No Rest for Ratdog

No Rest for RatDog

What a long, strange trip band took to Friday show
Saturday, March 03, 2007
By Mark Bialczak
Staff writer

Question: How do you crank up the heat on an already steamy RatDog concert?

Answer: Have singer-guitarist Bob Weir lead his band into one of the classic songs from the Grateful Dead.

Still in full winter beard as RatDog took up the touring torch after a two-week break on Friday night at the Landmark Theatre in Syracuse, wise man Weir ended the first of two sets by directing RatDog into the golden goodie "Scarlet Begonias."

His band mates responded with love and affection for the song that Weir, Jerry Garcia and mates made famous.

Weir sang clear and true, "She wore scarlet begonias tucked into her curls. I knew right away she was not like other girls," as Mark Karan carried the lead on guitar, Robin Sylvester thumped on bass, Jeff Chimenti worked the keyboards, Jay Lane walloped the drums and Kenny Brooks stood ready with his saxophone.

And the crowd went crazy.

Already on their feet and dancing since the moment RatDog started the set jamming into "Help on the Way," the happy hippies that remembered Weir from the 1960s on and the new breed that's adopted RatDog as the official keeper of the torch for that special blend of folk, rock and roots music let out an audible "aaahhhh" and raised the emotional ante.

Weir and the band seemed as happy as their fans, and the smiles were definitely because of their chemistry playing music.

They had endured a nightmare flying from California to the East Coast on Thursday night. The ice storm forced their pilot to divert their plane to Harrisburg, Pa., from where they bused through the night to Syracuse. And as they took the stage at 8 p.m., their luggage had yet to catch up with them.

No matter. All seemed well as Weir led them through a stew of RatDog songs ("She Says," "Odessa" and "Tuesday Blues") Bob Weir songs ("Supplication"), Jerry Garcia solo songs ("Bird Song") wonderfully selected covers, and, of course, a Grateful Dead favorite or two ("Peggy-O").


In the first set, they paid tribute to the Rolling Stones with "It's All Over Now." Weir and mates took the 1964 song and turned it country, brimming with twang and bite.

In the second set, the cover spotlight shined on Bob Dylan, and Weir wonderfully and triumphantly spit out all of Dylan's complicated lyrics in "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall."

Weir stands as the unconditional leader onstage, proud at front and center and quick to use hand signals to direct the rest of them where he wants them to go musically in his vision of the song at that moment.

But one reason RatDog has become such a solid member of the jam music scene - the band sold out the Landmark despite playing in Central New York five times in the past four years - is because Weir isn't afraid to let the other musicians stretch themselves out, too.

Karan's tasty guitar, Sylvester's jazzy/funky bass, Chimenti's honky-tonk keyboards, Lane's sturdy percussion and Brook's spicy sax all add special textures to RatDog's repertoire, no matter the song source.

Mark Bialczak can be reached at mbialczak@syracuse.com or 470-2175. His blog "Listen Up" is at

http://blog.syracuse.com/listenup/
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SETLIST:
03/02/07 ~ Landmark Theatre - Syracuse, NY

Setlist
I: Jam > Help on the Way > Slipknot! > It's All Over Now > She Says > Bird Song > Odessa > Book of Rules > Supplication Jam, Tuesday Blues > Scarlet Begonias
II: Peggy-O, Big Iron, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Jam > Althea > Ashes and Glass > Stuff > To Lay Me Down > Bird Song (reprise) > Throwing Stones > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower
E: Johnny B. Goode

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Remembering Jerry Garcia

By Karen Dandurant
kdandurant@seacoastonline.com


RYE -- Get out your autograph book, because the Seacoast will be the location for a movie about those who love Jerry Garcia.

"Losing Jerry" is based, in part, on a true story. When Garcia died on Aug. 9, 1995, Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir and his band, Bob Weir, Rob Wasserman and Ratdog, were playing at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom. Thousands of Seacoast "Deadheads" flocked to the Casino for a candlelight vigil.

The film will be co-produced by Mark Constance and Tracey Becker. Mitch Ganem is the writer/director. The production company is Terrapin Station Films.

"The movie is about three friends whose love of the Grateful Dead brings them together," said Constance. "The characters are a compilation of Mitch's friends, because he's a big Deadhead. The movie culminates on the night Jerry died."

Constance said the film will bring millions into the local economy: About 40 percent of the film's budget will be spent here.

"We need cars, hotels, supplies, groceries and lumber," he said. "We'll eat at restaurants and bars, go to movie theaters and use caterers. We'll be here four months with people from all over the country and world. If they are not from here, they are not flying back and forth every day. They'll be here."

Matt Newton, film specialist for the New Hampshire Film and Television Office, worked to facilitate production and bring the film into the state. His office supports film makers in the state.

Newton said his office does not have the final budget numbers yet, but he said the film is one of the larger the state has seen in a long time.

The film will be shot on the Seacoast and in Manchester. Constance said he and his crew are tying up details and hope to begin "very soon."

"We are casting now," he said. "We're waiting for a couple of pieces to fall one way or the other before rolling out a major announcement. We're based out of the Seacoast now, but it's a spread-out process. I'm here. Tracey is in L.A., and Mitch is in New York."

They are looking for a studio banner -- a major studio to lend its name to the film. The Grateful Dead Corp. licensed 25 songs to the studio for a soundtrack, and the stars will be known.

"I want people to look and say, Whoa, he's in the movie," he said. "Local people can be extras. We'll be releasing to major theaters.

"My goal is to bring more and more filmmaking to New Hampshire. I love driving to work instead of hopping on a plane."

THE PRODUCERS Tracey Becker, co-producer of "Losing Jerry," is a former stage actress. She was a producer on the movie "Finding Neverland." Writer and director Mitch Ganem is from Wolfeboro and now lives in New York. This is his first foray into film as a director. Co-producer Mark Constance grew up on the Seacoast, moved to L.A. in 1989 and returned in 2001. He did a film in New Hampshire called "The Sensation of Sight."