Wednesday night, July 2nd in Los Angeles, CA. Everyone trying to get over the hump and into the backside slide towards the 4th of July holiday weekend. For the Grateful Dead family in LA the weekend started last night as Bob Weir, Grateful Dead guitarist, and his band RatDog kicked off their West Coast run at the Greek Theater. Joining them was Black Crowes front man, Chris Robinson and his band Chris Robinson Brotherhood.
An early start time brought Robinson and company out around 6:30pm. There was to be one CRB set followed by 2 RadDog sets. Chris and company came out to largely half empty Greek Theater. No doubt that the LA traffic and a Wednesday night caused late arrival for many. I had only seen CRB once before at the Observatory in Santa Ana, CA and I was equally entertained at the Greek as I was at that show. With Chris, you get what you expect to get. That Black Crowes unpolished edge and signature voice. The players may change but the sound is very familiar…and we like it!
CRB is Chris Robinson (Lead vocals, guitar), Neal Casal (guitar, vocals), Adam Macdougall (keys, vocals), George Sluppick (drums), and Mark Dutton (bass, vocals).
CRB Setlist, Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA 7/2/14
Hello L.A., Jump the Turnstile, Beggars Moon, Shore Power, Vibration & Light, I Ain’t Hiding, Rosalee
A quick break to hit the bathroom and the beer line and it was finally RatDog time. Having recently lost Bobby Womack, I had but one request for the evening and that was to hear “It’s All Over Now” in memory of Mr. Womack. One Bobby to another. My wish came true early in the first set. A great version of “All Over Now” followed by Weir acknowledging Womack at the end. Thanks guys, I need that! The set closed out with a welcome guest, Chris Robinson, on a “Hard to Handle” and “Lovelight”. NBA Hall of Famer and most recognizable Deadhead, Bill Walton, took his place on percussion for a large part of the first set. He was having so much fun with Jay Lane back on the kit and no one in the audience seemed to mind.
Second set took it to the next level and kicked off with a personal favorite, the Bob Dylan tune, “When I Paint My Masterpiece”. A familiar “Friend of the Devil” certainly pleased the crowd. What came next made everyone extremely happy. Playin>Lady With A Fan>Terrapin>STUFF (the Weir-less jam)>Dear Prudence>GDTRFB. Now, just Terrapin would have been OK but when they launched into STUFF, the music resembled something that I never got from old drums and space…something different. Without Weir the remaining band members pushed it just a little bit furthur (pun intended) including some stratosphere busting jams by Jeff Chimenti, Steve Kimock and Rob Wasserman. Nice to have Rob back in the mix and Chimenti never disappoints. They encored with the old stand-by “Touch of Grey” sending everyone off on a familiar and friendly note.
Ratdog Setlist, Greek Theater, Los Angeles, CA 7/2/14
I: Jam > Feel Like a Stranger > Minglewood Blues, It’s All Over Now (w/ mention of Bobby Womack), Mission in the Rain, Hard to Handle*, Turn On Your Lovelight*
II: When I Paint My Masterpiece@, Friend of the Devil@, Playin in the Band > Lady with a Fan > Terrapin > Stuff > Dear Prudence > GDTRFB
E: Touch of Grey
*-with Chris Robinson (Vocals); Bill Walton sat in on percussion
Only ”Hard to Handle”; Previous ”It’s All Over Now” 9/2/2009 [51 shows]
All in all a great night of music at The Greek Theater. The new Ratdog line-up included Steve Kimock (guitar), Jay Lane (drums), Jeff Chimenti (keys), Robin Sylvester (bass) and Rob Wasserman (upright bass).
My one and only complaint about the show was the lack of the light show you see at most shows these days. Ratdog went with a very toned down and subtle light plot of 6 movers and huge rows of old school par cans across the top. Felt like we were transported back to the late 70’s when gelled par cans were the staple of the stage light plot. Just enough to light the stage but not quite enough to make you go WOW!
Tonight Ratdog and CRB head to Santa Barbara, CA followed by Saturday in Las Vegas and Sunday in San Diego, CA. For more dates and Ratdog info, click HERE!
