The Santa Barbara show by RatDog and the Chris Robinson Brotherhood had a very different vibe that the previous night at the Los Angeles Greek Theatre.
First of all, there was no ‘Shakedown Street/Parking Lot Scene’ because there was, well, no parking lot. One of the prices to pay for seeing a concert at an intimate venue is having to park on side streets and take a little walk.
As with the night before, the Chris Robinson Brotherhood started to a very receptive but thin audience. The early showtime start (5pm) on a weekday contributed to that, as probably did the start of the holiday weekend traffic.
If you like the Black Crowes, you’ll definitely have no problem liking this band. They have that same type sound, and definitely play a strong set. I’m surprised they don’t have more of a following in Southern California. That may be due to the fact that they don’t play that many shows here, though.
Eventually, the Santa Barbara Bowl filled up, but, again, not the same way that the Greek gets filled up. First of all, it’s a smaller venue, and it being Santa Barbara, there aren’t as many pushy L.A.-types. I could walk around freely on the floor without any sort of a problem during the intermission. Secondly, the people that are in charge of the venue take great care to solve any issues that arise: Loud belligerent drunk people, fans trying to sneak up front; more than once, I saw security escorting someone outside the arena and overhearing the guard saying something like, “I told you that you couldn’t get down to the floor”…
Bob Weir and Ratdog hit the stage at that perfect time of day when the sun is just setting, it’s not too hot and the lights look just right.
Starting out with an intro that helped iron out some initial equipment difficulties, the band opened with “The Music Never Stopped”. Always a crowd pleaser and it definitely did get everyone on their feet and dancing right away.
The followed that up with the Bob Dylan classic, “She Belongs To Me”. This has always been one of my favorite songs that the Grateful Dead performed, and after hearing Weir sing it, I’m hoping that Ratdog plays it fairly often.
The Merle Haggard song, “Mama Tried” that came next was a bit different of an arrangement that slowed the pace back down, but when Chris Robinson came out to finish the set by singing an amazing “Sugaree” (trading lines with Weir throughout the song) and “Deal”, the audience was ready for a little intermission. Chris definitely knows how to work an audience with Ratdog helping him along.
The highlight of the second set was a slow, lazy, loose version of the most definitive Grateful Dead song ever written: Dark Star.
As the momentum built toward that ONE guitar line that every deadhead lives to hear, the crowd’s intensity kept getting higher with anticipation.
The light show helped.
It did not disappoint. It lasted probably about 20 minutes before building to the frenzied crescendos of “The Other One” then going back into “Dark Star” and eventually getting to a beautiful, heartfelt, soulful version of the Robert Hunter-penned Garcia/Grateful Dead song “Standing On The Moon” – I honestly felt some shivers during the last part of that song.
The show wound up with a pretty decent Johnny B Goode (Chuck Berry), and then ended with another Robert Hunter-penned tune, “Liberty”.
One thing that was different about Santa Barbara vs Los Angeles: Almost everyone stayed until the end of the show. There was no mad rush to get out of a parking lot.
It looked to me like everyone left looking pretty happy.
7/3/2014 Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, CA
I: Jam > The Music Never Stopped, She Belongs to Me, Mama Tried, Jus’ Like Mama Said, Sugaree*, Deal*
II: K.C. Moan@+, Corrina@+, Jam+ > Dark Star+ > The Other One+ > Dark Star+ > The Other One+ > Stuff+ > Standing on the Moon+ > Johnny B. Goode+
E: Liberty
*-with Chris Robinson (Vocals); +-with Phil Salazar (Fiddle)
(Chris Robinson Brotherhood opened)
