11/5/2008 Setlist, Photos, and Reviews

Rivers of tearrsss. I should've gone I was off of work today

tonite? a 2nd set blowout. what an entree for manana nite.

from estimated on an easy 10...

Calling out around the world
Are you ready for a brand new beat
Obama's here and the time is right
For dancing in the streets!
They're Dancing in Chicago!!! WOW what a loaded second set! I wish I could have been at this one. 10! 10! 10!

WOW!!!! What a night to celebrate after the victory on Tuesday....Dancing in the streets indeed!!! Bobby and the boys were electric and carried the vibe throughout the show. Liberty, a great Estimated Propeht and Morning Dew that I haven't heard in a long time....Great close out with China Cat/Rider and OUTSTANDING encore with US Blues. My buddy hadn't seen Bobby on his own since the Midnite days and was he floored.
All I can say is 4 more years!!! Great show guys!!!

this show was so epic. the energy was amazing!

The lights go down and as the boys took the stage I tried to get a "Yes We Can" chant going. Maybe 3 people joined me. Oh well.

General comments about the show, more specific to the songs below. It was staggeringly loud right up front. I'm talking like over modulated loud. And for the most part I'm referring to the drums. Jay Lane is the drummer and he's a two-fisted ham and egger. Bang-Band-Crash-Crash type drummer. He's the weak link in that band. Weir's guitar was nicely loud. There's just no getting around it. His guitar playing is never flashy but always interesting to me. Keyboardist Jeff Chimini and Bass player Robin Sylvester are top notch. Mark Karan on guitar is good when he has that liquidy sound going. Sax player Kenny Brooks seemed to have an off-night to me. Or maybe he was just lost in the mix. For the 2nd set we moved back a bit and the sound was not as overpowering.

I'll say this about Weir last night. He brought it. They played hard and harsh. He rocked it. And his voice was strong, perhaps because it was only the 3rd show on the tour.

Jam>

Dancin in the Streets (first ever by Ratdog)- Perhaps Weir chose to play this for the first time as a nod to Obama with these lyrics:

Callin' out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat?...Dancin' in Chicago (dancin' in the street)...Everywhere, around the world...


Shakedown Street- Nicely done.

Maggie's Farm- Awful. Blusey arrangement. Dull. Tedious.

She Belongs to Me- Nice, especially the keys.

Money for Gasoline- New song, up tempo, pretty good.

She Says- New song, pleasant enough.

Liberty- Good but the backing vocals leave much to be desired.

Foolish Heart- Solid performance of a song the GD never seemed to quite get a handle on.
__

Deep Elem Blues- Acoustic, nothing special.

El Paso- Acoustic, absolutely wonderful.

Estimated Prophet> The Other One- This was freaking crazy. Estimated did what people want it too but the jam into and performance of The Other One was suspenseful, disparate, crazed, psychedelic. These two songs were probably 30+ minutes and it was nuts. I was able to lose myself in it at times, which was nice.

Morning Dew- Not bad. Weir monkeyed around a bit with the lyrics, not sure why but it nicely played.

China Cat>I Know You Rider- Good, but nothing special.

Encore U.S. Blues- Of course! During the "Wave that flag" chorus, they had a guy walk around the stage with a big American Flag with a peace sign where the stars are. At the end people were yelling stuff about Obama and Yes We Can and Weir says "Yes We Did!" Jay Lane chanted "O-Ba-Ma, O-Ba-Ma..." for a bit with the crowd after the show.

That setlist looks like my kind of show. Pretty good planning to be in DC the day after the election. Counting the days til Tower theatre in Upper Darby. I got the front front row of the LOGE section. That's a sweet spot. Mr. Tiger Trance, I have to disagree about Jay being a weak link. Thanks again, Bob.

Dave in Pa.

Absolutely electric! What a great vibe throughout the show. Nice building - friendly staff.

I just checked Ticketmaster and there are still seats available for the second DC show. Go People! Go to this show! I'll be there!

describes last night's events for me.

getting into that place is tougher then getting on an airplane. they search you (THOROUGHLY) on the way in. they take away LIGHTERS. the fans there SUCK, the locals are these faux de fa fa DC people who are too cool and important to get into the music. the show wasn't even sold out! I was in the upper deck, and it was half empty. I also saw no tapers.

the show, however, was INSANE. Dancing in the streets! The whole night had a very political theme to it... Dancing - Shakedown - Maggie's Farm - Money For Gasoline - Liberty. Sweet acoustic opener in the second set - culiminating with a emotional Morning Dew - followed by China>Rider and a quick return for Bobby for U.S. Blues - during the "Wave That Flag" portion, one of their roadies came out and waved a giant American flag with a peace sign... Jay Lane did a little Obama vocal improv thing at the end of the show to close it out.

despite the shitty venue, a great time was had by all the true phans (I know, that's Phil, but Ratdog doesn't have a similar phrase to the best of my knowledge) that showed up in DC. The fact that some of us paid $9.47 for our seats was also nice :)

also - not sure why anyone would consider Jay Lane a weak link - the weak link of this band in terms of musical talent is Bobby, IMO.

What a great show. Very high energy performance from the boys. In fact, this was the most energetic show I've seen since 2002 or 2003. The song selection was nice, Liberty is always a bit cheesy, but it was rockin'. The Warner is also one of the nicest places to see a show in the DC area. Friendly staff, clean, good sound, etc. I can't wait for 2nite, hope everyone out there can make it!

I had no problem getting anything in. Then no problem doing anything i wanted inside. Put stuff in you shoe brother, you get searched everywhere on the east coast. I didn't even come close to getting raped by security like i do at places like the Electric Factory.

As long as I got through the Holland Tunnel by 4, I knew I would be in for a special night. . .

Got all the bad Karma out of the way when I peeled off my parking ticket and my buddy and I hopped into our showmobile. Flew down 95, got to the show with time to spare and shed my ticket for the Thurs nite to a very nice guy who gave me his parking spot 30 yards away from the theatre (pissed I can't see them tonight, but at least I have Phil to see at Nokia). Then, meandered through the sea of nitrous into the theater, 4 rows back from Bob and the Boys.

This Dog show marked number 24 for me and it was definitely a microcosm of what the Dog brings to the table.

Here's what you can take from the show:

When there is hype to live up to, sometimes a set doesn't really pan out. The first set did not live up to expectations. . . but all good things come to those who wait.

Dancing in the Streets - it was fun, but sloppy, and never really got going (I guess that's what happens when its the first time you've ever played that song as band).

Shakedown was solid, thought that would pick things up.

Then back-to-back Dylan. Nice renditions, but nothing to write home about.

Then the Dog originals, yawn. By this point in the set all momentum was lost.

Tried to regain it with Liberty (should have closed the set) and then Foolish Heart, but each fell flat.

Halftime - things weren't looking too good. Bob and the Boys were down at least 3 touchdowns.

But then. . . the reason for my first ever post.

2nd set was probably the best overall set of the Dog I've ever seen. And no show enhancers were involved tonight!

Talk about comebacks, this was beyond epic, very reminiscent to the Buffalo Bills vs Houston Oilers circa 1992, down 35-3.

Acoustic: Deep Elem and El Paso were something special. Mark's solo during El Paso was downright dirty.

Then Estimated threw the set into another universe, which took us into The Other One which, although choppy, was as passionately played as you'll get.

Which then takes us to Morning Dew. Now I'm a younger fan and was unable to witness Jerry belting out this song about post-Nuclear apocolypse, but Bob took his best shot and gave a Frank Reich like performance in place of Jim Kelly (yes I was a big early 90's Bills fan). Mark's solo was out of this world (although the slurred finish would've been nice).

Then of course you need to finish this amazing set with a little China Cat-> Rider action. Mistakes notwithstanding before "I wish I was a headlight" (personally, I think the fuckups add to the fun), the show finished on such a high note. A little U.S. Blues to boot for the encore was a perfect way to say goodbye.

Long story short, when these guys are clicking on all gears they are the best band out there right now. Sometimes you just have to wait a set to witness it.

See you all next week in Newark.

A few things I noticed...

1.) The Light Show: Maybe it was the venue, or my vantage point from the upper deck... but it sure seems like they upgraded the lights. Usually that kind of stuff doesn't matter to me but it really enhanced the show.. especially during the incredibly psychedlic weird jam between Estimated and Other One...

2.) Harmonies - they had consistent backing harmonies.. and somebody ( can't figure out who..) is singing bass. Very noticeable on Shakedown and Liberty. Nce touch

3.) My only criticism..They were about ready to rip the roof off going into Rider .. the rest of the band was on the same page wanting to pick the pace up and rock it out as the transition peaked .. but Bob gave a hand signal and it ended up being a slow bummer of a Rider. You could tell Jay was a little frustrated that they couldn't just let it rip.

Wow! What an incredible show! Lucky Ratdog fans to be there in DC at that place and at that time. I loved reading about the encore, U.S. Blues and the flag with the peace sign! Colorado is a "blue" state now! A new president and a new day breaks...

Sounds good, can't wait for Tower Shows... I'm begging you PLEASE let go of the politics. The election process was long and now it's over.. Let's just enjoy the music.

THIS SHOW WAS SO SMOKIN!!!UNFU**IN BELEIVABLE!!!THE BANDS ENERGY HAS BEEN EXPLOSIVE...I THINK OBAMAS VICTORY HAS ALOT TO DO WITH IT..I DIDN'T GET RIGHT UP ON BOBBY BUT I WAS CLOSE ENOUGH ..GOT A COUPLE GOOD PHOTOS...IT WAS NICE HAVING VIP TICKETS...I AM SO DAMN EXCITED I CAN WRITE A BOOK ABOUT TONIGHTS SHOW...I WILL MAKE IT SHORT....RATDOG IS ROCKIN AND THEY ARE ON FIRE!!!!! NOW WE CAN TRULY WAVE THAT FLAG ..WAVE WIDE AND HIGH..."YES WE CAN"

very good show. i was betting the 2nd night was gonna be the real blast and that this was just a warmup.

but smiles all around, very fun dancin' opener, and then for all those not satisfied an excellent shakedown.

personally, i loved the show, but i'm sure the fact that the election was over, it was our 19th anniversary and my brownies helped make it a very fun night. jealous of those going tomorrow, but i'll survive.