There wasn’t much of a lot scene at Friday night’s RatDog show at the PAC — the Deadheads were sharing the parking area with the Walking with Dinosaurs crowd at the Coliseum. Fortunately, neither the quiet beginnings or the only half-full room appeared to have any effect on the musicians’ performance. Weir and crew found their stride around first set closer “Liberty,” which led into a second set segueway that included “Blackbird,” “Mexicali Blews,” “Terrapin Station,” and “St. Stephen.” Mark Karan’s guitar sounded eerily close to Jerry’s lingering leads throughout the night, and Bobby’s voice is fresh as ever. The highlight may well have been the whole room singing along to “Mississippi Half-Step’s” closing lines, “across the Rio Grand-ee-oo, across the lazy river,” a scenario repeated during the “Ripple” encore.
Here’s the full set
| I: Jam > Feel Like a Stranger > Easy Answers, She Belongs to Me, Crazy Fingers > Maggie’s Farm > She Says > Liberty |
| II: Blackbird@, Mexicali Blues@ > Corrina@ > Jus’ Like Mama Said > Mississippi Half-Step > Lady with a Fan > Terrapin > Stuff > Black Peter > St. Stephen > The Eleven |
| E: Ripple |
Note the teleprompter
