7/11/2009 Setlist, Photos, and Reviews

ist off ther was literally no set break between big rxr and hard rain only a guitar change no one left the stage.2nd the band sounded phenomenal only a subpar setlist held this show back.for me the highlights were watchtower,lazy river and two jdinn.happy trails everyone!!see for 5 night nyc run in october.

I agree, Ratdog was on but the setlist was so-so. Awesome "She Says" and "Watchtower". I guess I'm spoiled. Show was being threatened to be shut down mid-way through by fire marshal and security for too many people "shaking their bones" in the aisle & too much smoke. Good Times.....Good Times

Hey Mark shoot me an E mail
rayburd0@msn.com

This show cooked!! The Pyschedelic dials were turned up to eleven tor this one kiddies. A mere setlist can not do justice to the musical peaks that this show hit. The dog always throws down in AC
cosmic

Weak predictable setlist, average playing...Time to start mixing things up a little boys. How many times do we have to hear Cassidy/Birdsong...Cassidy Reprise/Birdsong Reprise?

PS. There was NO set break. 1 set.
As far as setlists go, no matter what is played, some one will always poo-poo it. so, Take anyones reviews (including mine) into account that if 100,000,000 people all heard a song they will all have their own feelings about them. So that being said- THE DOG ROCKED THE TAJ.
Yea baby

i have an idea. All you douches who say weak setlist, sub par playing ask yourselves... who the hell are you? When you have the world wide notoriety of a skilled professional musician like Bob Weir, then you can critique. All you folks probably dont even know how to form a C chord, and probably think the pentonic scale is something you weigh XTC with. So stick to what you know, AND IF IT IS SO "WEAK" AND "PREDICTABLE" STAY HOME, so the people who actually care can enjoy it without your negative vibes
Peace

I agree with Cosmic. The setlist alone does not fully describe how great this show was. I fully enjoyed Bird Song, Hard Rain, Watchtower, and Two Djinn. Mucho energy!

Ratdog blew the roof off the joint.. from the smokng Help/Slip opening...the great Dylan & Dog tunes in middle...I swear they turned the sound up to 11 as the show came to a close w/ Birdsong/Franklin closer right into the Europe '72ish Sat. Nite!!!

Dear Bobby and Mark and George (CD guy), (MUST READ)
I have to say that the Ratdog set I saw at the Mark Estes Arena Saturday Night was the best Ratdog show I've ever been to. My name is Dino Karivalis and I'm a member here AND at Ratdog.org as member- ruk1nd - . The Franklins Tower > Cassidy opener was totally over the top. I think "Big Railroad Blues" was the BEST I've heard in decades. Great encore too. High Energy. I was there with my sister Mary, we are from the Philadelphia area. My first ever show was at the Tower Theatre on 7/21/76. I saw all four nights there. So did my sister but her first show was The Spectrum in 1972.( I saw THE DEAD there on 5/2/09 and loved it. Together we've been to over six hundred shows from 1972 till last night ( I have the stubs to prove it, and pictures too !!) Just Great !!
MOST IMPORTANTLY THO is that my casino host BOB at Showboat Casino ( I'm a "Seven Star" player) who took me over, bought me two wristbands for CD copies for the night's show. HE was supposed to meet me at the end of the show (he may have put them on my wrist earlier, I really don't remember) Anyway, he never showed at the end of the show and I told George I didn't have my wristbands and I would wait till everyone left to make sure there were at least two extras. He kindly explained to me that if I didn't have the wrist band in hand , I could'nt get any of the CD's for my sister and I. I walked about fifteen feet away and waited till EVERYONE LEFT. The Seciurity cleared everyone from the room. George was closing up the table. So quickly I asked for a tee shirt, a Hoody / sweatshirt, a poster and my two CD's (THERE WAS ABOUT FIFTEEN CD"S LEFT) and THAT I WOULD GIVE HIM THE FIFTY DOLLARS AGAIN FOR THE TWO CD"S. I put a hundred dollars on the table, my seven stars - total rewards card, my Taj Card, PA driver's license ALL in my NAME. HE WOULD"NT INCLUDE THE TWO CD"S !!!!!!
WHAT !!!!!! There's over a dozen CD's there, There is NO ONE IN THE BUILDING BUT GEORGE, THE SECURITY GUARD AND ME. He would sell every other item on the table to me but the extra CD's. THERE WAS OVER A DOZEN EXTRAS. Now we all know that I can go online and buy them tonight and have them in my hands in about a week, but I wanted them as a gift for my sister who treated me to the show tonight and so we could relive the show back in our room. We were seventh row dead center, right in front of Bobby. I broke down crying during "Days Between. She and I have shared hundreds of shows together, Bobby and Phil even gave us two tickets to the impromptu show at ROSELAND ( dino karivalis and Anna Metzner) earlier this year (check it out !! ) and I wanted to be sure my sister had this one too. I really don't understand. We owned a restaurant for years and when people were in line to pay after lunch or dinner , we always made a practice of getting them through the Cashier line fast cause this was the point when we got our money for products and services rendered. George wouldn't take my fifty dollars for two CD's , not only didn't I buy the other merchandise, I told him that it's just bad business doing that. The CD's are right there, I already paid and I'm willing to pay again. The security guard had to carry me out of the arena. ALL Because of George not selling me what I know he didn't need to keep or couldn't replace overnight if he had to. UNBELIEVEABLE!! REALLY !! Hundreds of shows between my sister and I including Blacksburg, VA 11/77 and William and Mary the following night, Rochester and Binghamton, back to back early '78 I believe (Rochester's on Dick's pick 24 or 25) Oakland Auditorium Arena '81- '82 New Years Eve w/ Joan Baez. , The Dead at "Change Rocks" for Obama at Penn State 10/08, 5/1/09 and 5/2/09 to close The Spectrum out with a record 55 Sold Out Shows ( our Home Venue, Yours too) !!
Do us all a favor. TELL GEORGE HE"S IN THE BUSINESS OF SALES AND IF YOU HAVE PRODUCT AVAILABLE, YOU SELL IT. ESPECIALLY IN THIS ECONOMY.
I would never buy a CD from him again, any band any venue. I wouldn't even order his shit online. PLEASE, GET HIM ON A PROGRAM. Youl'd be doing yourselves a favor as well as the rest of us DEADHEADS.
SINCERELY, C. Dino Karivalis member name ruk1nd here and at Ratdog. E MAIL ME AT ruk1nd@aol.com
Thank you for reading this post.

C. Dino Karivalis

P.S. If George has the attitude that Millions of DEADHEADS share Loving your fellow man, sharing and kindness), Let it Show and be KIND. He should get on the bus or be left at the first stop it comes to. That's his decision, not mine.

Too many "same old setlists". I am on break from Ratdog until they start mixing it up. They use to be better in 07 w/ Kimock.

Peace Out

Incredible show, sloppy crowd! Thank you for a real good time!

Yo- leave the Jerrry doll on the stage= Somone took it off and put it in a case at the end of Jackie G show. LEAVE it out for Ratdog.
I agree that the set was kinda lame- How many times do they have to play Cassaidy/Bird song in one set? Oh yeach and Watchtower too- Big Railroad blues was HOT!
Waht happened to the community questions and the Michael Jackson song? That would have been realy cool.

sound was up,band rocked with thundering bass and the venue let us have it our way.


what else could you ask for!! That always equals a great show!

Band was on all night no breaks plenty of energy good acoustics surprisingly I was fine with the setlist fitting encore nice contrast to 2nd night Philly where they opened with it. Bought the CD and havent shut it off all day. Bobby and company thanks again and again....... See you at the Tower in the Fall.

ACDEADHEAD

wow we kick em in the knee

gee whiz


wow

That Show was FANtastic! I agree with Cosmic,It was CRUNCHY,CRISP,LOUD and TIGHT! And Bob,you are also right,WE did have it our way,with the pickles,lettuce AND the onions! Dino,get a life,mabey you can buy one.And YES Camrrt,they should have put Jackie Green in the case instead...he stinks.To the rest,I figure the odds be 50/50.YING/YANG,the keepers of the secret and the ones who will never know. GOD BLESS RATDOG!

fun show. solo'd but always run into new and old friends. good show or bad show. does it really matter??? bobby is still around trying to make us happy even for a little while as long as we are open to it. keep rockin us bobby and the dog!!! c u at beacon y'all

Good show at a strange venue, at first I was disappointed about the one set, but the boys took the hand they were dealt and rocked hard. Tons of energy and Kenny was a monster during the whole show. Loved the Hard Rain and Big Railroad, but would like to see some new songs too. OMSN was good but enough with the predictable stuff, if we are tired of hearing it, they band must be tired of playing it. I give it a 7 out of 10.

Wonderful evening. My only mistake was going with my very unkind brother.

I agree with Cosmic Chharie who said "THE DOG ROCKED THE TAJ" . See my Post below. I would love to hear comments on it. D

Yo Pete Monroe, Although I was seventh row, whenevr I looked back, I saw the Etess Arena Half Empty. I would guess there were less than 4000 people there. What's the problem with the Fire Marshall (your post) and the security guard hassleing me in the seventh Row beause I sat in seat three and I actually had seat 7 ??

I agree with the great playin so so set list crowd. up to big railroad blues was awsome. From there it really slowed down to a crawl and as much as I love Cassidy and Birdsong I don't really need to hear them twice!! Had a great time though. It's always good to see the Dog, and by the way I thought the Sugaree by Jackie Green with Bobby sittin in was real nice. For those of you that waited for the Dog before comin in,you missed it!!

Nice opening set by Jackie and great closer with Sara Wasserman and Bobby on Sugaree.

Long break between acts meant one set only show and for the first time in years I didn't buy the CDs. I know I am getting older but when Help on the Way--> Slipknot was playing it seemed like the bagman at the mixer turned the system ALL THE WAY UP. Unfortunately my wife and I in the tenth row were right in front of the left speakers and it was so loud she reluctantly agreed to my request to move back to the third riser behind the soundboard where it sounded spectacularly better no distortion and just loud enough to really rock.....

"Big Railroad Blues" was an obvious highlight to the show as was "Hard Rain" and the twin closers of "Franklin's Tower" followed by the anticipated but never disappointing OMSN left the audience screaming yet deaf and dumb.

A couple of weak moments a bad original seat location for the sound but it all worked out and on to Penns Peak for more.

Great Rock,Soul,Blues,Trip,Jazz, etc...Show. As always, taking it one step further; for me anyway. The show (not the liquor:) blew me away so much, I actually forgot my posters under the RATDOG merch box while waitng for my CD. Soo Bummed.

If the merch peeps found them, please hold them for me in Florida!! If they ended elsewhere, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! I hope they are being enjoyed. The holigram was downright craaazy.

Can't wait to shake it in St. Augustine followed by two nights @ Hampton Casino.

Thanks Bobby and RATDOG!!!

yep. list does not do this show justice. when saturday nite started i hit the casino and came home up 1600.00. this was the best part of my evening

We ALL should remember this... remember how bummed you were when Jerry died?? I do... Thank GOD (insert your personal God here) that Bobby still keeps playing this incredible music that has joined us all together for all this time. I don't care what they play, the fact that Bobby is still "PLAYIN IN THE BAND" after all these years is a testament to how much he loves it and us. Do you honsetly think ANY of the Original Members of The Grateful Dead are strapped for cash?? They do it for us, and I, for one am glad they do.
Keep On Truckin.
Rejoice in the Majesty of the Music
Turn off your mind, relax and float down stream...
Cosmic

THANK YOU COSMIC CHARLIE!
I was at the show and thought it was fantastic.
Who cares about the setlist. It's the music that counts and the band was on fire and enjoying every minute of it.

first time for me to see the DOG show was really smokin enjoyed myself alot would love to see them again. liked jackie alot as well

RatDog sounded real good down in AC on Saturday night...this band just gets better with time...Mark Karan's playing was the best I ever saw him play...Jeff, Kenny, Jay, Robin, and Bob were on. We got some great Dylan covers, some old GD tunes, some not as old GD tunes, some RatDog, and some cool jamming. Jackie Green was a fine opener and his playing keeps getting better...Bob joined him for a new take on Sugaree. Check out the dog when they come your way...you will not be disappointed.

Note: The volume is up at RD shows...I was 20 rows back center at this one and it was good but I was 5 rows back left at the Tower last fall and my ears were ringing for 2 days after...they may turn it up to get a good recording. The setlist was good for me...it is what Bob wanted to play and that is good enough for me.

off the hook god bless the dog

In life every action has an equal n opposite reaction... having experienced not such a stellar summer... seeing a Ratdog show and having scored a ticket virtually miracled ( a righteous deadhead brother gave me a ticket for a seven dollar slot machine voucher ticket that I found ) ...well... just kinda made my day. Thanx Ratdog for a solid performance and to the brother from NW of Philly.. for the ticket. Peace.