Scotsman Press (NY)
April 1, 2006
by Tom Kahley
Bob Weir, the original ''ace'' rhythm-guitarist of the Grateful Dead, returned to Syracuse recently with his band Ratdog, playing to a sold-out crowd at the famed Landmark Theatre.
On what turned out to be one of the warmest days of the year, the chiming spirit of the freewheeling mass that follows Weir and his band mates from venue to venue was felt ringing throughout the blocks surrounding the exquisite concert hall hours before the show started. Around the Landmark's encompassing sidewalks, fans from all over the northeast chatted with one another, shared a beer or three with the happy-hour crowd in Armory Square and leisured in their anticipation of what turned out to be an enchanted evening of eclectic jam-rock-jazz music.
The band started off the first set with a loose blues jam to synchronize harmony with one another before segueing into ''Here comes Sunshine,'' a fan favorite from the early 1970s era of the Grateful Dead. Other highlights from act one included a dead-on version of ''Queen Jane Approximately'' - the first of three Bob Dylan covers of the night. ''Aiko Aiko,'' a traditional New Orleans zydeco-styled call and response closed the first set and left the audience in a Mardi Gras state of mind throughout intermission.
The second set kicked off with ''Jack-A-Row,'' followed by the highly political Dylan cover, ''Masters of War,'' which still seems as relevant today as when Dylan wrote it during the early stages of the Vietnam War in 1963. ''Dark Star,'' the Grateful Dead's sci-fi tour de force, hypnotized the audience as it orbited around the Landmark and ascended the collective subconscious of everyone in attendance to the highest peak of the night.
Ratdog features a well-rounded ensemble of virtuoso musicians: Bob Weir and Mark Karan on guitar, Kenny Brooks on saxophone, Jeff Chimenti on keyboards, Jay Lane on drums and Robin Sylvester on bass. All members effortlessly blend their individual style of playing music to create a hybrid of blues, folk, jazz and soul, which produces a unique sound unto itself, rendering the group genre-less.
The band was in top form from start to finish, and even after four hours of steadfast jams, the crowd still seemed to want more. Many fans are already anticipating the next stop in Syracuse while others plan to leave impatience behind and continue to follow Ratdog for the foreseeable future.
Longtime fan Matt Jones, whose apparent 7 p.m. vertigo was from what he diagnosed as ''chronic speaker shock,'' also claims to have seen the Grateful Dead more than 300 times and now follows Ratdog exclusively (he attended their last seven shows before Syracuse). He stated before the concert that, ''I do not ever want to abandon the communal spirit I experienced the first time I witnessed the Grateful Dead.'' The spirit he is referring to is what attracts many of Weir's fans to follow his current band from city to city until the tour is over, much like they did when The Dead were on the road.
Ratdog plays for the intentions of the crowd and will never stop the music as long as the fans stay on the ride.
