103. 1970-05-15

youtube Fillmore East 19:40
Main theme at :05 and 2:46.
First verse at 3:05.
Feelin’ Groovy at 15:14.
Bright Star at 17:13.
Main theme at 17:45.
Second verse at 17:58.
Goes into St. Stephen.

The obvious step finally taken, this Dark Star begins with the main theme straight off. It has been interesting to watch the development of the intro jam—after the very early versions, it seemed to be straying farther out for a while; lately, however, it’s been increasingly pegged to the theme. This isn’t to say that it has gone back to basics; rather, I am tempted to say that the theme has returned in sublated form, as in the third stage of a Hegelian dialectic. I shall resist this temptation, however—while it would be an illuminating remark, all it would really bring to light is the fact that I have at least skimmed the Wikipedia entry on Hegel. What I really mean to say is that the intro has not been stripped back, but it seems to have been decided that the theme will serve as both the backbone and as a constant touchstone that keeps the band closer to home in the early going. They have not abandoned all exploration, but they don’t stray too far from home ground in most of the recent renditions.

The band sounds confident, and they are mostly content with the two-chord pattern here. This lovely intro is entirely a rumination on the song structure, and Garcia touches on the verse melody at :40, 1:57, and 2:30. Although they do not crash into the E minor, they strongly suggest it after the second of these. They go to the verse rather early here, without ever really wandering out, and yet if this jam is in a way basic, it is nevertheless masterful—sometimes it is sufficient to play beautifully and well (is it always sufficient? Maybe not, but it would be difficult to think of a counter-example!).

They have gotten extremely good at subtracting most of the music as they initiate the space section. Although they do not even keep a pulse going, they still manage to maintain an almost uncanny momentum during these quiet sections. Tonight, as more sounds start to enter space it feels like an organic progression. This segment is brief tonight, however; at 8:34, Garcia starts a rolling lead that serves as a de facto Sputnik, although this time what he plays is not the Sputnik pattern.

At 9:24 Garcia strongly asserts the A as though they’re going to the main theme, but he soon adverts to a more Sputnik-like series, although this also doesn’t last long, with the guitar moving back to a more classic Dark Star lead. Weir starts up a chunky but gentle palm muted rhythm that pushes into the middle jam. The drummers back this with insistent percussion at first, but they avoid the kits as the band chimes and bounces without quite breaking out.

At 12:34 Garcia lays in some Sputnik-y rolls; the theme of this jam seems to be a blend of Sputnik and a straightforward Dark Star jam. At 13:00 Jerry breaks out a double time Sputnik, but he then moves almost immediately to the stabbing that sometimes comes at the end of this section. Weir joins in, but they calm down again quickly; at 13:49 Garcia quotes the main theme, reminding us of the other pole of this jam. The drums start to assert themselves and the jam picks up steam, but as the music intensifies the light and airy mood is somehow maintained. At 15:14 Weir—taking a hint, I think, from Garcia—seamlessly moves them into Feelin’ Groovy.

Like last time (04-24), this starts to sound more like an UJB jam than Feelin’ Groovy—enough so that I am not sure how to tag it, since the band sidesteps out of it almost immediately thereafter. There is a moment of hovering, and then—beautifully, inevitably—Garcia climbs, and a Bright Star is born. The band sounds great throughout, and the ensuing tempo reduction seems to be a matter of consensus. Garcia sings wonderfully, and Dark Star comes to a close again.

Although in some ways this could be considered a conservative rendition, it is nevertheless a tour de force; to some extent, the impression of conservatism can be attributed to how skillfully they navigate the transitions, and to how seamlessly the parts fit together. Ideas don’t seem to be lacking, even if not many new ones are proposed; the band sounds inspired, reveling in the structures that at other times they take pleasure in subverting. The clarity of the recording certainly doesn’t hurt, as the splendor of the playing and singing is rendered in full color here. All in all, this is a beautiful Dark Star.


What was said:

102. 1970-05-08

32056 SUNY Delhi 18:05 (the beginning is cut).
Main theme at :45.
First verse at 1:14.
Sputnik at 7:30.
Soulful Strut at 11:10.
Feelin' Groovy at 16:00.
Goes into Dancing in the Streets.

This is a truly horrible recording. Much of it sounds like a piano accompanied by a tuba. Since the Grateful Dead at this point included neither of these instruments, one has to question the fidelity of this recording.

There is a certain amount of charm to the screeching, roaring and howling space section, although I wouldn’t go so far as to say the experience is enhanced by the nature of this recording. This does seem like it was probably one heck of a space, in any case. It ends with a Sputnik; this time, it seems like a little more of a traditional Sputnik than we’ve been getting lately.

At around 9 Minutes we seem to be back in a more traditional Dark Star type jam, as it seems like Weir and Lesh are playing a main theme kind of pattern. Garcia seems to be playing a kind of rolling pattern in various places that has an odd effect, as the tape picks up his high notes in a way that makes them sound much different from his lower sounds, so he sometimes sounds like two different people.

They work their way into a Soulful Strut jam. This gets kind of hypnotic if you bend your ear to the murk. 14:20 is a good example, if you listen for a few seconds, of how when Garcia changes registers the sound seems to come from somewhere else—an interesting artifact of the recording, I suppose.

At around 16:00 the jam changes. JSegel has been callin Feelin’ Groovy a UJB jam, but this time that is what it sounds like to me here. It is possible that the recording is fooling me and I can’t adequately discern the chord pattern, however. In any case, at least for now I’m going to call this a UJB jam.

A few seconds before the end of the track the band shifts into Dancing in the Streets, and Dark Star ends without a second verse.

I don’t have anything more to say about this—it was difficult to get through. Probably a good version, but anyone not doing a project like this one should not feel obliged to listen to this.


What was said:

101. 1970-04-24 (possibly 4-23)

19531 Denver 24:39
Main theme at :30, :50, 1:32, and 6:05.
First verse at 6:34.
Sputnik at 11:05.
Feelin’ Groovy at 13:01.
Soulful Strut at 13:54.
Bright Star at 22:05.
Main theme at 22:30.
Second verse at 23:03.
Goes into St. Stephen.

The sound quality of this aud leaves much to be desired. The band cranks along convincingly on the intro jam, with some visits to the main theme punctuating the proceedings. Garcia, who is once again playing an SG, sounds really great here. There is a quite majestic feel to the playing here, and there is a sense of bobbing along on some effective swells and peaks in a continuously flow of sound. There is a particularly rousing peak before the drop into the main theme just prior to the verse.

Once again there is a good patch of near-silence at the beginning of space, which is a particularly unique and effective strategy in the Dark Stars of this era. At 9:30, we find that the return of the SG also has brought us the return of the insect weirdness, which seems to lend credence to JSegel’s theory that he is playing behind the bridge in a way he cannot do on a Stratocaster. Space proceeds very quietly until, at 11:05, there are adumbrations of Sputnik. This is sort of a Sputnik and sort of not, as is often the case these days; I guess it can’t hurt to list it. It soon turns into a more ordinary line from Garcia; Lesh dips into Feelin’ Groovy at 12:40, and after a little dithering that’s where it winds up going, and then it works its way over to Soulful Strut.

They play the heck out of this one, and Garcia sounds magnificent on the SG (or at least, given the quality of the recording, he sounds like he sounds magnificent). By around the 16 point Soulful Strut seems to be winding down, but they crank it back up to a crescendo. Finally at around 17:20 Garcia lets out a flurry of notes that bring Soulful Strut to a close.

He then plays some double stop riffs, and it’s not clear exactly what’s going on here, but it seems like something different. It starts to take the rhythm of Feelin’ Groovy, more or less, but with different chords. At 19:05 Lesh starts playing Feelin’ Groovy, but Garcia keeps shifting up a fourth and throwing it into disarray. Lesh lets out a final flourish of Feelin’ Groovy chords when Garcia stops. At about 20 minutes, they shift back into a Dark Star pattern. This then changes into some 5-beat arpeggios, and then back into a hard charging jam that again dips into a Feelin’ Groovy kind of beat before veering into a Bright Star-like peak; then they take it over the top into Bright Star, drop down into the main theme and head to the verse.

This is a remarkable version. The jamming after Soulful Strut is rather unique, and at times it’s hard to discern what they’re doing. At times, once again, the cadence of this section reminded me of Run for the Roses. The final peak is brutal, devastating. The sound is terrible, though.


What was said:

100. 1970-03-24 (possibly 03-23)

32054 Florida 13:50 (13:42)
Main theme at 1:35.
Feelin’ Groovy at 9:32.
Bright Star at 10:45.
Goes into The Other One.

A snappy intro is played here with confidence. The main theme is visited early, and as usual they seem to be hovering around it in this section. From about 3:00 the band slides into a remarkable jam. Weir is playing some high counterpoint, which contributes to the unique flavor here. It comes to a head about a minute later, and then they dip into a kind of Sputnik-y region to regroup. Unfortunately, there is a cut at 4:55, and we are cast forward into the post-verse space.

Space, which again seems a little disjointed tonight, turns into a kind of gentle noodling as ordinary sonorities reassert themselves. When it comes together at around 7:30 it seems like Soulful Strut is in the offing. The band starts pedaling in a repetitious pattern, which sometimes suggests they’re getting ready to play a modular jam. However, they stay with what they’re doing for a while; Garcia starts a frenzied high solo at 9:00, and then he breaks into Bright Star at about 9:12, although it’s more of a quote, and he goes on to quote the main theme at 9:24 before the band kicks into Feelin’ Groovy at 9:32.

They don’t stay with Feelin’ Groovy for long, and soon Garcia is again weaving his solo around the Bright Star pattern. There is quite a peak here before the band brings it down again. As we reach the 12 minute mark it almost sounds like Garcia is pushing toward Cosmic Charlie for a moment or two, and there is a Sputnik pattern at the end before the band shifts into The Other One (without an intervening Cryptical Envelopment).

The playing is really great at times, and the jam after space is pretty vicious. Although the intro is cut what’s here of that is also really good. This is a nice piece of music that is sadly incomplete; in any case, it seems like the band is on a roll with Dark Star at this point.


What was said:

99. 1970-02-14

97644 Fillmore East 23:37
Main theme at 4:08.
First verse at 4:34.
Sputnik at 15:18.
Bright Star at 19:49.
Feelin’ Groovy tease at 17:33, jam at 20:50.
Main theme at 21:32.
Second verse at 21:50.
Goes into St. Stephen.

Whatever magic they conjured the day before still seems present here, from the beginning. The band really sounds fully operational as a polyphonic unit, and Garcia’s playing is gorgeous. It doesn’t hurt that the recording sounds really good, of course. While the theme is still the organizing principle of the opening jam, it seems more latent this time, until 4:08 when it slips right in without fanfare; from here, we move almost immediately to the verse.

There is a longer than usual pre-space build-up after the verse. This breaks down and various noises are assayed before the familiar descent into silence ushers us into the expected space section. There is some feedback, and Garcia starts gently tolling; then the string players allow themselves some real weirdness for a while. This winds its way toward a Garcia-Weir duet of twirling volume knobs. Space never builds to anything less fragmentary; rather, at around 11:00 they start to venture out of it, quickly throwing together cooking little two-chord jam.

At about 12:30 Garcia starts inserting some odd notes, and the jam is building in intensity. They cut back for a bit though, and then build it up again—although the dynamics aren’t as volatile as they were in mid-1969, they still seldom describe an entirely linear progression. so there are peaks and valleys throughout this section.

At 15:18 Garcia starts playing a Sputnik pattern, and they stay with it for a while, in what proves to be a beautiful segment of music. This winds up in a freer jam; Lesh states the Feelin’ Groovy theme at 17:33, but they do not follow through on this. Instead they keep building the jam until Garcia bursts into Bright Star at 19:49. Despite this, it still doesn’t really sound like a Dark Star jam, and they revert to the earlier two-chord pattern before finally (unexpectedly) striking up Feelin’ Groovy at 20:50. This twists out of Feelin’ Groovy and into a peak that gives way to an emphatic rendering of the main theme which brings us to the second verse.

This is another outstanding rendition. The jamming sort of revolves around several themes while rarely committing to any of them for long (Dark Star, Sputnik, Feelin’ Groovy). The band sounds great here, in full possession of Grateful Dead Power.


What was said:

98. 1970-02-13

youtube Fillmore East 29:31
Main theme at 3:40 and 8:38.
First verse at 9:00.
Feelin’ Groovy at 18:19.
Bright Star at 24:15 and 25:08.
Main theme at 27:08.
Second verse at 27:48.

The trend of playing an introduction rather closely based on the Dark Star theme continues. Garcia scatters allusions to the main theme and Bright Star throughout the early going. Every time the music strays away, it comes back in a way that seems to refer to the theme. The brighter, snappy tone is back from last time. Everything seems to pop tonight, and Garcia is particularly inspired, with a broader than usual palette.

At 5:54 Garcia bends a major 7th and launches into the verse melody—sort of. The main ingredients of Dark Star are alluded to, more than stated, until finally at 8:38 Garcia launches the theme. This is rightly treated as a denouement of sorts, as the first verse follows right on its heels. The verse is delivered very gently tonight, and we still have not heard very much in the way of drumming.

There is a nice little flourish after the verse that starts to veer into E minor, which sends us into space. This time the band exploits to the fullest their ability to take it down to almost nothing without destroying the consistency of the piece. As it builds back up, it gets melodic almost immediately this time, then decoheres into another minimalist backwater. Then at 14:52, Garcia starts spinning the line that will lead them into the middle jam, and Lesh and Weir soon join him. Now there are drums. Weir starts playing a funky rhythm and the jam emerges.

By around 17:00 another pattern has emerged, something vaguely Latin, and maybe a little menacing. Unexpectedly, Lesh lays in a bouncy line as Garcia and Weir turn up the intensity. Jerry’s line starting at 18:03 is harsh and keening…but suddenly Feelin’ Groovy is in the offing, and Weir officially starts it at 18:19. At 19:30 this gets oozy and hazy, and the Feelin’ Groovy pattern is lost as another distinctive jam takes its place, with Garcia as the instigator this time. This is one of the greatest instances of a thematic jam that is not (apparently) based on a pre-given theme, and they hang on to it until it’s no longer needed.

A little after the 22 minute line we find the band seemingly driving back toward Dark Star, with Weir trilling along beside Garcia as it comes to a peak. Then at 22:29, they step back and Garcia starts playing a Sputnik-type pattern, although it is sufficiently altered that I haven’t listed it as Sputnik. This comes to a head at 23:27 when Garcia starts pushing in the direction of Bright Star, bringing the band back into a Dark Star pattern. The music marches triumphantly toward its conclusion, and there is a little peak, then a retrenchment, a little more Bright Star, and a theme section where Garcia plays an ever intensifying pattern and we are brought to another peak. At 26:35, Garcia flips to the bridge pickup and spins some astonishing lines as the band takes it over the top. When the theme comes at 27:08 it is played ferociously a few times, then they bring it down and head to the verse.

It is not hard to understand why this is seen as a career highlight. The band is completely masterful here, without a wrong or even tentative step to be found at any point. As Dark Star develops, it (perhaps necessarily) goes through periods of exploration where the execution is not always entirely convincing. This is not one of those—everything they’ve learned to do is on full display, and executed with confident abandon. Certainly a watershed Dark Star.


What was said:

97. 1970-02-11

99154 Fillmore East 25:59 (Dark Star 16:19>Spanish Jam 9:40)
Main theme at 7:05.
Goes into Turn On Your Lovelight.


Peter Green and Duane Allman reportedly sat in here. Garcia sounds different at the beginning here, with a new, very forward bright and trebly sound to his playing. Weir is very active in the early going, and Lesh is likewise aggressive—the band is bubbling like crazy. At 2:20 it sounds like at least one other guitar starts to join in, which I am guessing is Duane Allman, although it’s hard to tell for sure. This doesn’t go entirely smoothly, so Lesh soon adverts to the main theme, and they start to get it together.

A little while after the 4 minute mark it seems like there’s another guitarist getting involved, although three is probably the maximum number of guitarists I can keep track of, so it’s hard to say for sure. By 5:30 things come down to almost nothing, and again Phil starts playing the theme to bring everyone back together. At 6:25 someone (Peter Green?) is playing a haunting, bluesy lead while the rest of the band runs though the theme. At about 6:47 the source switches to an audience recording, which doesn’t sound nearly as good as the soundboard, but the latter is back by 7:52.

Between 8 and 9 minutes the music eases into a kind of slow shuffle. It doesn’t seem like it’s really going anywhere in particular, everyone just grooves along. A new pattern emerges at about 9:30, as Lesh starts playing a bluesy thing on the bass and the band responds. As this subsides, all the guitar players seem tentative, as if feeling each other out. Garcia plays a lot of high chordal stuff, leaving room for others to assert themselves, but they don’t really do so until at about 12:15 another pattern starts to emerge which sounds like a stereotypically 1960s blues-rock jam. This builds in intensity, as everyone seems focused on building grooves rather than the kind of exploration we might encounter if this were just the usual lineup.

This part gets really good, though; one of the guitar players, who seems not to be adequately amplified, starts trading fours with Garcia, and seems to be doing a rather good, if insufficiently audible, job. Pigpen starts to lay on some really nice organ, and the whole thing really gets pumping, at which point Weir steps out a bit, as this sort of groove music is certainly his forte.

Spanish Jam, led by Weir, comes in so suddenly that it seems there might be a cut. The extra hands are an asset in this bit, as they get the idea and put their shoulders to the wheel. Much of the lead playing, apart from Garcia, seems mostly ornamental. Again, the latter trades lines with someone who should be louder, and the band kicks up a fuss. At about 3:20 things are really pumping along, and everyone is being rather assertive.

As we approach the four minute mark, Lesh starts to get fancy, and then Weir takes the lead, with one of the guests doubling him. Garcia is not really audible here, so it gives us a chance to hear some of the other stuff that’s going on. Then there’s a pretty extended stretch with this other guitarist in the lead. At 6:58 Pigpen takes over for a little while, and once again it is nice to hear him back in the organ seat. Then at about 7:40 Garcia gets back in the driver’s seat and they build toward a peak. At about 8:30, someone in the left channel who is not Garcia takes the lead, and this is rather loud and effective. After about a minute the band starts to fall apart around him, though, and then they go into Lovelight.

All of this is very enjoyable, although the addition of guests is less than revelatory. Although the comparison is not really fair here, since they don’t have a lot of Dark Star experience under their belts, the other guitarists are notably reliant on grooves—in contrast to Garcia, their playing doesn’t really tell a story, and that is dispositive in the way this Dark Star plays out. It is a fun jam, but not essential, I don’t think.


What was said:

96. 1970-02-08

19152 Fillmore West 26:13
Bright Star at :48.
Main theme at 2:49, 3:32, and 6:07.
First verse at 6:25.
Bright Star at 21:10.
Main theme at 21:59.
Feelin’ Groovy/UJB at 22:40.
Main theme at 24:00/24:18.
Second verse at 24:30.
Goes into St. Stephen.

The recording here sounds kind of rough, but we can hear everything that’s going on. Garcia plucks around a little and almost immediately goes into a Bright Star variation, which seems close enough to the real thing to mark above. He then repeats the pattern on the bass strings, and then gets into some chordal lead stuff. There seems to be a clear trend lately of building the intro more explicitly around theme-like stuff, which can at times make the identification of waypoints a bit difficult. This one hews pretty closely to the basic song pattern until about 5 minutes in, when it starts to wander a little, but as usually happens lately, it’s reined in pretty quickly again.

When the band hits the theme again at 6:07, they take it almost immediately to the verse. This is a gong-heavy affair this time. Afterward, they seem to take a little longer than usual getting to space, but that’s where it heads, of course. Space is a rather percussive, noisy thing tonight, with lots of feedback. They forgo the descent into silence that often begins this section, making a lot of noise throughout. At 13:18, Garcia seems ready to start his line, and this time there is no hint of Sputnik. By 14:00, he is asserting himself more strongly, and the band starts coming out of it.

A moody, broody jam comes together, with hints at the Dark Star theme in the guitar throughout. We find ourselves at a bit after 16 minutes in a rather rocking jam that has at some point coalesced; again, there is no modular jam here, but a quite structured thing nonetheless. At around 17:45 there is a bit of pedaling which often suggests the advent of a module, but they continue on with a kind of boogie thing that seems to have no recognizable pedigree. At 18:45 it starts to sound like Dark Star again; recent history would suggest we are heading toward the denouement, but here we have 7 minute to go.

Garcia starts winding up Bright Star and the band kicks up behind him. Instead of Bright Star, though, a little after 20 minutes the band sounds like its firing up The Other One. This continues until 21:10, when they swing back into an obvious Dark Star groove, with Garcia again suggesting Bright Star, which this time he follows through on, until it takes us into the main theme. The band gets funkier with this and then, unexpectedly, they swing into a Feelin’ Groovy jam that this time starts to sound more like Uncle John’s Band before Garcia starts to superpose the main theme on it, to which the band soon acquiesces. This brings us to the second verse, and the end of the song.

This is a really interesting version. The jamming here is fluid, and the band seems locked in and capable of unexpected permutations. A lot happens in this one.


What was said:

95. 1970-02-02

121042 St. Louis 21:52
Main theme at 1:13, 1:47, 4:10 and 5:10.
First verse at 5:22.
Feelin’ Groovy at 12:48.
Main theme at 18:57.
Second verse at 20:09.
Goes into St. Stephen.

The first Dark Star without TC starts rather smoothly, with Weir playing some chiming chords while Lesh asserts himself. Garcia comes in with some lovely lines to get the whole ensemble going, quoting the theme at 1:13 and 1:47, which continues the trend lately of building the intro jam around the theme. A little after two minutes sees the band changing the tonality, as they go into a jam that seems to have a major 7 feel. Garcia is magisterial here, playing with a lot of authority, although it may have been Weir who was responsible for determining this jam’s direction. Garcia revisits the theme at the end of this section, then they briefly set off again before returning to the theme and the verse.

After a brief flourish, they take the customary journey to space to follow the verse. Once again they bring the music down to almost nothing, and start to build from there. At 9:02, the sound of an organ emerges, as it seems that Pigpen has reclaimed his seat. Space seems an odd place for him to assert himself, given all that’s been said about his aversion to free form stuff.

At 10:24 Garcia starts fiddling away on a line that seems to be leading out of space. Here is where we would have had Sputnik lately, but he adopts a different strategy this time. The jam takes on a hovering, ostinato quality that sometimes presages the appearance of a modular jam (usually Feelin’ Groovy), but then they start to build it up, and at 12:45 Garcia starts flashing Sputnik; shortly thereafter, they start up Feelin’ Groovy after all. As is often the case, they don’t hew too closely to the structure, so that it’s not entirely clear at what point they leave the jam behind, but in all it’s relatively brief, and we wind up in a wonderful polyphonic jam of utter Grateful Deadness.

At 15:23 Sputnik again seems to loom on the horizon for a few moments; then at 15:45 Garcia goes into something quite like Sputnik, but it’s going somewhere else. Pigpen again is piping in at about 16:15…he’s not a huge factor, but he’s making sure to get his 2 cents in. The band sounds patient but fully engaged, as the playing is dynamic and creative. The jam starts to build from about 18:00, and soon Garcia is strongly hinting at Bright Star, but he’s got too much to say to go there, and at 18:57 he kicks off a series that plays off the theme with lots of variations along the way. When he finally commits to the theme, the band drives to a peak which barely starts to settle down when Garcia drops in the verse.

This could have gone on longer, but every moment is magic. In my estimation, this is absolutely a top drawer Dark Star of this era. The band really has it here.


What was said:


JSegel:


Nice recording. Directly into a rolling jam right after the intro riff, Jerry and Phil cruising over a sharp chordal set from Bobby. Leisurely entry into the theme and after-theme jamming and back to it stronger to crest the wave and get somewhere else, landing on a new chord area after a couple minutes, coming back with some open strings to emphasize the A again. At 3 min, some bright tone, Stratocaster lead pickup. You can hear bleed from the amps into the vocal mics, like a reverb. I hear the organ! Gotta be Pigpen again now? He’s playing some long tones.

Nice little tidepools before getting to the theme again and lining it up for the verse. But a little waterfall pool gets in the way before the long slide up to the A and theme and into the verse

Verse 1 at about 5:30, beautiful rendering. It gets very delicate over lines two and three, minor noodling on line three. Counterpoint outro, then a climb to outside notes, the cymbals and Bob’s chords come in and fade into a cymbal bell tolling and soft feedbacks and hits begin. Space is vast. Phil has some odd struck notes, the feedback is atonal. An organ riff into a brief note! Rubbing strings with things, rocking something on the strings, probably a slide. Pedal tones from the bass.

Jerry comes in with some lead playing instead of a sputnik plucking, delicately at first, with no steady rhythm section, they start to build it up from nothing, eventually side stick drums come in to give it a pulse. Bob is playing around with the F# and how it fits in the chords, and then changing that to an F natural before hitting the Feeling Groovy chord progression at 13 minutes, but they have a very relaxed groove for it this evening. It only last a minute or so, then breaks down and out of the break Phil starts a slow Dark Star groove area. This goes on toward a new minor key sounding area that has some arpeggiating similar to sputnik but not quite. Relaxed jamming follows with occasional references to the theme starts. Jerry is playing some nice runs this evening and the band has their ears on doing some on-the-spot creative improvising. Brand new music creation. By the time it builds to a Bright Star-like area at 18:30, the groove is very different than normal, and slowed down, almost latin-groove, the actual Bright Star theme statement at 19 is really drawn out, and then when that wave breaks and they get back to the theme it’s really slowly stated but with an underlying intensity, then suddenly an immediate verse 2, with the side stick drums still playing for the first line, dropping to cymbals for a stately Line 2, drums come back in for line three at this tempo, it’s very sort of “swingin’” in a mellow sort of way. The chorus comes in with not the greatest harmonies, outro counterpoint goes on to the chords before St Stephen and people clap at its first notes.


Nice playing all around, I (still) like Pigpen on organ! The Soulful Strut groove it gets into in the second half is funny, it always reminds me of swingin’ 60s bachelor pad Latin music with the sidestick drums and especially with this evening’s rather slower pulse. It’s almost the same groove as the really early iterations, when it was almost proto-Eyes of the World, but it seems like lately he’s only using one Maj7 chord instead of two.


Dahabenzapple:


One of my all-time favorite Stars - and the whole show (albeit very short as for a number of reasons the boys didn’t start until well after 10:00) is incredible. Found on Dave’s 6.


Mr. Rain:


Gets off to a light & limber start. Just the guitars & guiro...I wonder if they felt more freedom without TC chirping around on the organ. But wait...there is an organ here! Pigpen's playing faint drones in the back.... I suppose the Dead didn't even bother recording the organ at this show, so Pigpen usually only shows up in quiet moments in this Dark Star; it would be nice to hear what he's doing.
Anyway, they're digging into this opening jam, great trance-Dead. They're doing their normal opening pattern of theme > drift away > theme > etc. At 4:10 they fake us into thinking the verse is coming, but Jerry wants to float around a little more before he commits to it a minute later.

Space opens up with the rumbling bass, and the customary journey through silence & emptiness. Little noises become big noises; there's a lot of feedback presence but it doesn't get very loud, just droney. Pigpen's doing his best creepy-TC imitation. Phil seems maybe a little impatient to get going, boom-BOOM!
Jerry introduces the jam with a new line....usually he's been doing Sputnik in this spot, but not here. Phil & Bob join him but they're keeping it loose & wide-open, not heading in a specific direction. Bill adds a beat and Bob's chords get more firm as the jam builds up and gets more rhythmic. A surprising moment at 12:40 when Jerry teases Sputnik on top of an organ drone, but it passes immediately when Bob pushes Feelin' Groovy instead. So they do a nice, groovy version, which doesn't last long, they end it pretty clearly after 13:50.

The next 30 seconds remind me strongly of 2/18/71's Beautiful Jam, but Jerry takes them through some other twists & turns. Quite a winding journey follows, not really heading anywhere, kind of mellow & intense at the same time. Around 18:10 Jerry starts keening for Bright Star but they're already at full peak; it kind of arrives at 18:40 but quickly switches to a very intense playing of the theme. (A last flash of the organ at 19:15.) Then they quiet down and boom, a beautiful performance of the theme which shades briefly into Bright Star and a final run that Jerry uses as a runway to a quick final theme & verse. Very smooth timing!
It sounds like Pigpen's trying to play along with the climbing outro. Big cheer for St. Stephen; by now audiences were familiar with the Live/Dead album.
A good one, friendly and fast-moving -- they're flowing together & in the zone.


adamos:


Nice vibe right from the start. Phil is prominent and going to work; Jerry’s tone has a bit of edge and Bob is strumming some jangly chords. Jerry heads out on a dreamy line and there’s a floating feel to the collective playing. They get some momentum going into the theme but then ease up right after which sounds really nice. They’re cruising along again and there’s a certain beauty to the jam. Jerry’s varying between edgier and dreamier lines. There’s sharpness and rev and yet also delicateness. It’s really a lovely opening. Parts of it feel a little Beautiful Jam-ish and I see that Mr. Rain mentioned that about a later moment. They return to the theme at 4:10 and slow it down again and the dreamy quality is back. After a minute they come back to it again and then move on to the first verse.

After the verse there’s a bit of a flourish and then they dissolve it into space. A little feedback, some jangly chimes and subtle bell tolls and general weirdness. Things get pretty quiet which allows for some freaky sounds to rise up. Some vibrating guitar, a touch of organ (hello Pig!) and scraping and other insect-y stuff. Phil hits some low vibrating notes. It quiets down again and Jerry starts a pretty line out, initially accompanied by a cricket-like keyboard sound that fades away.

Jerry works the wandering line and a collective jam starts to form; it’s loose and noncommittal but with a pretty feel. It starts to gently build and works into a more energetic groove with forceful rhythm from Bob. There are touches of Sputnik but they opt to shift into Feelin’ Groovy instead. It is indeed groovy and melodic and a little ragged and raspy too. It’s also fairly brief as they transition back into a more open jam before too long. The jam has a pretty feel and starts to get a bit more Dark Star-ish but still its own thing. Some Sputnik-esque sounds enter the picture again but it too is its own thing, becoming lower and deeper and revving and then higher and biting and also kind of dreamy. Really nice passage.

The jam continues on, taking its time. Bill is adding some nice subtle work in the background. Jerry winds through corridors with Phil and Bob interweaving and by 17:50 things are building and it feels like Bright Star is imminent. But the ascent goes another way and it’s sort of Bright Star-ish but not exactly and then they burst forth into variations of the main theme, screaming out into the night with fuzz and ferocity. Powerful stuff! They ease up and work around the theme a bit more with some nice climbing flourishes before quickly shifting into the second verse.

A wonderful Dark Star with some uniqueness in places.