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:

adamos:


Another good opening albeit it a short one. Everyone is clear on the recording and the collective interweaving comes through nicely. Bob's rhythm is prominent which adds additional flavor. Jerry heads out on a wandering line and Phil plays off them nicely. They're moving with pace and by a couple of minutes in you can feel the building intensity. They back off a bit and there are ebbs and flows, winding and spiraling lines and some collective build-up and the whole thing just sounds really good. They shift into the theme at 4:08 and then proceed to the verse.

After the verse Phil and Bob do their thing and keep it going longer than they have been. Some cymbal comes in and eventually Jerry joins in too with some high notes and it all swirls a bit before they dissolve it into space. Things get fairly quiet from which some freaky guitar noises begin to emerge. There's string scraping and brief bell tolls and then they quiet further with not much but faint chimes coming through. More weirdness follows, taking it's time. They are venturing into the void but delicately. Around 10:00 Jerry introduces some gentle notes but he morphs it into volume knob action with Bob joining in a little too. Things quiet again and then by 11:00 Jerry is back to the gentle line which quickly takes shape and the others jump in and they're off on a jam.

The jam touches on some familiar territory at least initially and Jerry, Phil and Bob play off each other with faint but increasing drums in the mix as well. The intensity builds and they're rocking it out and then suddenly they ease up, keeping it going but with a different vibe and Phil stepping forward more. Slowly it builds back up again and they've got a good groove going. Around 15:00 they ease up and then shortly after Jerry starts up Sputnik. It's a mellower and feels more dreamy than otherworldly. Things gently unfold with a pretty feel sort of like a flower blooming. They continue to work in this space and it's a really nice passage.

Around 17:30 Phil starts up Feelin' Groovy but they blend it into what they've got going and increase the intensity of the jam. After 18:35 things ease up and it's sounding more Dark Star-ish but still it's own thing. They begin to ascend again and they launch into Bright Star at 19:49 which sounds glorious. It's not a blistering peak but it's got some oomph and groove. Around 20:20 they shift back into the jam which 30 seconds later turns into Feelin' Groovy. FG is brief but melodious with some rev and Jerry extends some high notes and then swings down powerfully into the main theme, after which they head to the second verse.


JSegel:


Third night of three here this weekend, this time Dark Star is the 2nd song in the Early Show, after Cold Rain and Snow and some technical monitor issues.

A vocal count in even, to the intro riff and immediate jump into a groove improv, that’s moving forward. With guiro/shakers, all three guitars are in full-steam ahead mode on it, even hints at Bright Star theme stuff early on, it stays up for a few minutes before dropping into more ponderous eddies of sound, and Jerry changes his pickup settings to a darker one, but with the Strat it’s still a very round and bell-like tone, theme following at 4 min with Bobby on his classic chord groove method, and verse 1 comes 30 seconds later. Good vocal delivery, a little tired sounding by the third line (long weekend!)

The jam starts with an aggressive groove, Bobby and Phil plugging away before it starts to slide away into space, Jerry eventually comes in with some high repeated notes and into the small sounds and they devolve into noise making, rubbing the strings, small hits on the guitars, cymbals. The bells or chimes comes in, small feedbacks in the mix, popping out. This space has mostly small guitar sounds and feedback play. Arhythmic noises and decelerating strikes with a metal slide or something, JG comes in with notes and then some volume knob swells by 10 minutes. A minute later he’s making quiet melodic runs, instigating the band to come in, and they do with a groove, Bobby using the A7-G7 thing from the night before again, so Jerry plays with the B-F tritone in his licks. This is an interesting jam, sort of dissonant and aggressive. It mellows after a few minutes, but Bobby is still sticking with the G7 for a while, Phil comes in on a new bass line with an E Major, but it doesn’t stick them into the major mode quite. Drums are in, side-sticking.

Jerry starts a casual Sputnik at 15 minutes, this area dies out into a more chaotic area, drums fade and then come back quietly, the guiro still taking charge of the rhythm. Phil makes a stab at the descending “groovy” bass line but it doesn’t stick really either. They’re taking the cues and casting them aside one after another. The jamming continues forward, but no real riffs stick (Phil tries an A-to-E major again) eventually Jerry hits a slow Bright Star right before the 20 minute mark and it goes into a sort of chaotic sounding theme area, loud and odd, and at 20:50, Phil goes for the descending bass line and they actually do the Feeling Groovy chords for a while, but it comes back to a Dark Star theme stated like stomping boots on the stage, slow and loud and drunken-sounding. Immediate verse 2 follows at 22 min, bringing the volume down through the lines, starting loud. Almost no strong rhythmic statements for line 2, and almost no wandering on line 3.

Outro has drum punctuation between the madrigal vocal lines, very embellished “transitive nightfall.” The outro counterpoint heads to the static chords leading into St Stephen, the Eleven, Lovelight.


This is a very confident version, everybody is playing very strongly, though the forward motion ends up a little chaotic and loud. It almost sounds drunk at times. Bobby is really into his new G7 modality in the jams in the middle, he stuck with it for quite a while. A good recording, again, decent version but maybe not as creative as the night before.


Mr. Rain:



They don't waste time starting this one! The opening jam is speedy, intent, and not very long. They sound focused even if they're not inclined to dawdle like on 2-13. The great Fillmore East recording highlights Bob's guitar and the inevitable guiro.
The bustle after the verse gets more involved than usual, it sets a kind of frantic mood before they wobble out into space. Then we get silence, moody noises, whines and plonks, like we're entering the Twilight Zone. But it sounds very fragmentary like you say, not as much a grand sonic sculpture as some other spaces.
Jerry picks the way out, and this time there's no uncertainty where they're going -- within about 30 seconds they've got a strong groove going. Bob turns up his volume and lays down a choppy rhythm. Bill comes in, and for a while it's more like a hard-edged Dancing in the Streets jam; this is a full rock flight. Sounds like they're heading for Feelin' Groovy, but that gets postponed...they calm down around 13:30 and get more mellow for a minute, bringing the pressure up & down again. Jerry rejects a Feelin' Groovy overture to launch a Sputnik instead. (Mickey brings back the guiro.) But this turns out to be kind of half-hearted, quiet & scattered, a mellow quasi-Sputnik. Jerry shifts gears and takes the jam in a new direction. He turns down another blatant Feelin' Groovy nudge from Phil, and they go through some interesting twists & turns -- here the playing sounds more like it did the night before, with a more wistful mood. (Bass alert: Phil plays the same riff at 14:00 and 19:15.) Suddenly a Bright Star, a release of delight, which turns into a cool new riff, and at last, Feelin' Groovy springs forth, full of pent-up emotion. And bang, the theme! Jerry jumps right into the verse without letting them calm down like usual, but they still do the verse well.
Fascinating version. What strikes me are all the sudden shifts in mood; you get whiplash in this one bouncing around from one distinct feeling to the next. Very different from 2-13 which sustains pretty much the same mood at length. They really pack a lot into these little micro-jams that get strung together, and it feels like it's over in no time.




JSegel:


a parenthetical #000 : 1970-3-17 *no tape* — with Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Oh how I wish there were a tape of this, this really seems like the perfect version for #100 on this list, but oddly nobody at the school thought to record the event! Dark Star with additional orchestral players sitting in (possibly.)