82. 1969-09-26

9376 Fillmore East 16:46 (cut)
Main theme at 2:11.
First verse at 3:16.
Feelin’ Groovy at 10:35.
Bright Star at 14:10.
Main theme at 14:40.
Second verse at 15:05.
Goes into St. Stephen.

There are two transfers of this audience recording and neither sound good; the other one is noisier, but more dynamic. The beginning is cut. The band really seems to be going at it right away, and it’s possible that, as poor as it sounds, the aud gives it some life. We get to the main theme pretty quickly here, a little after two minutes in. It quickly settles down for the verse, but the verse does not at first appear, and it sounds like they’ve moved on to something else when Garcia suddenly starts singing at a place where I did not expect him to (I’m not sure if everyone thought they were on a beat where the vocal would start).

Again there is a kind of space after the verse, although they don’t take it as close to the edge of silence this time. At 7:11 Garcia starts spinning out a line that seems like it may lead us out of space, but things stay weird for a while. It’s hard to tell what exactly is happening, but between 9 and 10 minutes a more normal jam seems to form (there’s a general “whhrrrsh!” effect from the recording that makes it all seem a bit like space).

At about 10:35 or so it seems like a Feelin’ Groovy jam has started, and this would seem to be the first of those. This is followed by a rather furious jam section where Garcia intimates the main theme and Bright Star a few times, but doesn’t fully commit to either until 14:10, when Bright Star emerges. I’ve timed the main theme at 14:40, but that’s approximate—I can’t always tell what’s happening. They slow way down before the second verse, and get a round of applause.

It’s a shame there isn’t a better recording of this, as the jam between Feelin’ Groovy and the second verse seems really intense.


What was said:

Mr. Rain:


14856 is a much better copy of this audience tape than 9376 which is muffled and buried in tape noise and unlistenable (and also has a lot more cut at the start, so your timings are off.) But even at best, this is no audiophile's dream.
There's a surprise right at the start: big applause for Dark Star, from the first notes. Have we ever heard this before? This Fillmore East audience must have been pretty hip to be that excited about it....Live Dead wouldn't be out for months, all they had was their memories of it being played months before.
Another cool bit from :15-:30 -- someone onstage sounds like chiming bells; I'm not sure if it's Jerry or TC (or both).
I don't know if the tape is sped up but they're really zipping along here! This is maybe the most high-spirited opening jam in memory; within a minute they sound deep into it. They're in such a hurry they hit the main theme at 2:40 and the verse at 3:40.

They do a cool breakdown after the verse, the music slowly breaking up between 4:40-5:20 as space takes over. And whoosh, we're into the roaring gong, feedback & organ! It really does sound kind of like a rocketship gliding through space, especially around 7 minutes. Jerry starts some notes at 7:25 signaling a way out...but the band keeps up the weirdness, and for a minute there's a delightful clash between his half-formed tune and the howling abyss. Space finally peters out around 9 minutes with a gentle sigh.
A jam slowly pieces itself together from the winds of space. Drums & percussion add a beat, and after 10 minutes they pick up speed...then at 10:45 Bob's suddenly playing the Feelin' Groovy chords. Well now they really take off! The following jam is pretty wild but it's hard to hear. Around 12:40 Jerry starts aiming for Bright Star, which he hits at 14:15 in a slam-bang finish. The peak is short: after 14:40 the band's back in the theme, and they've sped up so much they have to slow down to half-speed to get back to the verse at 15:12. The crowd goes wild! (I wonder how much appreciation like this we just haven't heard on the soundboard tapes.)

A fast & furious version full of New York energy. The audience tape is so rough it's hard to appreciate the final stretch, however the space part is great on this tape and well worth hearing.


JSegel:


Oooh, bad audience recording here unfortunately. It is the beginning of a set? Hard to understand the start despite the tape cut, and there’s either feedback or high organ notes for a while. Sounds like the rhythm section is moving, JG is just trying out a few modal notes. TC is hovering on chords. Sounds like they start to really get into it after a few minutes, some strong forward motion, then backing off toward a theme statement. It’s not super fast and Phil seems to be holding on pedal tones a lot. A lot of preamble before the verse hovering with organ chords floating over it all. Verse 1 at 3:40. Strong held notes in the vocals with no more horror movie tremolo warbles. Line two is still still doing the last chord fulcrum thing instead of the stronger spy-theme rhythms.

The Transitive Nightfall starts with the band grooving away, but it is slowly being blown aside by cymbals and odd sounds, like entering a new world, landing in a new land before 6 minutes. Volume swell notes, some bass maneuvering underneath. Cymbals blowing the realities around. Eventually Phil settles down and the vibe is space. It hovers for a while before JG comes in with some extra-modal material in melodic lines above it. Weird organ swells with the bright stops out. JG is playing around with atonal chords, Phil with small phrases in between gaps. Arhythmic space still happening with occasional lines form the musicians. Phil seems to be in his own world.

At about 10 minutes, drums enter with a side-stick rhythm, it sounds like the band is going to drop in and head to thematic jamming, but it takes a while (also hard to hear all the parts in the cassette hiss.) A chordal jam/Feeling Groovy before the 11 minute mark, they are building it up stronger and stronger, toward a theme statement at 12:40, but curtailed, only using the first part of the phrase. Then upwards again, some really fast lead playing from Jerry at this show. He’s really rocking out! Would be nice to hear a soundboard of this show. Bright Star at 14:20 following many minutes of spectacular guitar playing, you can hear people yelling and clapping as they bring it down in volume *and* tempo very starkly by 15 minutes to verse 2, with odd drum rhythm accompaniment and a funny dropping lick from the organ. It sounds like it’s still dropping in tempo through the verse, like a sudden drop from orbit back to earth.

Outro is all there but covered in tape hiss, off to the chords (with some odd ones) and into St Stephen, where again the audience claps and yells yay!

Must have been an amazing show. I really like the “transitive nightfall” jams that subvert reality like this by starting one way and having it casually blown aside by the cymbals and volume swells into a whole new land. Reminds me of the breeze coming in through the window that you didn’t notice before you smoked the DMT and now it’s gone and blown the reality you had been living in away bit by bit until you are entirely somewhere else.


Mr. Rain:


That's one impressive thing the band's doing here that had not really been a part of earlier Dark Stars....the way the music slowly breaks up into space like ice breaking off into the sea....and then the way the jam afterwards slowly puts itself together while space is still going on.... Mind-blowing, even if we can barely hear what's going on.


adamos:



Sometimes a suboptimal recording adds a certain mystical quality to the proceedings; this is not one of those times. As the tape cuts in they're getting a nice initial groove going and Jerry's lines feel like they are dancing in the sky. My first guess for the chiming bells sound that Mr. Rain pointed out was guitar but as it went on it seemed to blend in with what TC was doing so I'm not sure. The jam gets lively and engaging before shifting into the main theme and then the first verse.

After the verse Phil and Bob start out in the usual fashion and then things quickly start to swirl before shifting into a spacey zone. They get fairly quiet accented by gong washes and various sounds from the ensemble. It starts to get weirder with some cool sounds and touches of feedback; it does feel like a large ship drifting through space. Jerry pokes through around 7:30 as if he's ready to head out but his lines continue to be enveloped by space. After 9:00 or so the spaciness begins to slowly dissolve and Jerry starts to wander forth with Phil playing off him and accents from Bob.

They start to pick up some speed and Feeling Groovy emerges and I imagine the proceeding jam would sound really good on a better recording. They get cooking pretty well; after hints of Bright Start Jerry starts working some lower notes and then takes them up into Bright Star proper around 14:17. On the tape it sounds a little like bagpipes in the distance. Before long they take it down into the main theme then ease up further, eliciting enthusiastic cheers from the crowd, before moving on to the second verse.