51: 1969-04-05

136650 Avalon 17:27
Main theme at 2:01.
Main theme at 3:36.
First verse at 3:59.
Sputnik at 9:40.
Bright Star at 14:32.
Falling Star at 15:12.
Main theme at 15:31.
Second verse at 15:53.
Goes into St. Stephen.


Dark Star emerges from one of the more substantial transitions out of “Mountains of the Moon” that we have encountered, a full two and a half (wonderful) minutes. Garcia jumps right in after the introductory riff, and Phil is likewise raring to go. The feeling early on is more frenetic than ruminative, however; we get to the theme rather quickly, and just as quickly it dissipates, but the early jamming all stays rooted in the chord structure of the song. At 2:30 Garcia is playing some almost surf-y double stops, which turn into a kind of rhythmic chopping, until just after the three minute mark things finally wind down; for a moment it seems like they’re tying to open it up, but instead it goes right to the theme and then the verse.


The middle jam begins dramatically; after a post-verse build-up that establishes a mood of tension, Garcia swoops in with a darkly incandescent lead tinged with feedback and dissonance. At 5:51 the guitar poses a woozy question, responding to itself at 5:57 with a high, piercing assertion that loses none of its forcefulness as it moves into a series of elaborations.


Lesh pushes and pulls underneath the guitar, at times dropping back to dramatic effect, and then rushing forward again. At 6:14, the bass emphatically rests on a low A, seeming to call for a reset and a reestablishment of the main theme; when Garcia responds by settling into a repeating pattern that seems headed for a resolution, Lesh starts pushing again and the guitar begins to rise in pitch and intensity once more. At 6:54 there is another lull, this time initiated by Garcia, and then things resume in a bit more subdued fashion. Things soon start to build yet again, and there is a little peak beginning at around 8:25. At 8:47, Garcia starts playing a choppy, muffled staccato bit, and the band again starts to wind down a bit, as everyone seems to be trying to get to Sputnik before working themselves into a lather too soon.


The Sputnik that follows seems relatively brief. Both halves begin softly and build in intensity as they progress, but overall this one is somewhat subdued. The band keeps playing in Sputnik mode for a little while after Garcia finishes playing his licks. When he finally switches on the insectoid effect, things keep chugging along, and it seems like there isn’t going to be a space section, until it finally arrives at a little before the 12 minute mark.


Things don’t stay too spacey for too long, but instead there is an odd little jam where Garcia is stabbing and perhaps hinting at a Bright Star, Lesh is dancing around him, and the rest of the band sort of hovers, which is something at which they will become increasingly adept. In the midst of this, at 14:13, Jerry begins playing what is recognizably a precursor to Bright Star (the beginning of which is consequently difficult to pinpoint), and the band builds to a peak. Falling Star, the main theme, and the second verse follow in short order.


This is dramatically different from the previous day’s Dark Star; there, the band seemed out of joint much of the time, whereas tonight they are locked in and listening closely to one another. What this lacks in force it makes up for with precision. Even when the band seems momentarily uncertain, they quickly figure out where they’re going and head there, and the jam after Sputnik seems to prefigure some of the more sophisticated collective improvisations to come.


What was said:

JSegel:


Opening the first set with Dupree’s and Mountains of the Moon, into this Dark Star. Same sort of mix as the night before, loud drums from the board, hard right and left.

Jerry has already switched to electric guitar in the end of Mountains, but it takes a lot of muddling about with the intro riff before Dark Star gets on its feet. Jerry is set on his tone-rolled-off sound, he’s trying it in different registers. They sound a bit more together this evening than last, or at least Jerry is staying within the modal notes more, so everybody else is too. (Side note: I wonder if his adherence to mode or structure really has the effect on the other players so much that, like the previous night, when he’s more free with his scales, they get either confused or feel the license to break out more?) He finds his chromatic roll offs again, but it’s all seeming to fit within the Dark Star world more. Shakers, or guiro I guess, are keeping it real, no Bill on the drum set for this pre-verse jam anyway. A few odd little eddies in the stream, but they get to the thematic area at about 3:30, heading toward the first verse by 4min.

The cymbal and mallets accompaniment is more subdued, which is good (int this mix) because we can hear some interesting wandering on the Searchlight casting about. And they play the classic middle jam intro with the descending guitar against the bass, sort of a regrouping after the previous night…

The tolling bell is coming.

Jerry breaks out with some strong lead tones and some overreached high notes, into a crying bend, “crying star”. Having stated that, he’s exploring more, everybody plugging along in this medium tempo. Bill slowly sneaks in to the jam… it’s ebbing and flowing. Sounds like Bob has found his own ringing bell while JG, Phil and Bill start climbing a wave, which comes down the backside into staccato arpeggio and tom toms, into several little eddies of notes…. Sounds like TC wants to lead into Sputnik, or he’s anticipating JG going there next. Phil is still jamming away at it, JG goes into the higher register and it gets delicate. Phil is still walking all over the place till he finds a riff that allows a little build up. Oh, that guiro comes in…

Jerry is finding some feedbacky insect tones, which seems to cast doubt on everybody else and they stop or sparse out. The song almost disappears by 12.5 min. Jerry is almost alone with a guiro almost keeping time. (Which I love, that old beatnik-coffeehouse-style Dark Star from days of old, like the early versions and the Matrix ones that were just shakers, bass and guitar. A version from a year previous popped up in my shuffle yesterday on the train, reminding me of that!)

TC makes some stabs at chords. It’s definitely a more static space section, but I can hear some intimations of the theme. JG gets up in register enough to start a proto-Bright Star, which builds to the real thing, with both drummers on trap sets. As this wave crests, they are heading to verse 2.

Nice vocal delivery, Jerry really sticking the high notes and only warbling on the low slides. All vocals are very effectively presented for the verse 2 last lines, the outro instrumental has Jerry up and down on the St Stephen intro, but they get there.

Note that the Avalon run continues the next day, but no Dark Star on 4/6. Then they’re out on tour again, across the country!


Mr. Rain:


An old favorite of mine.
Great Jerry acoustic solo out of Mountains (the audience applauds!), which seems longer than it used to be, and he very quickly moves to electric. Congas and gong washes in the background. Unlike 2/27 there isn't a long electric transition, they head right for the Dark Star intro. (Phil seems to catch Jerry unawares here, it's a little bumpy.)
Bouncy opening jam, with guiro. Phil & Jerry in the lead....Jerry might be a little impatient, he works himself up into rhythmic scratches by 2:40. But then he quietly establishes the theme again in a delicate passage setting up the verse, a nice moment. TC's far back in the mix again -- he's present but I don't notice him much.
Classic post-verse space: Phil, Bob & Mickey clear the air for Jerry to come back in with his tolling bell, then he rips out a dramatic lead. A delicious jam follows. Bill comes in on drums after 7 minutes and gives things more kick. They sound like they're revving up for a climax after 8 minutes, but Jerry breaks things down with his muted arpeggio and they scatter.... Great effect at 9 minutes where he keeps repeating a lick while he fades out. At 9:15 - Phil plays the Feelin' Groovy line for a moment! But the rest of the band isn't into that yet.
Time for an elegant chiming Sputnik, kind of restrained, some loud tapping from Mickey but nowhere near as wild as 4/4. The band opens up a space for Jerry's insect weirdness to float in, he buzzes around with fluttering wings, and they fall quiet. (The backdrop they create for Jerry here is very cool, sensitive & understated.) He soars out in a little duet with Phil and percussion -- lovely tone! This builds slowly, naturally & patiently to a shining bright star. Both drummers banging away! Jerry climaxes with a falling star in its recent dramatic form, and they fall away to a quiet theme.

This Dark Star isn't super-noisy, hardly any feedback to be heard, it's more about grace and flow, all the parts coming together perfectly. It really gets strong after the verse, and the last few minutes are heavenly.


Adamos:


Really nice acoustic outro solo in Mountains Of The Moon to set things up. It feels like they’re skimming through the clouds right from the start. Jerry’s got some good bite and Phil is prominent in the mix. I like what’s happening from 2:00-2:50-ish.

After the verse there’s a nice gong-y buildup then starting at 5:44 Jerry has a piercing solo that breaks through the atmosphere and we’re off. By 7:30 it’s crying out, the others are swirling around, the intensity is building and they’re off to the races. Then around 8:44 they pivot and there’s a bit of a repeating thing happening which slowly dissipates and by 9:40 they’ve found their way to Sputnik.

From Sputnik we get just a bit of weirdness and it seems like they’re heading back to a more melodic jam but then they shift gears back and just sort of hover in space. Starting around 12:25 Jerry has some subtle playing that shifts the mood and has a nice feel. It evolves into a gentle Bright Star prelude that slowly builds up to its usual triumphant peak. From there things wrap up fairly quickly with Falling Star, the main theme and the second verse. Cool version.