This was occurring the same time as Katrina was devastating New Orleans, so there was an incredible rain storm happening with intense wind during this show. Did it stop Bobby and the boys with Bruce Hornsby and the Noisemakers from putting on a good show? Hell no!
I had a great seat, it was under the sheltered area ( not on the lawn for a change!), so we kept relatively dry. The sound was incredible! Bruce came out and did his set, which was tremendous, although I wanted him to play Spider Fingers...he didn't.
When Ratdog came on stage it was a typical Bobby event, with the usual warm up, then into the songs. When they played Loose Lucy, the crowd sang in unison. You can't hear it on the recording, but the electricity was kinetic amongst the crowd. To say we had a real good time is cheapening the experience, we had a fuckin' Grate time!
I love the inclusion of horns within the standard Dead songs, it adds a jazz feel to the vibe, and the vibe was there that night!
I'm not gonna review song by song, but I will say that when they kicked into Eyes Of The World, the atmosphere was so laid back, we all wanted the show to stretch through the night, but knew it couldn't.
This was an outstanding show by Bobby and Ratdog, joined on When I Paint My Masterpiece by Bruce Hornsby.
Between the wind and rain, they created magic on stage, and it'll be in my memory for the remainder of my life!

After catching some of the best Ratdog performances I had ever seen during their spring '05 tour (those of you who were were at those shows know what I'm talking about: absolutely amazing), this night was quite a disappointment. I never want to hear Feel Like a Stranger>Fly Like an Eagle EVER again. What a joke. Bruce Hornsby opened up this show and played easy listening music for what felt like three hours. My party favors kicked in early, and a lot of good trip was wasted on his godawful performance. Definitely the Horsby set was one of the worst concerts I have ever been to, and that includes my Peter Noone and Davy Jones '60s Teen Idols Tour experience...

Ratdog played a decent show, but it was definitely an off night comparatively. They made it up to me in '07 by playing some killer shows with Steve Kimock, but after that, things went downhill. Bobby's birthday bash at the Tower Theater included four Dylan covers and volume levels that made me deaf for three days after the concert. If I ever run into the sound guy from that show, I'm going to kick his ass. I do miss RD, but Furthur is much better.

Great recording taper.

@Estimated - sorry for sounding a little whiny, but I felt ripped off at the Tower Theater show. The volume was so loud and distorted that the band sounded like one big mushy blast of sound. Perhaps you were sitting in a better part of the theater. I was just to the right of center stage about 20 rows back. There was no level control or separation of the instruments, and the vocals were totally drowned out. If you remember, the announcer bragged that the "Tower Theater has the best fuckin' sound quality" of any theater. Well it was totally ruined by a dumb ass sound man. Everyone in my section and everyone I spoke with at the lot agreed. When it comes to Ratdog shows, I am not hard to please, but that night was just a horrible mistake. (~):-}

I enjoyed this show. Maybe it wasn't as memorable as others, but after seeing many shows that doesn't hold a lot of water. I am happy to get a copy of show at all----remember folks, those who were there will remember that soundboard recordings were not sold at this show.

So thanks for taping and posting show---some people can't be pleased no matter what. To complain about shows from 2009 for a 2005 review is just not right. Being at the Tower shows myself, I had a blast (It was Bobby's b-day) and he's gonna say the sound was too loud or whatever. IMHO---I have never been to a bad show (dead related)---REMEMBER THIS KIDS : The worst shows are still better then most bands best shows !!!!!