10/29/2005 Setlist, Photos, and Reviews

Great show. Bobby played a typical show, mellow at the start, finishing very strong. St. Stephen > Eleven... what a jam. He had the house rocking! No doubt the smallest venue I have seen him at, but the sound was incredible and had that "old time" feel to it. I will get the CD shortly.

Words cannot describe how profoundly disappointed I was in this show. I thought the show lacked coherence, energy, and was a bust from start to finish. Bertha was about the only bright spot in the first set. Second set slightly better than first, but that isn't saying much. People who thought this was a good show have obviously not seen Bobby at his best. I felt like I was cheated out of the ticket price. Knocking on Heaven's Door??? Could you pick a lamer encore? Just absolute garbage.

Just a quick comment before saying a word about this show.... I've been seeing the Grateful Dead and all the various incarnations of the band for 20+ years, and the negativity that's put out regarding the bands and the music turns my friggin stomach. Jerry's not here anymore folks.... Deal with it. It NEVER will be what it once was, so PLEASE try and put out some positive energy every now and then for what the music has become! For all the naysayers out there, try "reviewing" a few Bob and/or Phil shows in 5 or 10 years when these guys aren't putting the music out there for all of us to experience anymore! It's all a relative thing folks, meant to be experienced by each of us in our own ways. What you may have thought--and I use that word 'thought' loosely--was absolutely dull and boring, the guy boogying down next to you may have 'thought' was absolutely crackling with energy.... Stop trying to pick apart every note or jam and smile once in awhile.... Enough of the rant!!!

1st set was more on the mellow side, pickin up in pace as it went.

2nd set, some superb music was played.... Black-Throated Wind was very well done. Schoolgirl was fun. St. Stephen > Eleven on through the end was great and the band was having a great time. (I was 10 feet from them so it was easy to tell, for all of you that are gonna rag saying "how do you know??") And for the guy who stated on this site how "lame" of an encore Knockin on Heaven's Door is.... Some of us actually love it, try remembering that :)

This show was fantastic! The West LA Fadeaway was outstanding, the St. Stephen, Eleven, Come Together.... Wow! I thought that this was one of the very best shows I've ever seen! The venue was perfect; it was small and had excellent sound. The crowd was terrific--almost every one was entirely into the show. Wonderful....

It was, by far, one of the best shows RatDog has played in years--far surpassing some excellent West Coast shows, most notably the Feb. 04 Phoenix show. The band was in stellar form, playing off the energy from the packed and appreciative crowd. Kudos to the Town Ballroom management for letting the crowd create its own atmosphere--one by the way that was very patron-friendly. The setlist was outstanding, with songs like Cassidy, The Winners, and Come Together getting rare Buffalo work outs. Songs like Easy to Slip and Black Throated Wind were among the highlights. The show was treat, not a trick.

I was very pleased with this venue; it was a really nice intimate room that had tiers going up from the floor section, which gave a good view from anywhere in the house. It also made the room seem much smaller, which provided an added sense of intimacy. It reminded me a bit of the London Astoria where RD played in London, England. Also, I found the security to be very audience friendly and they adopted a more or less laissez-faire attitude towards most things. The crowd was great and sang along to almost every song.

To preface the rest of my review, I love each and every show I see and I am certainly thankful for every opportunity I get to see the band. However, not every show can be one of those rare barn burners that have you coming out of show going "WOW" over and over again.

I thought the show started out a little slow; I think there was a bit of energy lacking to begin with. The energy definitely began to increase as the set moved forward, but it seemed to sometimes go up and down. I was a little disappointed with Easy to Slip, which is a song that I always seem to enjoy. There were definitely some highlights of set, which in my opinion were Shade of Grey, West LA Fadeaway, and Bertha. I didn't like that they followed Bertha with This Time Forever, as they finally built up some good energy in Bertha and This Time Forever seemed to flatten it out a bit. The set closed with the always enjoyable Silvio > Tequila sequence, which had the whole place moving. Overall, a good set of fun and music.

I thought the band really stepped up in the second set and the energy level just kept climbing on a steady pace all the way through. I think the sequence of songs was extremely well chosen and the set flowed magically from beginning to end. I really enjoyed The Winners, which is not a favourite of mine. However, hearing it at this show really opened up a new appreciation for this song, and that made it special for me personally. Black-Throated Wind was great and I thought the St. Stephen > Willian Tell > Eleven was one of the best versions I have seen. Come Together was fantastic, and I loved how it all came back to a finely jammed Cassidy reprise. Knocking on Heaven's Door is not my favourite for an encore, but somehow it really suited this show very nicely.

Certainly not the best RD show I have ever seen, but definitely a thoroughly enjoyable evening of music that I would not have traded away.

I thought it was a very good show. It was my third Silvio of the summer, and its not getting old yet. Some of the stuff was a little bit slower than usual, it seemed. I thought it would be more crowded with 1000 people, but I had room even two rows back. For people who wrote up bad reviews, I think you are wrong.

That show was terrible. Not from a "it's not enough like the Dead" point of view, but from a "who the hell picked this setlist" point of view. If you enjoyed it, more power to you, go pay $45 to see it. As for me, I think it's absolute rubbish and will never spend my money on it again. Anyone who describes the show as "rockin" or as having "energy" just wasn't watching the show I saw.

This was a pretty good show. The setlist wasn't my favorite since I'm not a fan of the BT Wind, Schoolgirl, Silvio > Tequila, or Cassidy. I was unfamiliar with the Bob Weir originals, but I dug them. The Bertha was smoking and the West L.A. was a pleasant surprise. St. Stephen, OMSN, and Knockin' were all great, especially the St. Stephen. One of my favorite songs, and this version was unbelievable. 8/10 stars I'd say, and I can't wait to see Bobby and the boys again.

I thought this show was pretty good. This is the 2nd time I've seen the Dog, and they sounded great. The first set was a little lacking in energy, but the 2nd set ripped through downtown Buffalo. Did anyone else catch the Mountain Jam tease? I'm not sure what jam/song it was in, can't remember... but did anyone else catch it? That's always a great tease to put in. If anyone knows which song it was in let me know! Great show Bobby.

I enjoyed this show. It seemed that Bobby and the guys were having fun and feeding off the crowd's energy. Dark Star took me to another place, and I didn't want to return. The whole Silvio > Tequila sequence had the joint rockin. Loved the ending of the show. The guys let loose during One More Saturday Night and tore it up then slowed things down a bit for a very subtle but pleasing Knockin on Heaven's Door encore. GO BOBBY GO!!!!

What a way to spend my 33rd birthday. First time in years I got to see Bobby or any of the boys on my special day. Like most, I agree the show lacked some energy at first but picked it up along the way. West LA was a pleasent surprise, as was Bertha. St.Stepen>The Eleven was mind numbing. The HIGHlite for me was second set opener. While outside "enjoying" some of mother nature, got a vibe as a crow flew through the Buffalo night sky... only to float back in and catch the opening riff to BLACKBIRD. Karma! Nah. Just Bobby being Bobby. Thanks for the wonderful Bday. C u on the road!