108. 1970-10-11

9500 Wayne, NJ 20:29 (cut)
Main theme at 2:14 and 3:22.
First verse at 4:08.
Sputnik at 11:32.
Main theme at 18:33.
Second verse at 18:56.
Goes into St. Stephen.

This horrible recording cuts in right in the middle of the action, and it sounds like they’re going at it rather splendidly—everyone is playing aggressively as they hit an early peak. They slow down and stagger the beat before broadly hinting at the main theme at 2:14; however, they blast off again without committing to the theme, which they return to a little over a minute later.

The post-verse space seems rather noisier than the last one as it gets underway. The song structure drops out, but there are cymbals and then a lot of whooshing and sproinging. At about 10:30 Lesh starts a really heavy riff and there is a remarkable segment that unfortunately doesn’t last very long. After some deliberation, Garcia turns to Sputnik to get us of space. We don’t get very far out, though, and things seem to collapse back into space again until Jerry starts playing a lead line that sort of gets them moving.

At 13:30, Weir tries a rock and roll riff for a bit, and Garcia seems to me to be anticipating Soulful Strut at times. A rock jam coalesces. It starts to sound a little more like Feelin’ Groovy, at least rhythmically, but tonally it seems more of a Dark Star jam. Finally at 15:45 Lesh plays Feelin’ Groovy, but then Garcia seems to start the verse melody and Lesh starts playing the main theme pattern, which they then gravitate toward.

By 16:50 they seem out of gas, and the whole thing stalls. Various directions are proposed, and Garcia starts hinting around at the main theme, and the band follows suit, but it takes Jerry a while to get all the way there. When the second verse starts, it doesn’t seem a moment too soon.

There is, as usual, plenty to enjoy and admire here, including a pretty wild space section. But the band seems scattered, and at times they seem to run out of ideas and fail to keep things going. It’s possible that the bad recording magnifies the effect and there is something more going on I couldn’t hear. In any case, this one is interesting but inessential, and kind of painful to listen to.




What was said:

JSegel:


Awesome intro with the cassette mics being rattled and the sound image gradually recovering. The band heads into it and is jamming right off the bat on this one, into a super rhythmic jam. Eventually they slow it down to deliver the theme. An amateur drummer near the mics. Verse 1 after 4 minutes, slow, but some nice interpretation especially on line 3 from Phil.

Sounds like it sort of barrels into the refrain and then into the nightfall.

It holds together for a bit, sounding like each player gets stuck in their own space and it decays away into cymbals. Slow windchimey hits from guitar sounds, sort of like a broken machine. Some sound back and forth activity. Atonal horror movie soundtrack plucks sounding like piano or koto strings. Given the cassette distortion on the recording you could isolate this section and claim it was some historical ethnomusicological recording. It’s a nice long sound jam with some sputnik tendencies toward the end by 12 minutes. When the wave recedes, Bill starts a nice FG groove, but it doesn’t exactly head that way and heads back toward Dark Star like the first part of this evening’s version, fast and energetic. Building to an almost chord progression and then superimposition of things, Phil kinda does a descending bassline but they obviously all look up and sync back to Dark Star-ish groove at 16 min. Odd hints at the theme out of time with everybody else, the rhythm falling apart and it dies off for a while before some attempt at pulse is established. It gets back to the them area a couple minutes later but Jerry is still spacing out and gets distracted by a swept chord for a while before hitting that long gliss up to the A for the theme and verse 2 at 19. Strong verse, intent rhythm and bass notes on line two but not so much upward movement on line three.

Really ornate vocal outro with good Phil vocals, and into the counterpoint parts, some mic bystander is slack jawed and goes, “alright…” like, that was interesting! And to the chords into St Stephen.

Nice upbeat presentation, too bad about the tape quality. I though it was definitely listenable, though, you can hear all the parts.


adamos:


The recording clunkily fades into a nice groove with the band cruising along in the clouds. Jerry's working a sharp line that builds to a peak and then they take it down but keep moving with pace. Starting around 1:45 the drums become more prominent and the band makes staggered sounds heading into the main theme. From there things blossom a bit and there's a nice feel to the playing. They come back to the theme more fully and then move on to the first verse.

After the verse Phil resets and then starts working a bass line that can be made out on the recording fairly well. Things slowly become more quiet and then some gong washes come in followed by bell tolling. It feels like they've drifted into a spacey void. They take their time working up various sounds that come and go. A creepier vibe starts to emerge with more insect-y sounds. Plunking of strings, some feedback and other weirdness. Phil comes in strong and heavy like a giant tromping and they launch into a cool jam of sorts with an usual tone to the guitars. It almost sounds a little metal-ish at times but also kind of electronic; quite unusual. This starts to run its course and Jerry shifts into Sputnik around 11:30. It moves along high and quick but by 12:05 they're drifting back into spacey weirdness.

Around 12:30 Jerry starts a winding line but no one seems in a hurry to form a jam around it. Slowly things begin to coalesce and by 13:30 they're starting to get going more and there's a nice feel to the playing. They work in this area for a while building up some momentum. They interweave nicely although at times it's easier to make out Jerry and Phil than Bob. Jerry's rising and weaving; around 15:45 Phil steps forward with a FG-ish bassline but by 15:55 they're pivoting back into Dark Star and Jerry plays a soaring lead that has different tone although that might just be the recording. After 16:30 they ease up and hover for a bit, almost coming to a stop. They seem a bit sure how they want to wrap up; around 17:20 they get a little repeating thing going and slowly work into the main theme and then on the second verse.

Not a top-tier version but there's some interesting stuff in it, particularly in the latter part of space after Phil comes in strongly.


Dahabenzapple:



10/11/70 concert was about 10 minutes from where I live. I’ve seen a few jazz shows in the room. Incredible to imagine the 1970 version of the Grateful Dead playing in that room (capacity 922). I was also blessed to see Dark Star Orchestra play their version of this show. Best cover of a Dark Star I’ve heard fwiw.


Mr. Rain:



The recording's bad but listenable; you can hear all the instruments (and, unfortunately, the fools yakking in the audience too). I wish some AI music program could be put to work on these noisier Dead audience tapes to "reconstruct" what they actually sounded like.

Love the way it fades into this great jam that sounds like Dark Star on hyperspeed. One minute in and they're already peaking! Sounds like it could go anywhere, Dark Star or the Other One or parts unknown, and for a few minutes it's "parts unknown." It's a little ragged when they finally settle on the theme, but I don't think there's been another starting jam with so much raw energy. The verse sounds quiet in comparison (Jerry's voice seems a bit weak, maybe some vocal flubs?).

Space starts out kind of moody and percussion-heavy, it gets to sounding like musique concrete, but then around 8:00 Jerry comes out with this bizarre Indian-style guitar sound that inspires Bob & Phil to get weird and it turns into some avant-garde soundtrack. (I like JSegel's comparison with an ancient ethnomusicological recording.) At 10:30 Phil starts stomping on bass and this strange little freaky jam pops out. After 11:15 Jerry's heading into Sputnik but it sounds different....he's playing with his wah in a way that hasn't been done in Dark Star before....this part almost prefigures a 1972 Playing in the Band jam. (I'm not sure if any of the previous Dark Stars had any wah playing? 9-19, maybe?) This space is really unusual & creepy & weird-sounding and points in new directions; it's more "musical" (in an odd way) than before...

At 12:30 they get down to business with the main jam. There's an anticipatory feeling...they're staying away from the usual structure they've been using here, trying to find something new. They're a little uncertain to start with, but after 13:30 Jerry catches onto something, the playing gathers strength and slowly builds, and after 14:20 they take off, and by 14:55 they're peaking -- good lord, what a high! It doesn't last....at 15:45 they're coming down already, Phil suggests Feelin' Groovy, Jerry calls for Dark Star, but they don't settle on anything, they leave it unresolved and just float for a while after 16:30. Bzfgt hears them as stalling & out of gas here, but what I hear is a very slow & unusual transition back to the Dark Star theme with pretty chords and little teases (love the childlike part after 17:20) until they're all back in the theme. The verse almost comes as a surprise (feels way too soon), with busy drumming.

It's been a few weeks since the last Dark Star and you can really tell the difference. In each section they took a new approach that we haven't heard before; they didn't play ANY of the usual themes after space. It's a little raw and sloppy sometimes -- and too short! -- but dripping with creativity and full of intense moments. Such a great Dark Star, I couldn't wait to hear it again.