it was still Bobby and great in my book!

Ratdog was dynamite Sunday night in St.Augustine. These guys are just getting better and better every tour it seems. For years I felt that Ratdog was just a horrible band… bob weir or no bob weir…. It was just weak. This line up that has been in effect for quite a few years now, has taken Bobby to a whole new level. They have continued to get tighter and stronger with every passing year, and really started strutting their stuff when Kimmock did those shows with them while Mark Karan was out ill. Since then they have been jumping up leaps and bounds every year that they come around for their annual Florida run in the fall. This St.Augustine show was no exception, and the dog was definitely in full effect for this hot ass summer day, with Moe opening.( and yes Moe was very good also.)

The 2 hour single set opened with a jam that felt a little heavy to me for just an opening warm up, but once they started the opening notes of “Playin” it suddenly became clear. This was a great way to open up what ended as quite a serious show, without a lot of bullshit or filler. The “playin” was both trippy and jazzy and it didn’t take long for me to hear that Mark Karan was really on top of his game. I’ve been a Mark Karan basher for years, and always thought he was the weakest link of the band. He just never seemed to let loose over the years and I felt he held back…. Or was being held back.( rock star issues Bobby??). Tonight I found him to be both articulate and extremely tasteful on the gee-tar. Not in a blow it up, in yo face Jimmy Herring style, but laid back and solid. I was impressed.

The “playin” segued into “Cold Rain and snow”… not exactly one of my fave Ratdog songs, but it was played well with lots of audience participation. This was shortly followed by the Hunter/Dylan penned “Sylvio> tequila”. I’ve seen this one before, and I think it is a great choice for Bobby to do. He plays it as a fun song for such deep subject matter. Next up is “Althea” and again a solid version with Bobbys guitar ringing through loud and clear. He has his rig running through so many effects, that his guitar rarely if ever even sounds like the true instrument it is. In most cases this works fine with his style of playing. Bobs voice is in fine form this tour, and his singing sounds as good as ever. After the well received “Althea” came the expected and much anticipated by me “lost Sailor> saint of circumstance”. Great move by Bob bringing this epic tale of driftin and dreamin back into the full form. ( I also have mucho respect for the fact that he does the “William tell bridge” during St.stephen> the eleven…. But that’s a different story.) The Lost Saint was definitely all that and more. I believe this was my first time seeing the lost sailor portion and it gave me goosebumps.

It had been a rainy afternoon in St.Augustine on Sunday, and Bobby took that as his cue to throw some more rain inspired music to the mix. He strapped on the acoustic for a great performance of “ a hard rains-a-gonna fall”. If there is one thing the bearded wonder knows how to do, it is play a Dylan song. When Kenny Brooks hits the real low notes on that baritone sax during this, it is earthshaking. Kenny, as is the rest of the band, are all playing in top form. More acoustic and more rainy numbers as Bobby gives us the “looks like rain” with his voice sounding stellar by this point. Mark Karan adding nice counter melodies to Bobs vocals. Very tasty Mark… and without stealing much jerry licks even…. A Fine job.

Mississippi half step is next with a nice treat of Chuck Garvey from Moe coming out and playing some great lead work. The dual guitar soloing of Chuck and Mark really added a lot to the sometimes long and slow rio grande ending. Then Jay lead us into “stuff” with a nice drum solo. I really like Jays playing, and always have in whatever project he plays in, although I tend to find him in general to rub me the wrong way. He was well behaved tonight, but in the past I have seen him say and do things that I would consider inappropriate for the Ratdog stage. His frequent use of profanity over the mics and mentioning of drug use really turns me off, but damn he can play those drums. The only issue I had with him this evening was his lack of a shirt….. I suppose it can be forgiven since he is a drummer and it was hotter than hell at the venue, but shirtless musicians is a little odd pet peave of mine.( see red hot chili peppers…… and yes I know I’m a freak, but I hate that shit.) “Stuff then turned into a free form funk jam, and even though the websight does not list it, Chuck was out for the “stuff” also and was getting a good piece of the action. He also stayed out for the follower “Dear Prudence” and added some fine guitar pyrotechnics to this song that is being played much more like the original beatles version than the version that Jerry did. Which is good, because I don’t really want to be wishing Jerry was there the whole time and not be able to give Bob a fair shake. The “Dear Prudence” was big, and had a lot of weight behind it. This led us into “Throwing Stones” which has definitely become a more funked up number than the overplayed versions we remember from the late eighties/early nineties. Not quite as hard hitting as it was in the day, but an interesting version, and something familiar for the fans that may not be as into the deeper ratdog material. He tagged the encore right onto the back of the throwing with a rockin and a rollin “Johnny B. Goode” which added a little lightness to the heavy vibe that was created by the thick humidity and the meltdown song selection.

Everyone looked like they had a good time as we meandered back to the car and it seemed as if the lots cleared out quick even though I did not see anyone telling the peeps to move along. It was a little odd actually. Not much of a shakedown scene except for a girl with a handful of pretty sweet tie-dyes and one tank of nitrous that the guy geeked out and stopped selling after about 20 balloons and a line of 15 people waiting. Perhaps we were in the wrong parking lot. Either way, We were so spent from all the heat and sweating that we were ready to bail out anyway….. and I had a fresh bottle of Port waiting for me at the B&B from the winery up there which would more than compensate for the lack of a kind veggie burrito, jerry roll, or grilled cheese. Big ups to the gal with the cooler full of icy cold Gatorade…… we are talking little chunks of ice IN the bottle baby!! You saved me.

RatDog was great, but Moe played for three hours and RatDog played for two. What the hell is up with that! RatDog really played well and it was a good show, but moe spent about fifteen minutes literally doing nothing at the end of their set, just standing there trying to get their s**t together when the time, with a 10:30 curfew, could have been better spent getting RatDog's stage set up. A very poorly managed show, but probably the best sounding RatDog I've heard in years.

A note to the band: I came to see RatDog, not the opener, and Moe played for at least an hour too long considerig there was a 10:30 curfew. Get your s**t together, boys. Three hours of Moe and two hours of RatDog is not what I signed on for. Two hours is barely enought time to get everyone in synch and is, by all previous standards, a pretty weak set for old Dead Heads like me, no matter how well you play.

Moe opened and were fine, if a little long. Although we enjoyed their musicianship, two sets of the Dog would have been better.

Torrential rains in the afternoon set the theme (Cold Rain, Hard Rain, LL Rain), and the boys rocked it! Bobby gets better and better with the Jerry matterial. I sometimes wonder why he gets criticized for doing it. We got on this bus 1971 (Yale Bowl-almost 38 years to the day), and we feel priveleged that this music is still being made by so many. We uaually spend our Sunday nights seeing GD cover band Crazy Fingers in S. Fla., and many of the Sunday regulars turned out for Ratdog.

Evidently, much of the audience agreed with us, because the energy level was fantastic. Keep on rockin', and we'll keep on comin'.

2 PAWS UP
Best Energy I have seen in a long time from both the crowd and band.
Great setlist no low valley's just rev up balls to the wall RATDOG.!
My first 10 EPIC rating ;-)
Carry On Ya'll.........

After many a Ratdog show this one topped the charts for sure. They played so well and went so many places. They even brought the FUNK!!! If I had one wish for a setlist, this was it! Heavy on the Weir/Barlow penned tunes, which I love, Saint, Throwing Stones, Lost Sailor, Looks like Rain and excellent job Bob on the Dylan verses:) In this journey of life we are fortunate to meet people who have something to teach us, sometimes they even inspire us and move us to action. I was listening and this magical day and night in St. Augustine has definitely inspired me to postive action.
Keep Dialing and Smiling.
Love & Hugs,
Shelley

Byrd, you are mistaken. Moe did not play for 3 hours. That is ridiculous. They played for 2 hours like Bobby did. I have the discs for the Moe show sitting in my hands right now and the whole show fits on two 80 minute discs with lots of room for the Al filler that they put on there also.
Quit your whining, you knew there was going to be 2 bands when you showed up and this fine websight you are on flat out told you that Bobbys set would be 2 hours long.... do not act like the crew needs to get their crap together.... they were right on schedule and did a great job. Remember on some shows this tour bobby is playing first with Moe as co-headliner.
I personally would have prefered two Bobby sets, but it was nice to get the chance to see Moe again as a freebie. Dont think for a second that there wasnt a heap of folks there because they are Moe fans..... they have a hardcore following, and just because you arent clued in is no reason to whine like a little girl.

^^^Well said Dave.

I just bought the flac soundboard recording of the St. Augustine show.

Highly Recommend buying!! Sounds incredible :)

One word for the entire concert.Beautiful.
Never saw moe before, but the dance vibe is right there if you want it.The moe head grooving next to me asked if i thought moe was alright.I told him moe was better than alright, they were right on.I heard someone write that moes jams dont go anywhere.That gives me plenty of time to work on my freestyle dance..
Bobby has clearly come into his own.It was a real joy to see him have such command of the night.The entire band was on fire.I love the way they are messing with the tempos of the songs.Very cool.Sax man killed it all nite and drummer boy showed remarkable restraint.I liked this show better than when i saw the dead at the gorge in washington.Thats saying something.Keep on rockin Bobby.
and ill see you at the next moedown

Another great night {but HOT} for a Ratdog show. I think it was more like a Ratdog/moe co-headliner thing with moe playing about 2 hours of great jams, It was the first time ive heard moe and they were great. Ratdog did a great "Looks like rain" and "Half Step" and closed with a rowdy version of "Johnny B Goode" that reminded me of the one from "Last days of the Filmore" Great venue and a pair of great bands. DP Mitchell

On my RatDog CD of this concert, which I attended, the music on the CD abruptly ends immediately after Bobby sings,"...let the echo decide if I was right wrong..." Pretty heady stuff for an old DeadHead like me. No echo, no nothing...

So what's up with that, Bobby? Still standing on the tower, world at your command...? Fire one up on me...

Clay

Glad to see someone else consider it was more of a moe show than RatDog. And to Dave from West palm, perhaps after you've seen these guys for awhile you'll develop a better ear and learn to know a good concert from a bad one. DP above felt the same as I - a good concert, but not great. Bobby doesn't walk on water, no matter how much you might so desire. He's as human as the rest of us...so far as I know...

7-27-09-Just returned from a week on the beach and under the Milky Way (saw 9 shooting stars!) I almost can't believe I made it to a third Ratdog show in a row-but sometimes the stars align and this was the only week we could go on vacation and we had already planned to go back to Crescent Beach on Anatstatia Island which just happens to only be about 20 minutes from the St. Augustine Ampitheatre. So tired as we were, we were able to settle everyone in and head to the show- because after all-how often does this sort of thing happen-right?-So we walked in just as Bobby began playing-and he even looked up at us as we walked in which was perfect timing-but alas we did not have the best seats-and security wouldn't let us on the floor- so we did the next best thing-which was to go up to the top of the ampitheatre where we could watch the band and look at the sky at the same time! I loved the setlist-Althea was really funky and sweet and I also loved the Cold Rain and Snow-~thank you:) During the last of the rain songs I felt two little rain drops fall on my face-(although we didn't really see any rain clouds). Then somewhere during the show it started to lightening behind us which is interesting because the spectacular lightening show that took place later in the evening was over the ocean which is on the other side of the venue. I do hope the band was able to watch this amazing storm-As I sat on my ocean front balcony after this-my 3rd Ratdog show in a row, I thought about how cool it would be to hear them play Terrapin Station during this storm. I hummed the song while the lightening kept perfect time- even during the songs peak. It was so amazingly beautiful. The next evening as I walked on the beach under the stars I remembered that Robert Hunter actually wrote Terrapin, Part One during a "flamboyant" lightening storm over the San Francisco Bay. That made me smile. Anyway, I do hope the band got to see this amazing lightening show-the only one we got to see all week long.
I'm writing this revue today along with revues of the other two shows I saw in Atlanta- because I didn't have a very strong Internet connection all week-and it seems appropriate to write about the storm and Terrapin today anyway-because the Terrapin album was released on this day in 1977. That said-this is my wish~ May this wonderful music always live along with all the magic that runs through it and through all the people who know and love it~ There is nothing else to compare-It was wonderful to see you again and I look forward to the next time-thank you!!:)