By Andrew Keatts, What's Up? Eastern Shore Events Editor
Show dates: 4/8 and 4/9, Rams Head Live, Baltimore.
In the years since Jerry Garcia’s death, Deadheads have got their fix in a number of ways. Some settled for similar bands like Phish,Widespread Panic, the String Cheese Incident, and (though I don’t personallysee the similarities) Dave Mathews. Others relied on the efforts of remaining members of the Grateful Dead, among them The Other Ones, The Dead, Phil Lesh and Friends, and RatDog. Though too young to have ever tasted the real thing,RatDog has always been my outlet to experience the iconic band.
Lucky for me, I’m beginning to sense that RatDog front man and founding Dead member Bob Weir has targeted Baltimore as a niche market for his band, now in their 13th year together. For one, I last saw RatDog in Baltimore on the 10th anniversary of Jerry Garcia’s death. For another, the band seems to make itself comfortable in Charm City, with each stop lasting two nights. Throw in the fact that Bobby and the boys sang the National Anthem at Monday’s Orioles game and drummer Jay Lane sported a tie-dye Natty Boh shirt onTuesday night, and I’m beginning to think I’m on to something.
Monday’s show opened with quite a surprise. Common practice at “jamband” (lord do I hate that term) shows includes loyal fans guessing what the band will play to open the show. On this day, RatDog opened with “HereComes Sunshine” a Grateful Dead track that RatDog began playing in 2004. When I happened into co-worked and fellow RatDog fiend James Houk at the show, I asked if he had anticipated the opener. His response: “did anyone?!”
A personal favorite “The Music Never Stopped” came next, a welcome addition to any show for its joyful lyrics. The lyrics “The stars were spinnin’ dizzy/Lord, the band kept us so busy/We forgot about the time,” and “People joining hand in hand/While the music plays the band/Well they’re setting us on fire” are the sort that yearn to be shouted by happy concertgoers in unabashed self-reference. The first set finished with Johnny Cash cover “Big River,” an impressive version of “Dire Wolf,” and a confusing, and eventually abandoned, closer of “Birdsong.” The second set was heavily acoustic, the sort of set that fits better with a nice merlot than with a whisky on the rocks. The night ended with radio-favorite “Touch of Grey,” and an encore of Grateful Dead classic by-way-of Chuck Berry “Johnny B. Goode.”
Night two: same band, same faces in the crowd, different show. Over the course of the night I learned that this was the band’s 800th show together, an impressive number if you stop and give it a thought. Beginning with a short jam intro to “Truckin,” the band celebrated the occasion with a traditional rock n’ roll show. A three-song run of “Walking Blues,”“Ramble on Rose,” and “Catfish John” had the crowd moving, particularly highlighting guitarist Mark Karan, who recently returned to the band following a brief absence at the hand of throat cancer. “Hell in a Bucket” leading into “The Other One” was a welcome addition to a night of rock n’ roll, but couldn’t outdo the night’s strongpoint, a lengthy cover of Bob Dylan’s “Desolation Row.”
Ultimately, RatDog perked the middle of my week and satisfied my thirst for the Dead for at least a few weeks.