Anyone catch them on their recent tour ? They are coming to my hometown Portland Maine this coming Saturday night and I am thinking about going out to see them.
I was never a big Greatful Dead fan by any stretch, but I did like Weir, and Don Was is his bassist on this tour, so............
Tickets aren't cheap, so if anyone has any feedback I sure would like to hear it !
Have not seen the Wolf Bros yet but I would definitely go. I am going to the Miami show. I checked some recent set lists & he did a few Dylan covers, some good old Dead. It seems like a stripped down band version. No other guitars or keyboard, Jay Lane on drums. I have heard people say that you can really hear Weirs' guitar playing in this band as it does not get lost in the shuffle ...so to speak. Better to go and find you enjoyed it that to look back and say I should have gone! Prices seem to be right!
I am a huge dead/bobby fan, so take it with a grain of salt, but I saw the second Chicago show last fall and thought it was great. I was worried how the sound and jams would get filled out with just one guitarist, but bobby exceeded my expectations. I wish I was able to hit up the Milwaukee show later this month.
Im an old school Deadhead. First show was back in '77. Saw them with Jerry close to 300 times. Sorry, I have no interest in seeing this band. Watched and listened to a few of the shows. They have their moments, but overall the slow tempos of most of the songs, make this a snoozer for me. Save your $$ for the Stones tour.
I saw them last October and I enjoyed it. I liked the Grateful Dead a lot and I still like getting my GD fix from former band members. About 2/3 of the show came from the GD repertoire. The others were covers of other artists and one from his Blue Mountain CD. That said, you never know what you'll get on any given night.
I love the Dead and I love Bobby. Some Deadheads don't dig him as much, as made evident by t-shirts you'll sometimes see at shows ("Bobby fans are people too"), but Bobby is honestly my favorite member, no disrespect to Captain Trips. I never got the see the proper GD, but I've seen "The Other Ones" and "The Dead" a few times and I've seen Bobby's band Ratdog MANY times dating back to '02, and they've all been pretty solid shows. I'm skipping this Wolf Bros. tour because the prices are ridiculous compared to recent Ratdog tours. Some of my decision is colored by the fact that I've seen Bobby so many times, though if you've never seen him in action, I would highly recommend it.
+1 for seeing these guys. I caught them last fall in Portland, OR, and the trio format really was a great vehicle for highlighting Weir's very unique style of guitar playing. Jay Lane was great of course, and I really was impressed with Don Was on the upright bass. Super tight, and lots of feeling... I had no idea he could play like that. Probably my favorite GD related show I saw since Jerry left us all those years ago.
I would love to be joining you for this show in Portland it is about a 5 hr drive south for me (I am north of the border in New Brunswick Canada. I a big dead fan and appreciate what Bob is going for here....minimalist....letting the songs speak for themselves. Sad I am going to miss it again that will be off the hook in such an intimate venue like the State Theatre. GO!
So I went to see Weir here in Portland last Saturday night, and what an enjoyable evening ! The music was stripped down, and at times really quite spiritual. Never knew Bob Weir was as accomplished guitarist as he is. I guess he was just overshadowed by Garcia. Don Was is an EXCELLENT bass player. Played Stand up Bass and was so melodic
So, thanks for the feedback -- it helped me decide to go to the show, and boy it was just the ticket on a cold winter night here in Maine !
They did a special show in NYC the other night at the Blue Note. This was the perfect venue for this band. Keep your meat in your seat! Here is a link for the early show webcast: