Opening Night | Bob Weir And RatDog Kick Off Tour In Philly

Here’s something we haven’t been able to say in more than four years –Bob Weir & RatDog are currently on tour. With Furthur on hiatus, Weir has turned his attention back to RatDog. Last night, the current version of the band kicked off a 23-show tour at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia.

The band for this tour features Weir backed by guitarist Steve Kimock, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, bassists Robin Sylvester and Rob Wasserman and drummer Jay Lane. Bobby and the band came out of the gates with the fitting “The Music Never Stopped” and worked it into the RatDog debut of “Shakey Ground” by The Temptations. Weir performed “Shakey Ground” during many of his solo acoustic sets of the past few years and three times with Furthur in 2013. RatDog’s first set of tour also included takes on Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm,” the Weir/Wasserman gem “Easy Answers” and Grateful Dead classics “Bird Song,” “Cassidy” and “Weather Report Suite.”

Bobby strapped on the acoustic for a three-song string of “Friend Of The Devil,” “Peggy-O” and “Looks Like Rain” to start the second set. RatDog stretched their improvisational legs on a “Playing In The Band” > “Eyes Of The World” sequence before taking it down a notch on “Standing On The Moon.” An exploratory 15-minute take on RatDog original “Two Djinn” led into a “Not Fade Away” set closer. The group ended the tour opener with a singalong “Ripple” encore. Bob Weir and RatDog return to the Tower tonight.

Here’s the setlist from RatDog’s tour opener:

Set One: The Music Never Stopped > Shakey Ground > Maggie’s Farm > Easy Answers, Bird Song > Cassidy, Weather Report Suite Prelude/Part 1 > Let It Grow

Set Two: Friend of the Devil@ > Peggy-O@, Looks Like Rain@, Playin in the Band > Eyes of the World > Standing on the Moon > Two Djinn > Not Fade Away

Encore: Ripple

LL Rain had a false start
Only ”Shakey Ground”

[Setlist via RatDog.org]

A few fan-shot videos have surfaced thus far. Take a look at “Cassidy” via Gabrielle Cianfrani:

And here’s five minutes of “Weather Report Suite” via WRS71287: