Bob Weir and RatDog | RatDog.Org

The real musicians weren't at the Grammy's Sunday; they were at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. This is as close to a good Ole Grateful Dead show as you'll ever get in an small venue. I got real close to the stage as the vibe in the crowd was good, as most sang and danced through both sets including what I thought to be a great longer than norm first set.

I know the set list might look a little generic but it was not.The famililar songs always seem to take a new turn. Mark's drippy riffs fit like a glove. Nice sax Kenny, love the silver one's tone. Bobby's slide is increasingly polished. Yeah he's still working on it, and he doesn't seem to strain his voice, sometimes a problem by the third consecutive show.

The whole band obviously is striving to improve and evolve instead of just going through the motions. From some soft Dylan,to Jerry (Peggy-O reminds me of Garcia) a side of Kingfish--well kinda with Big Iron. A sing-along during Samson, Terrapin, and a very ballsy Corrina among many others. As a side note for those that care, the Hindu Kush that floated through the air was as sweet and complex and powerful as the music.

Thank you Ratdog for helping Bridget and me celebrate our wedding anniversary. She Belongs to Me, Peggy-O, and Corrina were nice love songs for us to share. Corrina is now one of my favorites and I wonder why I was always happy to avoid it on Dead tour. I was happy some of the more obvious Vegas songs were not played (Deal, Loser etc.)

The HOB does not let you smoke and some of the staff were a bit overzealous. There were more than a few drunk tourist non heads in the house. Bobby seemed to make them happy with a nice Touch of Grey.

Overall a good show. I will download it because it was a special night for us more that anything else. See you for one or two out east!

I drove all the way up to this show from Phoenix to be told no taping was allowed!! That was very disheartening. Please Bobby, NO MORE HOUSE OF BLUES shows! On a lighter note, the show was solid, the highlight of the first set being the first Mama Tried. Nice Terrapin in the second set, and a surprising At a Siding>Terrapin Flyer encore.

So after three days of heavy partying in Vegas, we get into the HOB and set up about 3/4 of the back on the floor in front of Kenny. And away we go . . .

RatDog jumps right into Here Comes Sunshine, no opening jam and plow right on into a rockin Minglewood that started to get the place jumping. Good vibe from the crowd starting to develope from were I was on the floor. A beautiful She Belongs (everyone knows I love the Dylan songs) into the first time played Mama Tried. I was going nuts now, dancin' and having a ball. Slow up a bit for Crazy Figers (seemed a bit "off"), but I was right back into it when Jeff started his piano intro for Lucky Enough (this is my traveling companions fav RD original, so she was happy). A high energy duo of WWF and Playin were next, followed by a set ending grate Samson, which starts out mellow with Bobby on tamborine and works it's way into an all out jam.

The set two Big Iron opener featured some grate work by MK on lead and was folowed by a nice Peggy-O. The energy level from the end of set one came back with the Corrina (Bobby was feeling this one) and again some nice leads by MK during the Shade Of Grey. Plesently surprised by the excellent versions of Lady>Terrapin into a Stuff that was the best I think I've ever witnessed in person with guest drummer (Nick Rich?) beatin' the crap out of the kit. A very sweet Knockin' (love the Dylan) into a super high energy Playin' reprise. Ended the set with the always crowd pleasing TOG.

Was hoping for an up tempo encore and we got it with a smokin' hot At A Siding>Terrapin Flyer. A very fun night and combined with the rest of the weekend, certainly worth the trip from Philly. See Ya All Back East!

Friday was science, Sunday was art!. The band handled all the surprises and played a show that will be in my player for a long time. Each band member showed their talents and the crowd was definitely appreciative of the talent.