46. 1969-03-15

28798 San Francisco 20:30
Main theme at 4:35.
Main theme at 5:48.
First verse at 6:18.
Sputnik at 12:57.
Verse melody at 16:59.
Bright Star at 17:58.
Second verse at 18:53.
Goes into St. Stephen.


Dark Star follows Good Morning, Little Schoolgirl. TC is audible here on the ROR, but not very loud. Garcia plays some cool stuff, with little harmonic flourishes and insistent bass runs, but while the intro is not exactly low energy, it’s not up to much either, as it all sounds a little rote.


On the other hand, there are little variations and moments of interest that inspire hope for tonight’s offering, such as the little peak from around 4:15 that leads into the main theme. They are not ready for the verse right away, so some more jamming ensues. There is some weird drumming beginning at 5:07 that sounds like someone is banging on a chair, but it turns out to be Garcia scraping his strings! They return to the main theme, and cast it out very gently as a dynamic valley opens up for the verse.


After the verse Garcia lays out for a little while before he enters with his bell tones; when he fires up the lead at 8:22, he sounds like he means business. His runs before the ten minute mark seem to fire Phil up, and they lock in a little. This sequence represents a fairly typical instance of Dark Star dynamics in this era: Jerry and Phil kick up some dust and the band is flying at 10:04, when they start to take it back down, so by 10:18 Garcia is playing some delicate runs, and things start winding down; then they start building it back up again, so by 11:20 the band is hitting another little peak; and, by 11:45, they are again playing fairly quietly.


Garcia pedals on some pre-Main Theme licks for a bit, but it soon becomes evident they are heading for Sputnik, which has become sort of the main event of the middle jam lately. This one gets reasonably gnarly for a bit, and Jerry comes out of it with his weird insect sound again, in what seems to be standard operating procedure now. This part is pleasingly weird tonight although, as is usual for the era, they don’t linger with the weirdness for long, as they quickly build up, cowbell in tow, to the verse melody. The E minor bit builds to a quite stirring Bright Star, and then the band winds down and eases into the second verse.


It’s a nice rendition, not earth-shattering but not chopped liver. That’s all I’ve got!


What was said:

45. 1969-03-02

3344 Fillmore West 20:27 (20:23 actua


Main theme at 5:11.
First verse at 5:34.
Sputnik at 12:15.
Verse melody at 16:42.
Main theme at 17:18.
Bright Star at 17:41.
Main theme at 18:25.
Second verse at 18:51.
Goes into St. Stephen.


This opens the show. The tempo feels brisk tonight, and this feels a bit busy from the outset, as though everyone has had a few cups of coffee. Garcia begins with the tolling bell sound before playing some opening leads. TC, who is audible tonight, unleashes a wild little ascending swirl at 2:47, and Garcia responds with some mirroring lines, in a sort of reversal of their usual roles, although TC never really takes over.

From about 3:30 there is a bouncy little passage that has a quasi-Sputnik feel to it. Everything feels a little frenetic; the mood is not relaxed tonight. At 4:35, Garcia starts pushing toward the main theme, and we get to this and then the verse in short order. There are some nice bass figures after the verse before Garcia starts tolling. When Garcia comes in at 7:39, things seem to be a little calmer than they were in the intro section. He seems to be playing off TC again for a while, which is a promising development.

So far there are several interludes where they seem to be revving up for something, but it’s never clear exactly what. After a bit of treading water around the 9 minute mark, they somewhat unexpectedly ease into a subdued, spacey place, although even this seems a little jittery around the edges tonight. The return trip, however, is measured and fairly satisfying, as they take their time building back up.

Sometime before the 12 minute mark they seem to have returned to full strength, but it’s not clear what they’re aiming for…on the one hand, it’s a mark of maturity that they don’t feel the need to break into a full crescendo after such a soft interlude; on the other, the jam feels a little bit aimless. At 12:15, Garcia begins softly playing some Sputnik licks, and this solves the problem of a destination, for now. TC plays some dramatic flourishes in the Sputnik that I don’t think we’ve heard before, although I may be mistaken. At around 13:35 Garcia is playing a very staccato take on Sputnik, and these factors make this one different from what we usually expect.

Jerry again comes out of it with the “insect weirdness” (JSegel’s term) effect deployed, and he stays with it for a while here. As we’ve heard him do lately, Garcia begins sketching the outlines of Bright Star at 15:50 or so, which then seems to be heading to the main theme, before instead discharging itself in the verse melody. They quickly move to the main theme, but then we do get a Bright Star section, and a nice little crescendo, though nothing too dramatic. After a quick return to the theme, the second verse comes, and we’re out.

This is a fine version; the band is playing at a very high level in this period, with a sophistication and sensitivity that astounds the listener who has followed the development of the song thus far. For all that, this one seems a little understated. Almost every Dark Star since the Dream Bowl versions has seemed a little restrained, with the obvious exception being 02-27; it’s to their credit that they don’t shoot for a crushing peak every time out, as this would get predictable and boring—assuming, of course, that there are ongoing, attentive listeners, rather than a concert-going public who may never hear another version. This one in particular doesn’t seem to try too much, or go too far, but I’d still emphasize that the baseline for Dark Star has gotten very high.


What was said:

44. 1969-03-01

138788     Fillmore West    22:58

Main theme at 7:08.
First verse at 7:42.
Verse melody at 15:22.
Sputnik at 16:36.
Main theme at 19:52.
Bright Star at 20:25.
Main theme (briefly) at 21:09.
Second verse at 21:24.
Goes into St. Stephen.


This one comes after Mountains of the Moon, but for some reason the latter comes to a stop before Dark Star commences. TC is pretty loud on this version of the show, and the ROR rings out like days of old for a little while at the beginning, with an added little walk-up in between licks. As some of our commenters have pointed out, TC seems to shadow Garcia, and he never really takes the lead, but it is nice to hear him here as he provides another textural element. One thing that stands out here is how interesting and responsive Weir’s guitar playing has gotten on this song; although I think I’ve said that before, he continues to develop, and to impress.

Garcia comes in sounding thick and hazy on the Gibson tonight, and things seem to be happening early, in contrast to the last version. The instruments bunch together and kick up a little fuss right away, and by around 2:11 they’re hitting an early peak. Then they start to unspool it, and from around 3:00 there is a wonderful interlude where things get spacier and quieter until Garcia and then Weir start to insert little stabs that are reminiscent of the lead-up to Bright Star on the 27th.

They are taking their time tonight, and from 4:35 Jerry, Phil and TC ascend together as things get tighter and louder again, but they keep it reigned in, not going for another peak here, but rather they seem interested in pursuing a different new way to bring things together, with a light and loose mien that bespeaks a casual confidence in ones co-instrumentalists. At 4:55 Garcia and Lesh unleash a series of notes that sounds like they coordinated it beforehand, but is certainly just a serendipitous moment. This moves into a loping groove where they are again feinting and jabbing. At 6:17 TC seems to be feeling his oats, as he uncorks an organ burst that makes one think how rarely we hear such a thing. This leads to a little peak, albeit a relaxed one, that again winds down until Garcia starts the main theme at 7:08.

Here they are playing loosely and quietly, but not in a sloppy way; rather, the band seems to be delighting in the variety of moods that Dark Star occasions. Some nights the main theme comes in when they are at the peak of a crescendo; other times it rises from a soft interlude; here they are loosely and joyfully conversing, and it’s thrown out like an offhand remark. Everyone seems happy to hit the strings lightly and let the beat take care of itself, and it is in this same effervescent spirit that the verse comes easing in.

Lesh seems to finally be straining at the bit as the verse ends and the band fires up again, with Garcia playing the familiar bell tones. There is an intense, remarkable passage from 9:45 to 10:07, led by Lesh and Constanten with an assist from Weir, that blows through like a rainstorm, and when the band resumes normal operations it is with a greater sense of earnestness and focus. The jam is light and airy, but it feels more propulsive now, like it’s heading somewhere.

At 11:00, Garcia starts a windup that seems like it’s heading for Sputnik, and TC plays a syncopated accompaniment; this is his best Dark Star so far, as he manages to insert himself into the middle of whatever is happening at most points. Rather than Sputnik, this leads to a couple of little peaks beginning around the 12 minute mark, and Garcia gives us flashes of the main melody in between his more rhythmic expressions. At 12:48, things settle down again, and Jerry is playing with his volume knob. Then they build it back up a little, and tear it down again.

At 13:41 TC takes the lead! We have seen him be reluctant to do much with his opportunities before now, but he gets some nice licks in here. And he breaks out a new sound and takes another, rather loud, lead spot at around 15:02, although this is somewhat short-lived as Jerry soon breaks out the verse melody. As they clamor around the E minor TC is hanging in, but Garcia seems inclined to take charge again.

At 16:22 Jerry briefly flashes the main theme, and things seem to be in limbo for a few moments until Sputnik commences. TC plays some wild swirling passages the first time through, and then it all quiets down on the back half. Garcia engages his post-Sputnik effect and plays around with the verse melody a little, and check out Weir’s little swell at 16:38.

At 19:30 Garcia seems to want to build to a peak, and Lesh is happy to help, but before too much fur flies Jerry swings into the main theme. But they play around with it and it takes us to another little jam, and then they take a run through Bright Star which is perhaps a bit perfunctory. After a brief stab at the main theme, there is a neat little slowdown just before the final verse, which is taken at an elongated tempo.


If the 27th was triumphant and the 28th was brooding, my one-word adjective for this Dark Star would be “playful.” They seem to be reveling in their increased, and still increasing, sensitivity and responsiveness to one another, as they find Dark Star taking them places that perhaps they did not realize they could go. This is another fantastic version, and the horizon for Dark Star seems to expand every time they play it.


What was said:

43. 1969-02-28

139196 Fillmore West 20:04
Main theme at 3:27.
First verse at 4:06.
Sputnik at 11:12.
Verse melody at 17:26.
Main theme at 18:09.
Second verse at 18:30.
Goes into St. Stephen.


Dark Star comes out of Other One tonight. TC is at times more prominent in this particular mix (although this is not consistent), and we hear him come in right away with the ROR. Although it isn’t flashy—in fact it’s generally fairly simple—tonight’s mix allows us to hear how TC’s playing has become increasingly complementary and effective. Garcia sounds out of tune at the outset.

The introduction today has a distinct feel—not exactly tentative, but it lacks drama and direction, as though the band is holding open a space that was already there and waiting for them; rather than trying to get something happening, they go to the verse fairly early here. Garcia does something different with the exit from the verse this time, playing with the volume knob for a bit before he reverts to the familiar bell sound. He hammers on this for what seems a little longer than usual, and when he starts his lead it is in a questioning mood, as opposed to the confident burst of the previous night. The band is attuned to this mood, and the jam begins in a brooding manner. The music gains intensity as Garcia plays a quasi-Bright Star passage beginning at 8:21. As with the previous night, the dynamics of the band are subtle, as they avoid going all in early, while hitting smaller crescendos such as this one. Again, the variety of volume and intensity suggests that they are all paying close attention to one another.

Some feedback spikes lead into Sputnik, and these continue throughout this section; I had a hard time determining who was generating it, as all three string players are otherwise audible throughout, but I think it must be Weir (and Mr. Rain corroborates this below).

As Sputnik ends in a swell of feedback, the band almost comes to a halt, with Lesh and Garcia hinting at the main theme until Weir starts playing a funky little riff (13:35) which they latch onto, with Lesh eventually integrating his part for the verse. This goes on for several minutes. Garcia lays out until around 15:05, when he enters and starts building (apparently) toward Bright Star or something functionally similar. This opens up a space for TC, but he doesn’t do much with it; his playing is an important part of this Dark Star but, although he has complained that Garcia didn’t give him enough room, he doesn’t seem to want to be a lead player.

At 16:38, Garcia starts playing a circular passage that seems to be heading for one of the familiar peak moments, and by 17:01 he sounds like he’s heading for Bright Star; instead, he winds up playing around the verse melody, until the latter bursts forth in earnest at 17:26. This serves for a denouement, as they soon head for the verse.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about this Dark Star is that it’s so different from the night before, as they executed that one so successfully, but there is no attempt to replicate the results of the 27th. Instead, we get a rendition that has a markedly different feel—this feels brooding and deliberate, and while the playing is confident and intense, they avoid any dramatic peaks tonight. There are lots of interesting things happening, and it seems that we’ve entered a new era—not in the sense that we now know what to expect, but rather that the scope of our expectations has greatly expanded. It feels like faint praise to say that this is one of the best versions they have yet played, as the leap forward on the 27th makes that the only version fit for comparison, so I will just note that this is a really good one!


What was said:

42. 1969-02-27

Live/Dead Fillmore West 23:07 (~21:52 actual)
Main theme at 5:00.
First verse at 6:03.
Sputnik at 11:16.
Verse melody at 13:10.
Bright Star at 20:08.
Falling Star at 20:40.
Main theme at 20:48.
Second verse at 21:25.
Goes into St. Stephen.


The Live/Dead recording begins with the tail end of Mountains of the Moon, with Dark Star coming in around 1:15, give or take a few seconds (as MOTM turns to Dark Star intro noodling, which turns into the intro proper at 1:19--or a couple seconds prior, as the first time through the opening lick is apparently counted as part of the noodling, since they play it three times instead of the customary two). The recording begins a few seconds before Garcia returns with the electric guitar, and the band starts heading toward Dark Star.

We have a great mix from the multitracks here, with Weir in particular more clear and present than usual without being overbearing. Garcia hangs back until the two minute mark, and when he comes in his line is clear and confident and, like much in this rendition, it sounds almost like a modular lick or a worked out part. It is impossible to listen to this with innocent ears as, like many Deadheads, there is a part of my brain that has entirely been rewritten by this version of Dark Star. Nevertheless, it strikes me that the playing here is notably confident and lyrical right from the beginning. Garcia’s opening salvo sounds like it is already pushing toward a peak moment, yet at the same time it is measured and does not discharge the song’s energy prematurely. Lesh is almost in the pocket here (for him!), playing low and authoritative lines that keep the song anchored and the energy controlled. With Weir so high in the mix, it is remarkable to hear how confident and creative his lines are, at times butting up against the lead guitar and challenging, at others providing a soft and bouncy cushion for Garcia’s more speculative lines.

Lesh and Weir seem particularly consonant, building the framework of the song and creating dramatic openings for Garcia. From 2:35 until 2:41, when Jerry lays out for a few moments, we can hear how closely the other two string players are working in tandem; Jerry then returns with some volume knob swells. He has the bridge pickup engaged now, and his whimsically hazy, vaguely Eastern lines beginning at 2:47 threaten to break things open, but he broadly hints at the main theme a few times, as if to remind everyone that they have not yet earned a peak. And indeed, the group dynamic throughout this opening section is focused and consistent; this is no doubt abetted by the presence of solid drumming, at first discreet but increasingly pronounced, as Kreutzmann’s drums play a larger role in this rendition than we have heard heretofore.

By 3:50 the intensity has been raised a notch or two, but even amidst this there is a remarkable little dynamic valley at about 4:25. Coming out of this, listen to how Weir mirrors Garcia; by moving into a higher register, he simultaneously generates excitement and preserves the sense of lightness and mobility that makes us feel that the band has room to go farther, harder, and deeper. At 4:55 Garcia is again subtly gesturing toward the main theme; Weir and Lesh are listening closely, as they are already playing the theme when Jerry swings into it at 5:01, and his appreciation for the cohesion of tonight’s group mind is evident in the way he gussies up the theme with some slides, ad libbed asides, and palm muting.

TC has been very low in the mix through all this, but he finally starts to come through a bit more from around 5:36. After the verse there is some very melodic playing from Phil, and then Garcia begins, at first softly, to play the tolling bell sound. Phil plays a high counterpoint to this, and then at 8:07 Garcia’s entrance to the middle jam seems to explode out of the speakers. The increased capacity of the band to create drama is profoundly evident even in the lead-up to the middle jam tonight. The cohesion of the group makes every transition seem consequent and deliberate. Following the progression of the song is like witnessing the stately (from a distance) formation of a solar system; at the same time, a closer look at the planetary level, so to speak, reveals micro-ecologies teeming with the most vibrant lifeforms. Listen at 8:15, as things are kicking into gear; Lesh drops down and slows his line slightly, which in turn leads Garcia to play more quietly at 8:21; he begins circling and revving the engine while, at 8:27, Lesh starts to climb; this leads to a small peak at 8:43, which drifts down to another little valley at 8:50. In this way, the level of alertness and mutual responsiveness among the band members makes for a trajectory that is, in detail, strikingly mobile and articulated, while at the same time giving one the sense that it is all headed somewhere, when looked at from a wider angle.

Shortly after the 9 minute mark, the band decides that we’ve had enough excitement for now, and it is time for a more pronounced and sustained dynamic downshift. The following segment is almost like a negative photographic image of the previous couple of minutes, as here and there miniature, understated peaks poke their heads above the clouds, so that we’ve gone from a section of high intensity with little valleys to a more subdued section with small crescendoes. The upshot of all this is that the band is playing with such sensitivity and sophistication that not only are they effectively employing dynamics, but they are leavening them with micro-dynamics that keep the whole thing just off the boil while still providing plenty of drama.

At 10:29 Garcia advances the proposition that things need to get spacier, and the band heads toward Sputnik. The first half of Sputnik ratchets toward a point of angry intensity from which the second half recedes. Garcia switches on his post-Sputnik effect and goes right into the verse melody; Lesh takes it to the customary E minor, but Jerry stays on the 5th, which reduces the impact of the shift to minor, which proves to be a brief interlude tonight. But Garcia stays with the guitar effect, and by about 14:20 the band has gone into space, in one of the weirdest passages they have played thus far in their career. This does not last long, regrettably; Garcia and Kreutzmann seem to simultaneously have the same idea, laying out a groove that will lead the band back to less recondite territory. They start to take it back up, and at 15:49 Garcia is calling for Bright Star, but giving the rest of the band time to build up to it.

Now they all seem to be heading in the same direction, and this section features some of the most effective playing from TC that we’ve yet heard, although he is still underemphasized in the mix. But we do not yet arrive at Bright Star; again they pull back just after the 17 minute mark, repositioning themselves around Weir’s funky stabs. Beginning at 17:18 Garcia begins repeating a single note per measure, interestingly offset in the timing from the emphasis point Weir had been establishing, as if building a scaffolding for the peak to come; at 17:32, he begins to answer himself with a second, higher note at the midpoint between each measure, and then he starts to build it up again. As he fills in the intervening notes, it begins to sound like a prelude to the main theme, and it looks like the promised peak, which now seems far away indeed, may never arrive. Lesh seems to be gearing up for the denouement of a return to the theme. Instead, Garcia once again launches into the verse melody, and this time the crash to E minor is emphasized, and indeed they use it as a launching pad to regain the momentum the band had seemingly left behind at the end of the previous jam.

Remarkably, however, the band quiets down again! Finally, at around 19:30, Garcia begins a repeating figure (featuring several shifts in tone; as we've seen on previous versions, he seems to be conversing with himself in different voices) that allows the band to build behind him; I didn’t realize until they were (finally) playing Bright Star proper at 20:08 that his line was basically the Bright Star notes, stripped down. In the end, then, we get the peak that had been teased and hinted at throughout, although this would scarcely be a lesser rendition without it, and a now-rare Falling Star ensues and leads us back into the main theme and, in turn, the second verse.



When I began listening to the Dead in the 1980s, this was the only Dark Star many Deadheads had ever heard (although the song was revived in 1989), and in any case was, and probably still is, the most famous version. And, of course, it is worthy of the adulation it has received. Like most forward leaps, this doesn’t come out of nowhere, as the Dream Bowl versions represented a distinct advance over what preceded them; still, it is hard to overstate the power and glory of this rendition.


What was said: