18: 1968-08-28

10:49 133762
Avalon Ballroom

Intro is very slightly cut. Main theme at 1:36. First verse at 2:03. Main theme, sort of hinted, at 4:59 before verse melody at 5:04. Main theme at 8:57. Second verse at 9:20. Goes into St. Stephen.


Even more compact than the last one, but this is full of riches for those willing to peer through the murk! LIA is fairly dismissive of this one, but I think that the poor sound quality is, as it must, influencing him; I wasn't that impressed with it either when I listened to it a few weeks ago making my way through 1968, but doing this project forces me to listen really closely every time, which if nothing else is ample justification for doing this! I wouldn't call this a standout version, but if we had a really clear recording I think we'd all agree it's worthy. Dark Star has come a long way since January, and even though this one isn't really a step forward, it's not a step back either--like 8-24, it's a somewhat compressed version (now that 8-21 and 8-23 have flashed what a little stretching can do) but it has some power.

LIA identifies an "early version [of Sputnik]" here, which is ambiguous, because by "early version" he could mean a proto-Sputnik, and that's indeed what I would call this (6:23).

Some nice soloing by Garcia prior to the verse, with a beautiful run beginning at around 1:20 that winds up alluding to both the Bright Star theme and the verse melody. After the verse, Garcia begins with the figure that was standard in early 1968 (I think @Mr. Rain pointed this out on the last one, too?). From around 4:40 listen to Phil ascend and slow his line down, which makes a very effective foil for the busier stuff Garcia is doing. Really elegant fast descending run by Garcia around 5:27. Proto-Sputnik at 6:23. At 7:38 Garcia starts playing some low, angry licks, and then he drags the tempo a little for emphasis; meanwhile, the band seems to darken and intensify the music. This effect could be heightened by the poor sound quality; on the other hand, AUDs can sometimes be revealing of effects that are more subtle on a SBD. The crowd whoops in appreciation at the end of this sequence, in any case, so it seems like a genuinely powerful moment.


What was said:

For those who track such things, Garcia has an interesting mixup in the first verse lyrics, singing "glass hand dissolving, recedes in the nights of goodbye" as the last line. Second verse has correct lyrics.


I thought you'd be trashing 8-28-68 since it's only a fair audience tape! (But the davmar77 transfer is way better than the older copies, which helps.)
I agree that it's a nice version, not really outstanding but it has that Dark Star sparkle, it floats along quite pleasantly, worth hearing repeatedly.
The audience tape is pretty good for 1968, and you can hear what the band really sounded like in a nice hall -- Pigpen's organ is quite clear (except when Jerry's turned up), as are the cymbals & gong. Bob's guitar is the quietest, as was usually the case! Jerry dominates everyone, the loudest in the room.
Pigpen's riff seems to drift in and out (depending how loud the others are), a nicely psychedelic effect....heard like this it doesn't seem so distracting or metronomic. Phil once again plays like Jerry's twin.
One neat thing about the main jam (like all of them now, I guess, but especially apparent on an audience tape) is how the band uses dynamics, with Jerry changing tones at key points for effect (like see 5:45 and a couple of the moments you mentioned). That's definitely a proto-Sputnik at 6:23, probably more so than the earlier hints since Jerry takes it out farther for some 30 seconds, but the rest of the band isn't doing anything with it yet. Just Jerry with the volume knob briefly after 8:00 as Archtop points out, he doesn't make much use of that effect at this point.
This is kind of a condensed version, Jerry seems to be hurrying things up a little here. As far as familiar lines, notice that before both verses, he heads straight from the theme into the verse instead of doing that bass lick that he'd been doing. (But we haven't heard the last of it, he plays it again on 9-2.) And also, after the verse, instead of playing that start-of-solo figure three times in descending notes, he just plays the first lick before launching off.
P.S... It's been said on this forum before how in early Dark Stars the band aren't truly improvising so much as jamming around familiar composed points. But my impression so far is that this is overstating the Dead's method: the familiar themes so far are few and not played for that long. Jerry & co. aren't going "out there" yet in the jamming, it's still fairly linear and sticks to the song base, but Jerry at least is playing newly improvised lines about 80% of the time already in these Dark Stars. But he and Phil are the only ones really doing that in '68. The destination points in the jam are always the same....it'll be a long time before the Dead take one Dark Star someplace totally different than the previous one.


Another more compact version as has been stated but still good overall; I like it quite a bit actually. There’s an intense moment from Jerry (conveying power as opposed to nuance) from 7:38 to 7:52 that gets an audible “woo!” from the crowd. *
It takes a few listens to adapt to the recording but the magic still manages to make it through. This also adds a little otherworldliness to the proceedings, as if we are getting a brief glimpse into another realm. Although as with with audience recordings from any era, that realm appears to have some people chatting away at certain points that you’d think would’ve been riveting in the moment.



* "7:38 to 7:52 that gets an audible 'woo!" and there was a great peak a minute and a half earlier, leading into 6:30, Jerry and Phil really coming together, but no woos for the melodic interplay.
I'm starting to consider the Organ Riff to be a part of the percussion. He does use the organ 'percussion' settings for the sound. What model organ is he using on tour at this point? And I like the way it fades in and out of this audience tape and that's obviously the way it was supposed to be heard! I don't hear the guiro/scratchy thing so much on this one, whew.