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:

Mr. Rain:
Well, this Dark Star rocked my world tonight. I liked it a lot more than some of those Fillmore Stars!
Very aggressive version. I think this forecasts a brasher type of Dark Star we'll see more in later '69... I mean, when you're playing a society ball in the Hilton Hotel and Pigpen isn't winning over the matrons, it's time to bring out the fireworks!
We're back to Bear's mixing, so it's closer to mono, but the whole band's clear. Mickey's percussion is way up in the mix so this is a good version to hear what he's doing.
Promising intro....they start cold and Jerry gives his usual half-minute's space before coming in with the lead, but they warm up within a couple minutes and the playing gets all twisty and bendy. Maracas (or guiro?) very present; and TC's active and audible enough. (He even surprises with his little swoop around 3:30, locking in with Jerry.) It's cool when Jerry starts his string-scratching after 5 minutes, but he doesn't really do anything with it, or at least the band doesn't spring off it into some wider percussive idea. Great dynamics through the intro, peaking after 4 minutes and calming to quietness....the verse is well-prepared with a long setup.
I love the bell-tolling after the verse, as Bill tinkles the cymbals and TC swirls and Mickey crashes the gong and it sounds like hell's about to break loose. Well, it doesn't quite, but the jam still starts intensely. Muscular playing between Jerry & Phil; Bill stays on the cymbals then kicks in the drums around 9:30 while Mickey starts up his guiro. But they back off, then build up again in a foreboding manner. As the band teases into the beyond, Mickey brings out the woodblocks after 11:20 for an exploratory percussive section (or actually I think he's tapping the guiro, switching between knocking & scratching it), and he keeps it up through the Sputnik. Really nice well-done Sputnik, you can focus on everyone's playing and how they add to the whole effect....Mickey's louder than everyone which makes it unusual. Jerry drags out the Sputnik into staggered beeps while Mickey rasps and Bob adds feedback....then the band sustains the eerie feeling through Jerry's weird insect tone....the mood's a lot like the Feedbacks they were doing then, this is one of the spaciest Dark Star spots yet. Jerry climbs out with a beautiful echoing tone, and the band opens up the clouds and lock into a hot jam. And of course Mickey brings out the cowbell! (Oddly I haven't heard much of Bill since the Sputnik, Mickey took over tonight.) Jerry tears into the verse melody to crashing cymbals, then they stomp their way to a pulsating Bright Star, then coast back down for a smooth landing, and the verse. Whew!
This is one of the most rockin' Dark Stars in recent memory, more powerful than usual. Probably my favorite since 2/27.


JSegel:
Set and setting, as they say. The Hilton Hotel in San Francisco is really trippy from the inside, it’s an open atrium pyramid. I never checked out the Ballroom area, but I’ve eaten there. And ridden around in the glass elevators.

Coming out of GMLS. Intro hint from J, then they start for real and it’s very stately, like the the original version of the song…ROR, then none as TC stretches the moment with Bob … Jerry comes in and the Repeating Organ Riff comes back. Jerry stretching upwards in a dark tone early on. Sort of amazing how he can switch from blues to this sort of previously unknown. They sound like they’re feeling it, the guiro is in so it’s auto-beatnik. Keeps the mood for a while.

Now, this is a weird gig too, right? Black and White Ball at the Hilton Hotel, Bob’s mom was the in.

Gorgeous band togetherness (mix is very centered, like all guitars middle, drummers L-R) through the first peak and trough, TC organ sweep at 3.5m and back to another adventure toward the theme. I like the way TC is integrating now, even with his ballpark organ stuff. Levels are better. He’s got a thing he’s developing, I guess, this upward flourish. Again into the flourish to a little jam with Phil, but we’re gonna head on to the verse in a bit. JG comes in with the theme, heading to the verse.

Verse 1 is played to form, Jerry with warbly horror movie voice on some of it already. Everybody on the spy theme rhythm on line 2, everybody searching for faults in the clouds. TC still swells the way "through."

TC goes with his up thing. the rhythm intensifies. JG starts the bell tolling. ****, ok, if I were a debutante at a ball and the punch had been spiked… When Jerry enters, he’s screaming it outside, and then brings it down to some raw end at 8:45 with a minor second leading tone. But we’re jamming, both drummers, Bill is playing trapset, right? (left, I mean, is that correct?) So we have developed Dark Star to the point where both drummers play!

By 10 minutes we’re hard at it, but suddenly there’s a textural change to a wide arpeggio.

I’m realizing by looking at the waveform on Archive.org that you can see each wave, and you can time them and I bet somebody has done all that before, haven’t they? Or can somebody train an AI? That chart **** is a data set that seems conquerable by smart Deadheads. I think I’m out after one!

…anyway, 3rd wave of the jam is funky and somebody switches to hitting a block with a stick as if that helped. Oh lord, it’s a close mic’ed guiro.

Sputnik proper 13 minutes, like—we knew this part was going to happen. Regardless, it’s nice with the wandering bass and Bob really jams out. Man the specialty of mic’ing the weird hand percussion sounds is probably tedious, but to great effect this evening. After a contact mic style noise jam, JG goes directly into insect weirdness at 15.

Ok, see, the reason that I’m writing this at all probably comes down to a series of re-sparked interest in GD maybe 15 years ago, from directions that are tangential in multiple ways, one of them being electronic and sound/noise based music. While listening to this part of the percussion attempts, I thought, oh, contact mics, man, they’ve been around for years. Somehow I don’t take Bear for a guy not acquainted with WW I & II audio history, and yet they struggled for the acoustic mic’in of these things (ok, it sounds better, but the feedback issues in this sitch vs audience satisfaction, come on.)

They build it up to a really quiet jam that has some upward momentum, but I can’t hear Tom very well on this, I think he’s been sacrificed to the mic’ed percussion. Cowbell, in fact.

Sort of an abrupt song form statement at 17 min, but everybody drops in immediately and plays immaculate renditions of the lyrical versions, JG jams it up for line 2, in a long singing line, but they all wander on line 3, convening a little later to go get that Bright Star.

They groove out a bit. Into the verse 2: Mirror Shatters, kids! Full on warble for the first couple line— or is this a tape speed problem? It seems like it’s almost a half step out. He’s enunciating super clearly, I’m looking at you all you dancing young adults: mirror shatters. Maybe they’re all heavily tripping at a debutante ball, who knows? Wow, man, psychedelic lyrics from the dude with the beard, Veronica. Or the punch is spiked and by the time the band starts, well. Sounds like maybe not enough vocal mics and they are shared. Are there pics of this one? I’d guess they’re private.

Lots of reverb at the start of the outro on Jerry’s amp! Ha, secret sauce*. He steps on the switch. Into St Stephen. And the ornate William Tell, like a pop concert, Bob is looking good, baby. Who is his mom setting him up with? Turn on your love light, that’s pretty raw for this crowd!

*Twin Reverbs are loud aF, and piercing. Good thing a guitar has those dang knobs! Big reverb tank, sends that signal down and back like an echo.


Mr. Rain:
Yeah, Mickey's got his guiro in the center & drumset on the right.
I'd be surprised if the hand percussion was that loud onstage, I think it's just an unbalanced recording mix, but maybe Bear was trying to trip people out. "Dear, that group on stage are making strange clacking sounds. I think they're turning into insects."
Bill's kind of subdued in this version, he mostly sticks to the cymbals. We haven't yet heard much of both drummers really going at it in these jams. The Dead haven't yet unveiled their full strength in Dark Star.


Adamos:
Low key beginning; I like Jerry’s scratchy/screechy tone around 1:30. The early peak after 4 minutes as well as the build-up leading up to it is really nice.

After the first verse and bell tones Jerry’s playing has a fierce edge, almost screaming for a moment, then again crying out around 9:50-10:15. From 11:20-11:40 they have a mini-groove going for a bit that is nice. Starting around 11:55 the percussion sounds a little like a Geiger counter on the recording.

Sputnik is fairly intense and post-Sputnik they get kind of freaky, wandering for a bit in the void. From 15:35-16:20 there’s a certain gentleness that is appealing, then they build it up again heading into the verse melody (more cowbell! as Mr. Rain pointed out). The Bright Star while not a massive peak still has a majestic feel, however briefly. Good performance.