I admit it, I love jam bands.

The Bob Weir & RatDog show at the House of Blues brought me right back to the early 1970s when I first saw the Grateful Dead perform.

RatDog

I don’t call myself a Deadhead, but I loved them back in their heyday (and possibly my heyday as well!).  Every once in a while, I need a fix from RatDog or Further (and some of the other iterations as well) and I got that on Monday evening.

Bob Weir has been performing since he was 16 years old and shows no sign of stopping. He doesn’t say much when he’s on stage, but it’s obvious he loves to play for his fans. I loved his cropped pants and Birkenstocks!

Bob Weir

The first set was electric, other than the acoustic bass played by Rob Wasserman. During this set, the band (composed of Jay Lane on drums, Steve Kimock on guitar, Jeff Chimenti on keys, and Robin Sylvester on electric bass, in addition to Bob and Rob) played songs with which I was less familiar.

Robin Sylvester

Steve Kimock

Rob Wasserman

Jeff Chimenti

Jay Lane

I enjoyed the first set, but the second set was stellar! The set started with Bob on an acoustic guitar, Rob on the acoustic bass, and Jay playing “KC Moan”, then added Steve on an acoustic guitar for “Fever.” Wow! Here’s a video of it.

Eventually Bob and Steve returned to their electric guitars for the remainder of the show.  For “Birdsong” they brought Mike Gordon to the stage! I knew Mike was in town, and it was a great pleasure to see him perform with Bob. This a video shot by my friend.

Mike Gordon (center)

A little later in the set, they brought out Tony “Thunder” Smith, best known as Lou Reed’s drummer, to play drums while Jay moved around the drum kit playing a cymbal here and a drum there. That was fun to watch!

Tony “Thunder” Smith (sitting) and Jay

They ended the nearly three-hour show with a Bob Dylan song, “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue.” And all over, it was. 

Steve and Bob

One thing I love about shows such as this is that the crowd expresses their enthusiasm throughout the entire show. They don’t just stand and bob their heads, they move!

I hope to see them again in the not-too-distant future.

Steve and Bob

Here’s the set list which I know Deadheads always want to see:

Set 1:

Music Never Stopped
Mama Tried
Brother Esau
Easy to Slip >Supplication
Easy to Slip > Mission in the Rain
Easy Answers
Two Djinn

Set Two:

KC Moan
Fever
Friend of the Devil
Birdsong (with special guest Mike Gordon)
China Cat Sunflower >I Know You Rider
Stuff (with special guest Tony “Thunder” Smith)
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Turn On Your Lovelight
Standing on Shaky Ground
Turn On Your Lovelight

Encore:

It’s All Over Now Baby Blue