RatDog (originally billed as RatDog Revue, and earlier Friends of Montezuma, Weir/Wasserman, and Scaring the Children) was formed in 1995 as a side project of Bob Weir and upright bassist Rob Wasserman.
The project originally grew out of acoustic duo and trio work that Weir and Wasserman had been performing together since 1988. In April 1995, they expanded into a full band to tour during the Grateful Dead’s off-season. They played their first show as RatDog on August 8, 1995. Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia died the next day and soon the Grateful Dead disbanded, RatDog pivoted from a casual side project into Weir’s primary touring group for the next two decades. They developed a celebrated, jazz-infused, and improvisational approach to the Dead’s catalog, covers, and original material.
