Show Review

In a recent interview, Bob Weir estimated that he's played in excess of 5,000 shows. If you estimate each show is around two and a half hours, that's some 12,500 hours on stage, or 520 days. Which basically means the graying guitarist has spent close to a year and a half of his life up there. Divide that spotlight by his tenure with the Grateful Dead, Ratdog, The Other Ones, Kingfish and Bobby and the Midnites, and it actually doesn’t seem that long.

In a very rare U.S. club show to kick off a northeast tour featuring fellow Dead co-conspirators Bruce Hornsby and Steve Miller, Ratdog loaded their 18 wheeler full of gear into South Burlington’s Higher Ground. The small venue, a revamped movie theater, is no Shoreline, and the old Dead parking lot it long gone, but the scene outside the club resembled a small Shakedown Street, much to the dismay of course to the club’s security staff.

Weir took to the stage, calling it “Ratdog alumni night,” before Matt Kelly joined the band on harmonica. Kelly had previously been a full time Ratdoger back in the mid to late 90’s, when the band was a blues outfit and featured rock n roll hall of famer, the late Johnnie Johnson on piano. Accompanied by the rest of the Ratdog crew (Jeff Chimenti (keys), Jay Lane (drums), Robin Sylvester (bass), Kenney Brooks (saxophone) and Mark Karan (guitar)), this lineup is probably more of a “band” than Weir has surrounded himself with in some time, mainly due to Sylvester's loose bass playing. With a songbook that continues to dig deeper into the Dead catalog, you can now expect any Jerry Garcia nugget alongside more customary Weir staples, “Throwing Stones” or “Estimated Prophet.”

Adjusting to the intimacy of the room, the band was in a constant battle to make the band’s theater, amphitheater and arena sound stick to the smaller elements in the mix. However, in the midst of such tunes as “Lost Sailor“ > “Saint of Circumstance,” the crowd’s energy made up for the muffled sound, as the room roared during the couplet’s transition.

Early in the night, Kelly’s harmonica playing was overdone in spots, particularly “Walking Blues,” but Brooks on the other hand displayed his sax prowess (“Picasso Moon”), where he kept his distance and presence equally apart. All came together though for the first set’s hard-charging highlight, “Odessa.”

In typical Ratdog fashion, the second set began with an acoustic opening, with tight versions of “Bombs Away” and “Masterpiece,” as well as Kelly on lead vocals for the old blues number, “Next Time You See Me.” Following “Wrong Way Feeling,” they dove head first into a run of classic Grateful Dead numbers, consisting of “Tennessee Jed” > “I Need A Miracle” > “Uncle John's Band” > “Wharf Rat” > “China Cat” > “I Know You Rider.”

Though Weir forgot the words to “Tennesse Jed,” the sing-alongs amongst this hour long plus medley delivered a tight knit club affair. Although this was clearly a warm up show, this small room performance showed Weir can still charm them on any stage…521 days and counting.

Setlist

Set 1

Jam* > Here Comes Sunshine* > Walkin Blues* > Youngblood* > Picasso Moon > This Time Forever > Shade of Grey* > Odessa* > Lost Sailor > Saint of Circumstance

Set 2

Bombs Away@* > When I Paint My Masterpiece@*, Next Time You See Me* > Wrong Way Feelin' > Tennessee Jed* > I Need a Miracle* > Uncle John's Band* > Jam > Wharf Rat > China Cat > I Know You Rider*

E: Juke* > Ripple

*-w/ Matthew Kelly (harmonica, vocals, tambourine)

@ - acoustic