[st stephen]

p&F has gotten a lot better, and his current lineup has a nice sound. Jackie green has a great voice, and molitz is a unique player. I saw about 7 of the shows at the nokia and glens falls with trey and the last night at teh nokia was the best for me by far. Take a listen and i gurantee you will at least say that they were on and it was a good show. I dont think anything Phil or Bobby does these days is EPIC, by any strecth but i dont expect that when i go to a show anymore.

Bobby is hit or miss for me. I saw him twice last year at the beacon and it was good but yes very slow versions and his singing really annoys me sometimes. Its like he is saying it and not singing it, and some versions get a bit cheesey...but hey it is bobby.

In response to the first post, it was the first show of the tour and Karans first night back as a full time member after a leave from cancer. So lets give them a little time to heat up. But yes i feel like they are always on ludes.

I have thursday and friday at the Beacon, i am looking forward to it, but not expecting greatness.

[warrenMFKNhaynes]

It seems like every goes to bobby because...its bobby (my opinion)

Ratdog and P&F just show how much jerry could carry the dead from a jam back into a chorus, or one song into another. They seem lost without him.

I hear all this stuff like "you just don’t know how to make the best out of something." I’m sorry, but if I don’t think it sounds good I’m not going to act like its the grateful dead again and dance like a madman in the Phil zone.

in my eyes, the only one who does jerry songs justice is warren, not Phil, not bobby, not DSO.

I've never paid to see any of them (except at festivals) and I don’t plan on doing so.

[CountryMile Cadillac]

Why go to a show with that kind of attitude? You will never enjoy anything if you give it expectations which you know will not be met.

I bet you were a drag to be near at the show.

Quite bitchin, and enjoy it for what it is.

[CountryMile Cadillac]

And oh yea, Warren does nothing except Blues Bars justice....

[warrenMFKNhaynes]

listen to warrens stella blue, standing on the moon ect.

[CountryMile Cadillac]

I have

[Emoto]

listen to warrens stella blue, standing on the moon ect.

I agree that Warren brings a great depth of emotion to a song. I really liked it when he was in Phil's band. I caught them one night at the Orpheum in Boston on a 4th row scalped ticket (just from a guy whose buddy bailed on him at the last minute, so I paid face value and sat next to the guy who sold it to me) and they did a Soulshine, and I have to tell you that Warren took the roof off with his solo. It wasn't the good old Grateful Dead, but it had good and special magic. I do not say that lightly, either. I think Phil has possession of some part of the big magic from the old days, but needs special people to bring it out. That one night, for that solo, it was there. You know it when you feel it.

I think Phil's bands really cook sometimes. If you can step back a bit and not be constantly comparing it with the GD as you listen (admittedly a tall order) you can enjoy some damn good music. It is NOT the GD and nothing ever will be without Jerry, but Phil gets the jams simmering and I do enjoy that, even if that special "X Factor" magic isn't there anymore except for rare glimpses in brief moments.

But, I digress...

[pmonk66]

I saw the March 8, 2007 Beacon Show and I thought Weir showed some life during the show. I remember at one point he was very animated during the Estimated Prophet > The Other One.

Certainly a different vibe during the Central Park show that summer and just loved how Weir was using hand signals in directing the band.

Al-in-all, I always enjoy Ratdog shows!

[IamDocWatson]

I just saw them 2 days ago at the O'Shaughnessy Auditorium In Minnesota

I: Jam > Truckin > Loose Lucy, Senor, Crazy Fingers > Big Boss Man, Lucky Enough, Jus' Like Mama Said > Tomorrow Never Knows

II: Dark Hollow@5, Me and My Uncle@4, Corrina@, Althea > Iko Iko > Stuff > Standing on the Moon > Throwing Stones > Not Fade Away
E: GDTRFB

Honestly it was pathetic, the Me and My Uncle was way too slow, he was forgetting the words to senor (a great Dylan song that jerry made even better) along with others

And the standing on the moon was terrible too. A great jerry ballad and he butchered the lyrics and basically talked through the whole thing...

I watched Phil at Langarado live on iClips.com. It was so much better than bobby, Jackie Greene is not bad, they got the Casey Jones rollin pretty good.

Here comes the bashing… im a rukind rebel.
lol

well if the speed of me and my uncle suprised you u must not have ever seen ratdog...thats how they always play it, its not the 80's anymore.

and your lack of enthusiasm for mark karans return from cancer treatment also shows your not that into the band....so

i wouldnt say they sucked, as i was there also...but more likely you are not into ratdog, and more into the in your face music of govt mule...which is just fine, but just try not to be so harsh on a band you know nothing about

[st stephen]

wow!! IamDocWatson....oh sit!!!!!!!!

[Hunkle]

I have to agree with Mr.MFukinHaynes. I saw Ratdog last Nov. in Albany and left disappointed. Then I saw Neil Young a couple of weeks later and he blew me away! There is sooo much better music out there - please seek it out and not relegate yourselves to nostalgia acts like Ratdog.

[strumminsix]

This thread cracks me the fuck up. Seriously...

If the internet woulda been around in the 80s/90s and people were blasting Jerry for fucking up badly or frequently people would be going nuts.

Everyone who thinks Ratdog is this or that needs to realize RD is what it is and like or lump it get over it. Bobby is not trying to do a GD replacement band. He's breathing new life into songs he loves and we love.

Personally I think his sound is very much like morph between: GD & Ace & LOM & Midnights & Bobby & Psychedelia!

People hate the 'Dog cuz they don't have a screaming lead guitar up front and in your face all the time. Thank God they don't a nice change and a real break-away from the norm.

This format is so similar to the style Jerry had with LOM it's almost eerie.

[willmusic]

Good call, Strumminsix! Couldn't have said it better myself. Their lack of in ur face guit noise leaves more room for the rest of the band to shine IMO.

[warrenMFKNhaynes]

[quote="strumminsix"]People hate the 'Dog cuz they don't have a screaming lead guitar up front and in your face all the time.quote]

jerry didnt have a screaming lead guitar up front in your face all the time...

[Dozin]

People hate the 'Dog cuz they don't have a screaming lead guitar up front and in your face all the time.

jerry didnt have a screaming lead guitar up front in your face all the time...

WHAT? Jerry always had a presence no matter what was being played.