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December 5, 2005
Ratdog on tour - instant live CDs
On a more positive note, Bob Weir talks in the Denver Post about the current state of his band, Ratdog, and their success in selling CDs of their gigs that the fans can order at the venue and pick up on their way out of the show - "a better concert memento than the $40 T-shirt," writes Ricardo Baca.
Weir offers one cranky observation:
"All of this has given rise to a phenomenon I'd like to discourage," RatDog frontman and improvisational music legend Bob Weir said from the road last week. "You work, as a singer or bandleader, on getting everything toward a featured ballad that typically comes toward the end of the show. It's supposed to be quiet - but then some dude lets out a piercing (expletive) whistle."He's already ordered his disc at the beginning of the break, and he just wants to be able to say, 'That was me! You remember that?' And it's wrong. It's not happening quite so much this tour, so maybe they've already got their piercing (expletive) whistles on tape."
(Of course, people have been screaming and whistling during the quiet moments for decades. But still.)
Weir has good things to say about the state of the band, and I heartily concur. I've seen them a few times this year and listened to quite a few of their shows on CD, and I am delighted with the progress Ratdog has made since Robin Sylvester joined on bass. Here's Weir:
...the interlude jams and stuff like that get to the point a little quicker because we know how to intuit each other better than ever. There's less rambling and more improvisation.
He goes on to acknowledge that they are in need of some new material and notes that the next "studio" album will likely be recorded on tour - "we have the technology to do that, what with Pro Tools and a laptop, a few extra hard drives and the quality mics we carry around."
With all the ugly shit that's going down in Deadland regarding the archive and all that, it's good to remember that they are fine musicians. Weir is making fiine music with Ratdog, and that still matters, goddammit.
Posted by gans at December 5, 2005 7:27 AM
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Comments
Who cares about Ratdog now that we know who the real "Bobby Weir" is- I just feel bad about his children - what kind of values is he teaching them?
Posted by: David Rudolph at December 5, 2005 8:28 AM
Oh, for Christ's sake.....
http://knockinonthegoldendoor.mu.nu/archives/140835.php
Posted by: Mark at December 5, 2005 6:20 PM
Thank you, Mark.
It's a complicated, unfortunate, and really sad situation. Since this mess started on November 22, the GD people have told three or four different stories, hung each other out to dry, given their hapless publicist whiplash trying to stand behind a story that changes almost daily - while on the other side of the table, the far fringe of the Deadhead community has behaved like Bill O'Reilly after a three-week crank binge ever since the first hint of the slightest ripple in their music supply. And some of those dipshits haven't found the time to listen to half the stuff they've already accumulated.
Weir blew it on the air last week, for sure. Doesn't mean his children are going to grow up twisted, for fuck's sake.
Posted by: David Gans at December 5, 2005 7:00 PM
"Communication SNAFU" indeed..The Grateful Dead always communicated with their fans (without verbally saying much) inside the arena..Why is it so hard to do it outside the arena? It sure would cut down on the massive amounts of speculation, rumors and endless discussions...Kinda makes a head wonder if whoever is captaining the ship can even see through the fog...I could care less about not being able to download soundboard recordings from the archive I have plenty already it's the lack of SOLID communication from the band that gets to me. Those rumors about there being riffs within finally seem to be oozing out into the mainstream and it is polluting the waters indeed. I'm not going to boycott anything and I will still go see any of them when they come close enough but I have to say, those comments that Bob made on the radio sure did feed the fire that they seem to be trying to contain. I felt a bit of a sting from it and I am a die-hard! It's the integrity factor for me. It's kinda like letting a ten year old dog sit on the couch all of his life and then one day you decide that he can't sit on the couch anymore and every timet he tries to jump up there you make him get down and he just cannot seem to figure out why. If GDP needs the money to keep what's left going then all they had to do was come out as a whole and say "Look folks, things have drastically changed around here and we need more revenue and in order for us to keep this bus rolling for everyone (including the fans) we are going to have to do something a little different now and take control over our legacy in order to keep our life long business afloat." Had they done something like that I think (most) people would have better understood and supported them but when you have two guys saying one thing, one guy barely saying another and one guy saying nothing then we are only left to think that even they aren't together on this and that sucks. All I want is for them to be alright with each other. I don't want to see money to destroy the one group that set the precedent of what a "music community" so strongly stands for. They are the pioneers of this shit and it seems that even they are falling victim to the almighty dollar. Do they deserve the money? Absolutely but if that is what this is all about just come out and say it. I personally would understand. It's 2005 Maaaan. All most people want is just a little honesty from our founding fathers. I think we deserve THAT much after all of these years. I could care less about the Archive ordeal. I just don't want to see their whole legacy tarnished this way.
Posted by: Nate at December 6, 2005 1:56 AM