Ratdog vs. Phil Lesh and Friends

Who do you like to see live better? Bob Weir and Ratdog or Phil and Friends and why?

I am going to have to say Ratdog after the last couple shows I've seen. I feel that they have a much more muscular sound and much spacier jams, which is what I like. Also I like Mark Karan as a lead guitar player.
I love phil and friends but I'm not a huge Larry Campbell as a guitar player fan. Not too big on his guitar tone and I think he plays too fast and his build ups aren't well thought out. I do love him on pedal steel though.
Both bands I love but I definitely prefer Ratdog.

How do all you other Grateful Dead fans feel?

 

Ratdog by far. I have walked out of Phil and Friends shows. I didn't mind Phil singing the occassional tune with the Dead, but as a featured vocalist, he doesnt cut it. And I think Phil and friends are not as tight as Ratdog. I think Phils Jams are long and boring with no real connection to each other. Whereas Ratdog they have grown into each other, feed off each other and each Jam is very enjoyable and tight. I no longer go to Phil shows for the above reasons. Ratdog on the other hand, Ill see a few times a year. :cheers2:

 

Yeah the boys in Ratdog have been playin together forever. I also love Ratdog originals and welcome them as much as i'd welcome any dead song.

 

Ratdog is great, but they play it way too safe. Phil and Friends and even better Phil and Phriends (or Trey) is way better. there will be moments that are un-listen-able, but thats because they follow more of the Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia approach. Ratdog sticks to, for obvious reasons, the Bob Weir approach. I love both bands, but Phil will take you places Bobby only dreams...

 

phil
by far

and i'm a big ratdog fan

phils shows are just thicker and more gooey

 

http://www.archive.org/details/rd2008-04-01.dpa4023.722.suraci.sbeok.flac16
This show is an example of how ratdog brings the funk. listen to the feel like a stranger

 

enough with the funk. funk is good, but is only one avenue of music. too many jamband fans automatically equate a funk jam with an epic one.....

 

All I was sayin was this show brings the funk, which it does. I didn't say that funk was the only part of a band that I think is important. I find funk to be only a minor part of jam music. I was just saying that that show gets funky, which is a good thing.

 

Depends on who Phil's friends are.

 

sorry, didn't mean to bite your head off. but you are one of a million people who praise "funk jams". there was the weird movement of people, in the Post Hiatus Phish days, that were so stuck on the funk, that if a show wasn't funky it sucked. and to be honest, funk is very boring. its great to have it once in a while, but i like more out there jams, not completely based on a groove....

 

I'd say Phil but im a Phil zone dead head to the left of the stage is the best crowd

 

LOL

I actually may have changed my view of Phil after this weekend. The band keeps getting better and better. All Goods Phil shows was better than any Ratdog show I've ever seen.

 

true but i was just trying to say that im a phil fan thats all....and when i go see DSO im always to the left..like where phil would be

 

saw Phil @ House of Blues last week and it was stellar....his current band is soooo freakin' good

 

Phil & friends is amazing and they get better every time i see them. ratdog on the other hand is very good, but seems like they dont evolve much.

 

True, Ratdog does not evolve on a great scale but on each tour each show gets better and better.
Jackie Green is an amazing singer/guitar player. I love him in this lineup. I cant wait to see these guys play again for GotV

 

ratdog is the shit.

they have blown my mind on more than one occasion.


but i do prefer the phil zone

 

Yo somebody listen to when push comes to shove and picture a baby dancing to it.

 

I really liked the 01ish Phil with Haynes and Herring

I caught them last in...06?? Schofield was playing then, good times.