Bob Weir and RatDog | RatDog.Org

Wow, what a great night and a killer show. The show was a "big truckin' sandwich" as they opened with "Truckin'" and one of the last songs of the show was "Truckin'." As usual it took about ten minutes before the sound issues got straightened out, but the music was all there. We all knew it was gonna be a long strange trip when Bobby hit those high notes perfect on the end of "Truckin'." "Senor" was epic--never expected that one. The chord changes were so deep and moving; "Row Jimmy" brought on the tears as I remembered the smiles that this song brought to Jerry's face. "Loose Lucy" lit up the room as those first notes came shooting out--what a fun song. Mark broke a string on his Stratocaster so he got his Angus Young guitar out in the beginning of this song. I think I'm still dancing to it, hah.

Second set was very deep and every song was exemplary. "Me and My Uncle, Desolation Row, Prophet, The Wheel, Wharf Rat, Throwing Stones, Not Fade Away." What's not to like?? Encore of US Blues was just a damn good, fun time. Excellent show, just awesome. Wouldn't take it back for anything.

Okay, so I flew home for the weekend from UC-Boulder just to see The Dog, and although it was well worth it, there were some aspects of the show that weirded me out. The Truckin' start was fantastic, and for the first three or four songs it was cool to see Bobby and the boys motioning to Charucki to adjust the mix. It really came together eventually, but at first the mix just wasn't right. I liked the OSU colors Bobby had on; always seems to change his getup here in Ohio.

The security at the newly named LC Community Center is much worse than it was when it was named Promowest. I think Bobby was even looking at me when this sixty-or-so-year-old security guard threatened to kick me out for smoking a joint. Bad vibes all around, and the first set seemed plagued by me worrying about missing the rest of the show, so I stopped smoking, which was not a cool thing to happen.

I won't even touch on the music, because it was awesome; great selections although some were played at the same venue the last time they rolled through town. Minus a sweet Lucky Enough, the whole show was very Dead oriented. Great Truckin' reprise and then Stones, Fade Away. Know our love will not fade away. Then he went back into it and of course the obvious US Blues, which I believe contained many flubbed lyrics, which makes the show even better. Nice work Bobby, come to Boulder please.