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:

JSegel:



20:03 - Fillmore West 1969 Complete Recordings

Dark Star back to its beginning, it’s the opening number of the set. Hi, we’re laying this on you.

This initially seems like a more exciting and upbeat take, on the Sunday show. (It is a tiny bit faster, right?)

We’re laying this on you means that between the last time you heard Dark Star open a set and this time, it’s grown a bit. Jerry plays the riff but once and then begins tapping his guitar for resonances while everybody else strives to play the song.

It’s Sunday, I’m guessing they’re just a little stoned. Takes a little time to settle in, Jerry comes in eventually, with a bright tone playing sparsely and picking quietly. TC has a reedy sound, Bobby’s guitar actually sounds really good this evening, round and not overly distorted. By about 2 minutes we get some interesting statements, but then he settles on a riff while TC does a big swell, a key sweep to try to initiate a thematic statement, but JG follows slowly upwards with a bright tone, a crying stretch eddy at the top, and then it goes into a sputnik area, what the? Where the when are we? And then JG is changing the mode… oh yeah, but it’s gonna come down into a quiet riffy area with little eddies on the lower notes.

Quarter to 5 minutes, Jerry takes off with a leading scale up to the bright star type of statement, finally the theme at 5:20 and the first verse.

Gongs? Or cymbals and mallets on the verse. The spy theme rhythm is a bit subdued on line 2. Sort of going-through-the-motions verse, actually, guys…!

Into the sea of space. Phil is up and about, he seems to be in stereo, didn’t realize they had this going this early. (Or is it bleed from the vocal mics?) We’re moving into the bells tolling hitting the guitar… a jazzy lead intro at 7:45. TC changes tone for when he comes on, more flute and lower stops. Bobby and Phil are having a rhythmic blast while the pulse is just the shaker. Until weirdly a lull at 8:50. TC comes in after with some nice whirlwind rolling around, but it flowers and fades. JG backs off. The band backs off. Sparse voids between stars. JG is focusing in on something, a leading tone to a note, then a modal riff, and into the the jam, boys. Phil’s going places. They’re all going places, actually, but it’s sort of in and out as for the togetherness. They finally come together on a tension spot at 11:30, drums have definitely switched to trap set. (Is this Mickey? Or is he gongs/cymbals on the other side?) in a minute we’re going sputnik with drums. TC going wild! Big fast arpeggios build till he hits and end note… but JG’s not there. He’s still in the nebula, as we leave it, and he’s suggesting a new rhythm! Drums drop out trying to figure it out. Good thing he’s loud!

They hit the verse sequence in a quick jam, but JG is all in the insect weirdness tone world instead! So by the end of it Phil goes outside. He’s suggesting something else, a descending sequence. (15’)

Jerry never comes out into ‘normal’ playing until a new theme-riff at 16’ he’s heading upwards, but brings it back down before a Dark Star theme statement at almost 17’, with the verse sequence in the rhythm section, we can really hear Bobby’s got a cool hammer on lick for it now, line three going into a sparse a quiet intro theme jam. Wait, it’s going into the bright star at 18 minutes! Brought down now, we’re going to get verse 2 at ~19’.

Nice rendition of verse 2, nice with Bobby’s good amp sound here too, and more cymbals and mallets. Very ornate and beautiful tones from all on the outro and intro to St Stephen. I think the strict ensemble playing of the verse 2 and chorus, and outro is sort of grounding, like we’ve come back to the pier.

Ok, maybe this one was my favorite of the weekend.




Pbuzby:

First impression of 3/2/69 is that it is the "rowdy" Dark Star of the run, as at the beginning Jerry is heard shouting "free turf!" and then playing an unusually loud, slightly out of tune version of the opening riff. However, there is also a distinctive quiet part after the first verse, with Jerry repeating two notes for a minute or two while the others work around it. I also enjoyed a bit shortly before the first verse where Jerry makes what may have been a mistake, playing a G# when he may have meant to hit a G, and then starts alternating the G# and G to make it sound like it wasn't a mistake.




Mr. Rain:

"Free turf!" Jerry can't wait to toll his bell this time, and it makes for a rousing introduction, almost like "Come all ye to Dark Star!" But then Jerry remembers to leave some space as usual before he starts soloing. Brisk, edgy opening jam....maybe they'd be calmer if they'd played another song or two first instead of jumping right into Dark Star. TC's clear in the mix, does some of his typical swirly stuff around Jerry around 3 minutes in, which stimulates Jerry to a higher register. It's like a little preview of the middle jam here. After a brief unique duet between Jerry & Bob, Jerry smoothly guides them to the theme and the verse. Some light percussion (either guiro or maracas, I can't tell) on Mickey's side.
Jerry does more tolling after the verse, and a solid jam slowly builds from the spooky atmosphere. But it soon winds down to a minimalist spacey drift. There's an air of uncertainty, like they're testing the winds before venturing further. Some guiro initially, then Bill's drums gradually come in after 9 minutes, which helps give some kick to the jam. (I'm not positive it's Bill, this would mean the drummers' usual sides have been reversed, but I'm assuming the gong side is Mickey.) Things build up to a more urgent feel...TC's engaged and trades some licks with Jerry.
I notice TC quietly initiates the Sputnik....might be his call, but he's probably taking a cue from Jerry. But it's a nice swirly Sputnik, and Jerry drags it out into rhythmic chops. I like how Jerry echoes his earlier tolling-bell motif with foreboding feedback before breaking out the insect tone....a whiny eerie effect, but he doesn't take it anywhere new tonight, he seems stuck in place. So he trails off and returns to his regular tone, and they launch into a more upbeat jam.
The usual sequence of events now: a solid but brief verse melody, a return to the main theme, a quick visit to Bright Star, then back to the theme without much of a climax.

This seemed like a fuzzy, indistinct Star to me... Nothing new in this version, it doesn't have much drama or personality, I can't really single out any memorable moments.
But I wouldn't say it's a rote going-through-the-motions performance, it's just that it doesn't stand out, or maybe I'm starting to get fatigued from so many similar Stars! It all sounded like I heard it before...
Like you said there's a new baseline for Dark Star now, but they're not going to match 2/27 for some time (I think). This is more the new average: all the expected parts are in place but for whatever reason they didn't cover any different territory here, the improv never got off the ground. Like the pros they are, it all sounds great despite lacking any new discoveries.

I think you're right that most of the Dark Stars have been restrained lately. TC said somewhere that the band was relieved to get a decent performance for the live album, but after that they were able to loosen up and play much better....we'll see about that soon! Personally I'd prefer if they tried to hit an explosive peak every time, but that ain't the Dead way, they're more relaxed about it. (Or they save that for the Other One, which does have a repeating format with big climaxes every night. I don't think predictability was really an issue.)
I would question how many "ongoing, attentive listeners" they actually had at the time....for every spinyn hanging on every note, there were probably others wondering when this endless tuning-up caterwaul was going to end and waiting for Pigpen to come out.




Adamos:

This performance feels faster paced and maybe a bit rushed at the outset although things settle in more after the first verse. There’s a good early part starting around 3:30 on the Fillmore West Complete version where Jerry’s guitar is crying out into the night.

I agree that there’s some nice interplay between Jerry and TC at various points and it feels more like interweaving than just TC following him around. Phil stands out too for example starting around 12:10 on the FWC version he and Jerry are playing off each other nicely while TC swirls around them. And from around 14:30 he’s making it happen underneath while Jerry explores the vastness. Bob’s got some nice accents in there too. The percussion is also very clear again and the symbol hits in the second half in particular are a nice complement to what’s going on.

They aren’t going for massive, majestic peaks on this night but there are still some powerful moments throughout. And while there are other recent versions that top it this is all relative of course. Plus as usually happens the more I circle back to focus in on specific passages the more I like the performance as a whole.