Vocalist/guitarist Bob Weir is set to lead Grateful Dead spin-off group Ratdog [ tickets ] on a short tour beginning in late October.

The trek kicks off on Oct. 27 at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago and a subsequent handful of dates--most of which are set on the East Coast--stretches into mid-November. Details are included below.

While on the road, Weir and his 10-year-old group--which currently also includes drummer Jay Layne, keyboardist Jeff Chimenti, guitarist Mark Karan, saxophonist Kenny Brooks and bassist Robin Sylvester--will treat Canadian Dead-heads with a performance at the Docks in Toronto on Halloween night (Oct. 10/31).

Weir formed Ratdog in 1995 with bassist Rob Wasserman, who is no longer involved with the group. The only Ratdog studio album is "Evening Moods," released by Arista Records in 2000.

The band started a live-CD series in the fall of 2003, making many of its past performances available on CD and as downloads exclusively via online music store MunckMusic.

Ratdog will also perform as part of the "Comes A Time - A Celebration of the Music and Spirit of Jerry Garcia" on Sept. 24 at the U.C. Greek Theatre in Berkeley. The event event--which honors the late Grateful Dead frontman, who died in 1995"--will also feature Trey Anastasio [ tickets ], Hamza el Din, Brian Godchaux, Mickey Hart, Warren Haynes, Jimmy Herring, Bruce Hornsby, Gloria Jones, Bill Kreutzmann and others.