107. 1970-09-19

31510 Fillmore East 25:30 (25:23)
Main theme at 1:47 and 5:06 and 6:09.
First verse at 6:23.
Sputnik at 13:16.
Feelin’ Groovy at 16:10.
Bright Star at 20:51.
Main theme at 21:15.
Bright Star at 22:16.
Main theme at 23:27.
Second verse at 23:51.
Goes into St. Stephen.

The feel is rather relaxed at the outset compared to recent versions. Garcia’s remarkable entrance begins with a note at :22 that comes in and out and finally swells in on a razor edge of feedback. Once he starts his line proper, it is subdued and meditative, seemingly elicited by the delicate playing of the rest of the band. They touch down on the theme early, and head back out.

At 2:35 Garcia again swells in and out on an extended note, this time with a little tremolo picking a la the beginning of Foxy Lady. At 2:50 Garcia does some of the bell tolling we sometimes hear after the first verse. The ruminative playing seems to suggest E minor, then at 4:13 Jerry strongly suggests A, but no move is made toward the theme for almost a minute. When they do hit it, they use it as a springboard to a more assertive jam, although the intensification is by degree and feels organic, leading back to the theme again and the verse. This is one of the most beautiful introductions we have yet heard.

Weir comes to the fore following the verse, with Lesh gently rumbling and Garcia throwing out a bell toll or two, and then there is a transition to silence to begin the space section. A few volume knob swells at an almost subliminal level keep a kind of momentum in play, and then Garcia gently tolls a bit and the cymbals swell. There is a sound like dripping water, and then some amplifier noise cuts in. At about 10:25 a transition seems to be occurring as an intense wash of sound starts bubbling up from the band.

At 11:14 Garcia and then Weir start making sounds that bear a recognizable relation to their origin in guitars; at 12:03, something resembling Sputnik starts coming out of Garcia’s guitar, but we don’t seem to be leaving space, which is if anything just getting more insistent. Then at 13:16 Garcia starts up Sputnik, which could be our line out. Weir’s counterpoint here is gorgeous. Suddenly Garcia is climbing and Weir is playing some funky chords, and, after a magisterial space segment, the middle jam is underway.

At 14:35 Weir sounds like he wants to start Feelin’ Groovy, but nothing comes of it yet; instead, a quite vigorous jam, basically on A with a little kick to the D, coalesces. At 16:08, everyone pauses and Weir kicks into Feelin’ Groovy. Garcia’s lead here is particularly effective; after such a subdued preface, he cuts loose at last. This does not last long, though, as the band shifts through various pedaling maneuvers, and at times seems to touch on Sugar Magnolia. This seems to be one of those segments where they allude to certain structured jams, but manage to stay out of all of them, creating something unique in the process.

A bit after the 20 minute mark Garcia seems to be pushing toward Bright Star, which would get us back into Dark Star territory. When he finally hits it at 20:51, he does it half time rather than taking the jam over the top with it, and they bring it down to the main theme. Rather than going to the verse, they cast about a bit and land in a beautiful jam into which Garcia drops a delicate hybrid of the main theme and Bright Star. This gathers steam, but they are not aiming for a crushing finish tonight—even the peaks feel meditative. Soon they return to the theme, and thence the second verse.

What a wonderful Dark Star. Calmness and a kind of majesty reign throughout, as the band never pushes too hard. This is a monumental rendition that belongs in every Dark Star fan’s rotation.


What was said:

JSegel:


Night three of the run (Saturday) and a soundboard tape, which is nice.

Really intense start after the intro with single building feedback note against the rhythm, then one plucked note and a slow build in the lead, nice tempo and groove. Very slow all the way to the theme at about 2 minutes and low soloing after in varying mode. And a bell tolling for a bit a minute later. This is a very introspective jam, very sparse, wandering into other modal territory, whole new style of Dark Star. Sounds like Bobby has some jazz chords going on before taking it back to the theme groove at 5 min and jam, gliss to the theme a minute later and verse 1.

Nice dramatic vocal reading, the verse is fairly animated with percussion and bass.

And into the transitive nightfall with almost the groove, bell tolls in the background and this reality isn’t sticking anymore and it fades out. Very quiet space follows, some audience yell. An occasional bass note or bell hit on the strings, like windchimes. Then actual windchimes. The percussion doing some Asian style of wood block, some jack noise while plugging in that screaming thing from the other day, but holding it into feedback. A slow chord progression comes out for a while and fades to string scrubbing, and alternative techniques from both guitars.

Sputnik from a trough at 13:00, a short wave of arpeggio and toward the Tighten Up jam at a decent tempo, then a sudden shift to the Feeling Groovy chord progression at 16:00. Long jam and heading toward the Dark Star area again slowly, then a statement of the Feelin Groovy chords from Bob before the 21st minute, capping off this area and it goes to the DS riff.

No verse yet, JG starts another very slow lead and the groove devolves into single strummed chords and finally a Dark Star theme, in higher register, in largo. It goes on and on. A gap and a gliss back to the theme and into verse 2. After a few extra bars. Which verse are we at?

He gets there and sings it well, sounds a bit like his later voice again. Really groovy verse, drums in. Classic outro to St Stephen.


Really, really nice version, very spacey from the outset. It’s suggested that it was on news of Hendrix' death? Slow lead playing in all the Dark Star areas, but at speed in the later jams, then back to slow. Nice ‘other concepts of rhythm’ in the space section, reminds me of, for example, the Noh Theater ideas of rhythm, with rhythm based on ingressive, held and out outgoing breath.

Seems like an intense show as it goes on after this as well.


adamos:


There's a patient and dreamy feel out of the gate. A subtle, feedback-like note slowly rises up and grows in intensity. Bob and Phil are gently laying down the foundation and there's ample guiro in the mix as well. Once the rising note finishes Jerry pauses briefly and then starts a delicate, winding line. Meditative is a good word for it and the whole affair is beautiful. They gently glide through the theme and continue wandering out. Jerry eddies with some quick vibrating notes and then briefly shifts into bell tolling which fits in nicely with the overall feel. He continues on with delicate, emotive playing. They wind through velvety passages eventually coming back to the theme. At this point they pick up the volume and intensity while still maintaining the dreamy feel, moving through the theme again and then on to the verse. A wonderful opening.

The first verse maintains the vibe after which Phil and Bob set the stage, again in patient fashion. Some brief, subtle bell tolling comes in and then they dissolve it into near silence. They take their time letting things unfold and some feedback and other weirdness enters. There's a swelling freakiness and gong or cymbal washes; things quiet again and it becomes a more melodic weirdness with gentle, periodic strumming that sounds really nice. After 12:00 the guitar starts to bubble and rise up and we get more freaky sounds that add a gentle, haunting feel. Then around 13:15 Sputnik rises up organically from the preceding soundscape. It quickens and builds with Bobby complimenting it with an almost harp-like sound.

They keep it going and transition into a jam. The pace is much quicker now and Jerry adds some fuzzy edge to his sound while Phil and Bob interweave. Jerry's line is rising and rising and cutting through the sky. The groove ebbs briefly and they keep it cooking along at mid-altitude, again building in intensity. There's a real sharpness to Jerry's line and they're zooming along. After 16:00 they briefly hover with a repeating thing, pause for just a beat and then launch into Feelin' Groovy. Bob's got a bit of edge to his tone too, cowbell has been prominent for a good spell, and then Jerry comes in strongly and just soars.

After this they take it down a bit but keep grooving along. After 17:30 it starts to sound a little Allman-esque for just a bit with Phil stepping forward and the others filling in around it. This shifts into some fuzzy revving and then they ease up and cruise along a bit more gently but still with some pace. They're winding and grooving and seemingly just enjoying this extended jam without trying to take it anywhere in particular. Things start to wind down; Jerry holds up while Phil and Bob keep it going and then Jerry re-enters and starts an ascent with Phil working it too. The pace quickens and Jerry's rising up but instead of going further and further upward he holds it at a plateau and then spills into a gentler mini Bright Star which then shifts into the main theme.

From here they downshift considerably and find their way back to a more delicate space; a fitting bookend to how things began. They take their time seemingly in no hurry to move on; in fact out of the gentle easing they find themselves swinging back into an almost slow motion Bright Star. They start shifting back into the main theme but then the intensity picks up and they take a stronger pass at Bright Star again. From here there's a more pronounced pivot to the main theme and then on to the second verse.

A truly remarkable version.

Mr. Rain:


A surprisingly soft start -- Bob's up in this mix, and the inevitable guiro makes itself known. You can hear Bill's bass drum tapping too, which is not something I've noticed in other openings. Jerry's pause & feedback entrance at the start is something he's done quite a few times before, but is especially well-done here. Jerry's playing is very minimal at the start, like he's thinking "how few notes can I use?" It almost feels a little more like a laid-back 1973 version for a while. I was surprised by the flash of bell-tolling from Jerry at 2:50. They turn up the heat a little bit in the last minute before the verse, but overall this opening jam isn't full of action & incident, it's very calming. I'd agree that this is a "subdued and meditative" opening, very suitable for floating through inner space. (It's interesting that on the matrix, people are chattering at the start but soon fall silent for most of the rest of Dark Star.)
The music fades out after the verse and silence takes the stage. The Dead quietly tiptoe back in with more bell-tolling, very restrained percussion, some feedback... After 10:30 a bass roar descends like a passing storm. In the aftermath more musical sounds & hanging chords appear, new forces are gathering. So far it's been a very quiet, muted Dark Star, but now things change.
At 12 minutes Jerry makes a rather indescribable entrance, sweeping in grandly over a drumroll. I don't think we've heard quite this tone from him before -- how did he get that sound? He makes clouds for a minute with Bob supporting him, and it turns into a chimey little Sputnik. This doesn't last long; after 13:30 they've got a drumbeat & bassline going, Bob starts chopping out chords, and they're in what I'll provisionally call the Dark Star Strut, familiar from several other Dark Stars this year. Now all of a sudden they're rockin' out!
A hot fast jam follows with a gorgeous Jerry, intensity off the charts as they build to a peak, then bam Bob tears into Feelin' Groovy. This one's a top version -- Jerry gets even lovelier, pouring out pure joy. At 17:30 it winds down and Jerry starts doing that Cosmic Charlie-style double-stopping, a common tactic this year when he's at a juncture and is figuring out what path to take next. This part does seem to allude to other song possibilities (I hear a strong China Cat tease), but they settle on a chipper straight-ahead jam. The beat goes on! At 19:10 Jerry steps out for half a minute and lets Bob & Phil hammer it out, then returns for another fervent hot peak, nailing a melodic hook over & over starting at 20:25 until he catches on one note, holds it, and falls into the Dark Star theme as the band tumbles into place -- a great moment.
They settle into the theme but Jerry isn't done yet; lovely melodies are still trickling out of him, and he stops the beat altogether to build up to a proper slow-measured Bright Star at 22:10. (For me, this has always been the definitive Bright Star that all others are measured against, even with some missed notes.) After this grand finale, it's time once more for the theme & verse.

After a subdued first half, this one really takes off in the second half in a pure rock flight. The great recording helps this Dark Star to stand out among months of audience tapes. If only the horrid audience tape survived, no one would talk about this show! But fortunately someone in the Fillmore had some sense.