This being my thirtieth-plus Dog show, I consider myself to have a good leg to stand on when it comes to reviewing the course of the night. To get right to it, I was a little on the disappointed side after last night's show. Their most certainly were some highlights but I must say I have seen much better shows. The evening started out with a very average Music Never Stopped that flowed into an average Easy Answers. I personally thought the sound was not very good during the first set, so it is very possible that these tunes were better than I perceived. The sound was a little better after This Time Forever and Shade of Grey. Also, they were not trying to be to loud and that helped. Lazy Lightning was next and was pretty good. Supplication didn't get as loose as I had seen either but definitely got the crowd pumped. Highlight of first set for me was Cassidy, which was played well and sound started to get even better, but I can't believe that after all of the build up they gave us last night, they didn't finish the tune only to come back to it later during second set. Cassidy is too good to cut off right at the end and finish just the last line later. Set one finished with the all-too-obvious Odessa.
Set two was much better sound-wise so the show got better. I thought Candyman was played with true heart last night. Bobby looked great during it and Victim. After how many botched lyrics we got last night I couldnt believe that Bob was going to attempt The Winners next, but in true Weir form he nailed it word for word. Unfortunately for me the rest of second set was filled with tunes that I have heard alot lately--Uncle John's, The Wheel, Dear Prudence, and Sugar Mag. There was a Bucket in there though that was pretty good. By the end of the set, Bobby looked tired but was smiling alot. The cheese factor was up there last night during the Sugar Mag. Dear Prudence was sung very well though. Encore was either going to be US Blues, Liberty or Johnny B. Goode; Bob went with the Johnny B. Goode. it sounded tight and well rehearsed. Jay Lane really got off!
At the end of the show that left a smile on my face. Overall the night was enjoyable but seemed very short. There were not any spacey jams or loose noodlings but it was still good. I was in my car going home by 10:40 though; that was a first. My review of course is just one man's opinion; I am sure other people might have thought this was a stellar show, but I am picky these days on how good a show is after having a solid foundation of shows to compare to. ALWAYS love to see Bobby though. See ya at the next one!
Brad Buchman, Columbus, OH
