On this day back in 2001, Bob Weir & RatDog played Toledo, OH’s Stranahan Theater & Great Hall, for a what was a rocking performance that showcased the band’s ability to bring it to the next level at smaller theater gigs. Opening with New Orleans staple, and oft-covered Dead tune “Iko Iko”, the band went right into super funky “West LA Fadeaway” with a nice touch from the horn section. A pretty cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird” slowed things up a bit, while “Eternity” (a Weir/Wasserman track co-written with Willie Dixon) proved the strength of this show very early on. “Scarlet > Iko Iko” gave the end of the first set a nice boost of energy leading into set break.
The Second set was a non-stop jam, highlighted by a beautiful “Picasso Moon > October Queen”, and the “Estimated Prophet > The Other One Jam > Spanish Moon Jam > The Other One” portion of the set begs for a listen in and of itself. And make sure you check out the “Bass/Drums Jam”, some pretty interesting stuff going on there. This was a solid show front to back that showed Bobby locked in with a lineup that consisted of the recently passed Rob Wasserman (bass), Jeff Chimenti (keys), Mark Karan (guitar), Kenny Brooks (saxophone), and Jay Lane (drums).
Setlist: Bob Weir & RatDog at the Stranahan Theater, Toledo, OH – 10/6/2001
Set I: Iko Iko > West L.A. Fadeaway, One More Saturday Night, Blackbird@3 > Eternity@brkj > Fever@ > Bury Me Standing@ > Scarlet Begonias > Iko Iko
Set II: Jam > Picasso Moon > October Queen > The Deep End > Even So > Hell in a Bucket > Estimated Prophet > The Other One Jam > Spanish Jam > The Other One > Bass/Drums, Jam > Standing on the Moon, Two Djinn > Corrina
Encore: U.S. Blues
[via Archive.org and Ratdog]
