Bob Weir and RatDog | RatDog.Org

WOW! The guys brought down the house last night. The opening jam into Truckin was great but Brown Eyed Women really got the crowd going. Deal to close the first set rocked.

Lady with a Fan, Althea, and Tequila were all good in the second set, and Terrapin was one of the best live versions I've seen.

This was my first show at the Electric Factory and I couldn't have asked for much more.

Absolutely ridiculus--such a great show with one classic after another. The place was absolutely packed, and the energy was surging!!! Both sets were just fantastic, but the highlights were the Beatles covers--Blackbird acoustic and a funky rendition of Dear Prudence.

I got out of the cab at the EF and heard the groove of Eyes playing in the bar next door. With a 200-person line and rain, I decided to check out the band and wait for the line to move in. The band--"The Mark"--had a nice full sound and a good complement of GD and original tunes. I headed into the show at 7:45, no line... grabbed a drink at the bar and headed upstairs. I ran into a good group of people at the dead center of the venue at the rail and took my stake there for the show. The place was packed... way oversold but the crowd had energy and good vibes. Truckin kicked things off and set the tempo for the 1st set. BEW is always fun, Bobby losing it on some of the lyrics but always a good reminder of the past. Josephine > Truckin > Josephine is classic Bobby, and he was working it out through this sequence. Row Jimmy, I haven't heard that tune in years and it was nice. It's all Over Now... another classic, got the place moving again.... She Says was fun--some good lyrics tucked in there--and then into Liberty, one of the better late generation GD tunes and appropriate for Philly.... I thought that was going to close out the 1st set, then he slung back into a Truckin' jam and closed it out with Deal... always a nice set closer. The whole first set I kept hearing echos of NSB, but it never surfaced. Same chords as Truckin I suppose. All in all, a fun first set--the sound was good the band and crowd had fun. Despite the crowd, I had good access to the bar and bathroom during the set break and was geared up for set 2.

Blackbird kicked off the 2nd set... one of my favorites, short and sweet. Then into FOTD--classic GD. HRGF--got to love Dylan; the first time I heard Bobby do this one. It took me a few secs to figure it out; it was good. Silvio>Tequila kept the place groovin'--fun and jammy. Althea--nice and bouncy. Terrapin--the highlight of the show for me, with the crowd behind it. A true anthem. Then DP--always nice. OMSN rocked the place out to close the set.

The Buck Owens tribute--I have never heard A-11-- had everyone thinking "what's going on," and the TOG to close things out...okay, I am not a big fan of Bobby's version but the song always sends a good message! IMO, Bobby is sounding better now than ever. Get to a show!

A great time. Decent first set from Truckin to Liberty. The second set made the evening as Bobby brought out his acoustic guitar to play Blackbird, Friend of the Devil, and A Hard Rain. Went into Silvio/Tequila, a great bar song. They finished up with Touch of Grey, nice encore song, but a little too slow. The tribute song to Buck "Hee Haw" Owens took the starch out of the encore.

One of my friends went to the show the night before (3/24), and I have to say he was less than enthusiastic about it. He said they weren't really together, and there was a little too much meandering. After this one was over, he said it was like night and day. The three of us agreed it was one of the best shows, Grateful Dead included, that we'd ever seen. I know, that's sacrilege, but it was perma-smile great. After a brief instrumental intro that sounded like it was going into Dark Star, they blew up the crowd with Truckin'. Karan was doing this really cool variation on the intro riff. DadadaDadadaDadada.... If everyone wasn't in yet, they were by the time they rolled into Brown Eyed Women.

I'm not a big fan of the Electric Factory--overcrowded, hard to see unless you're right up front. The sis who came with us was pretty short, so we moved upstairs to get a beer and see if we could find a better spot. We did that just in time for Row Jimmy. I had noticed Bob's voice sounding a bit strained in the beginning, but now it was sounding full and rich. Another thing is that you could really feel the love in the room as the crowd was singing along. The heat came back on with It's All Over Now and stayed high all the way through Deal, which ended the set.

Coming back, they kicked off an acoustic Blackbird, which was so sweet and segued nicely into Friend of the Devil. We couldn't believe our luck, so many good songs already. That was followed by a steady Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall. The Silvio/Tequila jam is a big crowd pleaser but not one of my favorites. Somewhere in here they went into a Little Feat kind of a jam, which might have been an homage to New Orleans, or maybe they were just screwing around. Althea and Lady with a Fan were followed by an epic Terrapin. Then the second Beatles cover, Dear Prudence, nice and loud and psychedelic, closing the set with One More Saturday Night, and I don't think anyone was standing still. The encore featured a sentimental, happy Touch of Grey.

Really a great night. Everyone was blown away and telling everyone else about it. I specifically remember tuning in to each of the musicians at different times and at other times marvelling at the singular grandness of the band.

Great show. Liberty was surprising but greatly appreciated. Hard Rain was beautiful--I almost cried. Overall, a great show. The venue sucks. I hate Philly. Shakedown was ugly; it was more like Crackdown. But the show made up for it. WE LOVE BOBBY!

Night two of the Philly stand, and a well developed jam led into a Truckin' opener. This was played very well and segued beautifully into a smokin' Brown-Eyed Women. Mark Karan's solo was possibly his hottest of the weekend, and with how well he played at both shows, this is saying alot. While I felt Robin Sylvester was MVP (along with MK) of night one, Jay Lane really stepped up on night two. He was truly into the music and played with power and precision all night. Josephine followed BE Women, and this was a tad sleepy until the mid-song break when, all of a sudden, RatDog steered the jam back to Truckin'. A great moment for sure. The band then went back into Josephine to finish it up and then segued nicely into Row Jimmy. This was one the most outstanding selections performed on this evening. I wasn't expecting too much out of this one after the decidely average version at Penn's Peak the previous November, but I was pleasantly blown away by the improved performance on this song. The energy in the room was up as RatDog started up All Over Now, which in turn segued into a strong She Says, and then into Liberty. I figured the set was going to be over after Liberty, but the band surprised us with a rousing Deal set-closer.

Set 2, and a beautiful Blackbird went right into a well-played Friend of the Devil. A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall came next and Bobby and company blazed on this rendition. Excellent call by Bobby! This was followed by a great Silvio > Tequila right into an energetic Althea. Terrapin Station was RatDog's "big" song for the weekend and was well delivered. After the jam, Dear Prudence made everybody happy. This led into a crazy, blow-out Saturday Night. The band returned for a double encore of Don't Play A-11, a Buck Owens tribute, and a happy Touch of Grey. Another great weekend of music was brought to a close with everyone grinning ear to ear!! See ya in the summer!

This was one of the best Doggie shows I've seen. First set was solid if not spectacular, with Brown-Eyed Women and Row Jimmy being the highlights.

Second set was on fire. Silvio/Tequila jam was great, but they were really smoking during Althea and Dear Prudence. The bass lines during Althea were powerful. Dear Prudence was overwhelming and very soulful.

Outside the venue there was a very good Shakedown Alley, with all sorts of happy mayhem.