DJ Logic, Karl Denson, Rusted Root, Keller Williams & Ratdog

August 21, 2001

Nautica Stage

Cleveland, OH

I had the pleasure of attending the Cleveland stop of the ‘So Many Roads" Tour this past August. The tour was a Furthur-style festival that featured DJ Logic, Karl Denson, Rusted Root, Keller Williams and Ratdog in that order. I drove down from Ypsilanti on a beautiful Summer afternoon and made great time. This was my first time at the Nautica Stage, but I was so impressed by the place that I think it would have to get my vote as one of the top venues in the country. It is right on the water and has a great view of downtown Cleveland. It is tucked away between two bridges and you would never know it was there, but the setting is fantastic. I entered the place and it was not too full yet. The venue is not too large to begin with. It has a large open floor and then grandstand type seating along the edges. I took a spot at front row center and chilled out waiting for the show. Before long DJ Logic starting spinning preshow tunes. At first he just played songs and then as we got closer to showtime he actually started doing some mixing and scratching which was very cool. He did a cool thing with the Dixie Cups version of "Iko Iko" and pleased the crowd by mixing it up with some of the Dead’s "Samson & Delilah" and "Scarlet Begonias". As Logic was still scratching Karl Denson and his Tiny Universe took the stage. They started to jam along with Logic and soon Logic’s set segued right into Karl Denson’s. Logic even stayed around for the majority of KDTU’s set, skipping only a few tunes in the middle. This was my first time seeing KDTU and I was real impressed. They have the ability to play straight jazz as well as some deeply funky stuff with equal ease. Their guitar player is really cool and Mike Dillon of Critters Buggin’ was sitting in with the band for the whole tour on percussion. Karl is a great player and a dynamic bandleader. I am looking forward to seeing the Tiny Universe at a more intimate venue in the near future.

Next up was Rusted Root. This band disappeared for awhile after making a big splash with their first two albums in the mid-nineties. I always have enjoyed their first album in particular and I even saw them on one of their first tours through Chicago. I thought they sort of stagnated after that and unfortunately this show didn’t do much to change my mind. They were solid and the crowd seemed to like them pretty well, but I thought their newer material kind all sounded bland. The best tunes song in my humble opinion were "Rain" and the set closing "Ecstasy".

Keller Williams took the stage next with his unique act. He is a one-man band who just plays acoustic guitar, some bass and uses lots of loops. He would often start a song by playing the rhythm and then sampling that in a loop. Then he would lay down the bass line on a bass that was set up on a stand for easy access. Then he would return to his guitar and play the song with lots of soloing a strange vocal percussion. This was certainly interesting and came off better than I would have guessed. It worked best on a crazy, hard describe version on Van Morrison’s , "Moondance", which featured a cameo by Karl Denson on clarinet. Some of the looping and vocal theatrics did get a little busy for my tastes though and I thought the best tune of the night was a fairly straight version of Garcia and Hunter’s little known tune, "Valerie".

Ratdog hit the stage next and started off with a meandering jam that eventually led into a nice but fairly standard version of "Jack Straw". The jam after Jack Straw mutated into a long "Bird Song". Ratdog has really found lots of new places to go with this old Grateful Dead chestnut. Next up was a bluesy version of ‘"Odessa". This was a good version, but it has become a bit overplayed considering the band’s large repertoire.

Bob Weir switched to his acoustic guitar whileJeff Chimenti, Kenny Brooks and Jay Lane left the stage for a nice run-through of Lennon & McCartney’s, "Blackbird". The whole band returned for a swinging version of the tragic "Artificial Flowers" made famous by Bobby Darrin.

Everybody returned to their electric instruments for an incredible version of Garcia & Hunter’s "Mission in the Rain". This tune would have been the highlight of the night based on the playing alone, but it was aided by the surprise appearance of a huge freighter right behind the stage. As it came under the first bridge it blew it’s horn so loud that the band actually jumped because it had startled them. As soon as they figured out what it was they all stated laughing. As they jammed on "Mission" the freighter slowly passed and as it went under the second bridge it blew its horn one more time. A really cool moment I won’t forget.

Bobby next led the band through a passionate version of Little Feat’s "Easy to Slip" which became a rare, full-fledged version of "Supplication". Ratdog had been performing this old Kingfish song as an instrumental for years, but only recently did Weir once again start perfoming the vocals. He was a little unsure of the phrasing, but as he stepped up the mic and sang "Dizzy ain’t the word for the way you’re making me feel now" the crowd went wild. Chimenti, Lane and Mark Karan sang back -up as well, which sounded great. This led into a blazing version of "All Along the Watchtower" with Karl Denson sharing sax duties with regular Ratdog saxophone player, Kenny Brooks. That segued into a "Bird Song" reprise that again featured Denson playing some beautiful solos. Rob Wasserman and Jay Lane then took over for their nightly bass and drums duet. On this night Mike Dillon from Critters Buggin’ and Karl Denson band joined them on percussion and his presence brought the jam to an even higher level than usual. The rest of the band returned to the stage and the jam led into a particularly spirited version of "Throwing Stones" again with Mike Dillon on percussion. This segued into a knockdown, dragout rendition of the Buddy Holly/Grateful Dead classic, "Not Fade Away". The crowd was loving it and Ratdog along with Dillon returned one last time for their encore. They were in full Rock & Roll mode by this time and Weir’s choice of "Johnny B. Goode" was a perfect way to end the night.

It all turned out to be a great night of varied and interesting music in an incredible setting. My only complaint would be that I wish Ratdog could play longer. I am spoiled by the long double set shows I saw them play earlier this year.