150175 Wisconsin 19:25
Main theme at :05 and 12:30.
First verse at 12:56.
Goes into Eyes of the World.
They sound a little out of tune on the intro lick. The music begins forcefully, with a run through the main theme and then off into a series of variations. Garcia hits some spectacularly beautiful runs. He plays a stentorian melody on the bass strings starting at 1:19, and shoots into the stratosphere by 1:43, playing long lines and exploring ideas in depth. Lesh unleashes a vigorous salvo at 2:32 which Jerry briefly latches onto, and then it’s back to a more pastoral scene immediately afterward.
There seems to be a musical core throughout, more or less based on Dark Star, from which Garcia and Lesh at times sally forth. At 3:38 Phil starts up one of his typical bass riffs, and as is often the case it seems to float beneath the surface and recede without seriously changing the trajectory of the piece. At 4:29 Garcia starts turning the volume knob, and the jam starts to slide into a placid lagoon where the two chord structure is finally abandoned for real. By around the 6 minute mark we’re almost in space; at 6:15 Garcia strikes up a variation on what JSegel calls the “it’s all the same” lick, but this turns out not to be the gingerbread trail out of space, which just gets deeper.
Lesh comes to the fore as, at 7:45, Garcia (who has engaged the wah) starts playing with a little Sputnik-adjacent roll pattern. This doesn’t shift things either. At 8:30 Lesh finally starts toying with another funky riff; then at 9:05 Keith emerges more strongly, and he seems to be also using an effect (unless he’s playing electric piano, I haven’t been able to tell for sure yet). Somehow a jam comes together out of all this, although it’s difficult to identify its genesis. Everyone just kind of drifts together, and the music becomes more insistent.
As the jam picks up steam, it gradually gets more Dark Star-like. This is helped along by Jerry’s allusions to the theme along the way, which become quite pronounced beginning at 11:40; by 11:55 he’s clearly playing the theme, but the rest of them aren’t doing the usual theme backing. At 12:25 Garcia initiates a descending transition, and then he kicks off the theme proper at 12:35. The transition here is more organic than we sometimes find, without a drastic tempo shift. This proves to be a brief iteration of the theme, and when Jerry starts singing at 12:56 it feels rather abrupt.
Phil Lesh emerges as the main focus after the proceedings associated with the verse are through. He gets into some rock-oriented riffing, although it seems he is through with the Philo Stomp at this point. This time recording allows us to hear how he makes use of multi-phonic speakers, as he seems to be coming from different places on different strings. At 18:17, Garcia enters with a piercing lead line, duetting with Lesh. This is a beautiful segment, but it’s pretty brief, as a little over a minute later they’re into Eyes of the World.
This is a nice piece of music, and one that is much beloved of Deadheads. The pre-verse stuff is quite powerful. Not a whole lot happens after the verse, though; there’s some Phil stuff, and a brief duet with Garcia which is very good, but not all that lengthy. All in all, it’s some good Grateful Dead music, and part of a strong sequence, but there are Dark Stars that cover more ground.
What was said:
JSegel:
Jerry is back to playing the Alligator Stratocaster now, and there are new additions to the setlists, such as this version moving into Eyes of the World (I guess this is the second time they played Eyes?) It starts on an upbeat feel, staying with the groove, but at a nice forward-moving pace. They seem refreshed, I guess, after a break where they obviously worked up the new material.
It moves along, Bill ride-cymbaling a strong pulse. Phil and Jerry really going for it, they get into some interesting little eddies of notes, like at the 2:40 area. Keith seems to be taking a slower take, hitting the occasional chord or riff, sort of with Bob instead of Jerry.
At 4:30, we have the plaintive volume-rolled cries, and small swells following take it down, eventually Bill follows into a deeper area, abandoning the pulse. They enter a space area, some pinch harmonics and isolated bass notes, mostly arhythmically stated. Cluster chords from Bob, more swells and stretches leading to some feedback and atmospheric sounds. Phil takes a lead area, into bass solo territory. A sputnik-y background from Jerry is happening in the 8th minute.
Jerry picks it up with some wah-rolled-off fast bits, quietly, but building it, so the drums start to come back in with a side-stick rhythm. Into a new jam area, Jerry starts with a new modal feel and a straighter guitar sound at 9:30 or so, Keith hugging his back, they jam along, building it and moving forward until about 11 minutes, it breaks into a full swing and a descending melodic bit brightly suggesting the Dark Star area again, some allusions to the theme at about 11:45, playing with the intro octave into new melodic bits, they bring it way down a minute later and it hits the Dark Star theme proper and the verse starts.
First line is cruising, Phil plays out some riffy stuff on the fermatas of the second line then goes off on trills for line 3. Refrain is back off, Phil still playing through, and into the outro riffs, Bob has been sounding very sedate, sort of. Jerry hits an odd wah chord for the start as the drums fill around, Bobby stretched a chord.
Phil continues, he’s moving into a bass solo, (some audience yell about this!) but it’s a slow experiment, heading from single notes to chords, maybe his sound placement is changing, sounds like at 16min, the bass has multiple channels sending different tonal variations to different places, I hear a brighter more-distorted signal off to one side, with the main bass signal in the center, and some stereo-ization maybe spreading it to the other side… Some of the strings are now sounding far away (17:30+) like the G string is off somewhere special and the D and A strings are right here. People seem to like this.
Jerry comes back in at 18:20 with a pretty melodic take on Phil’s chords. This goes on for a short time before he hits some harmonics and then Phil starts the intro to Eyes of the World and Jerry and band fall in. Nice.
______
They sound good, here. This is a nice version, generally, they sound upbeat and happy, though in the end it’s not super developmental, just good jamming. I like the move into Eyes of the World, (also another 20 minutes of music) and then into China Doll.
adamos:
Things start off upbeat and punchy; Jerry cruises along on a quick-paced thematic line with Phil working it underneath. Bill’s cymbal work is prominent on the recording initially but it adds to the punch. Bob's textures blend in nicely and the collective interweaving is compelling. Jerry slows it down briefly around :55 and then reaches upward. He then winds low before soaring upwards again powerfully. They are working around the theme with gusto and the results are enthralling.
Phil launches into a bubbling, repeating pattern around 2:33 that Jerry briefly latches on to as well before rolling on. Keith's accompaniment is more present now and adding to the feel. They glide along, slowing things down a bit but still maintaining forward momentum. The whole thing thus far has an energized, engaged feel.
Around 4:00 things start to inch towards spacier territory. At 4:30 Jerry cries out with the volume knobs and they slowly transition into the ooze. Things get spacier but still melodic with pinched notes and a more contemplative feel. They drift in this expanse getting freakier as they go. Around 7:20 Phil steps into the lead for a bit then eases back as Jerry adds some gentle Sputnik-esque notes that sound really good.
Phil introduces another pattern starting around 8:30 that briefly sounds a little Footprints-ish. They seem to be considering ideas and slowly a new jam emerges. By 9:30 they're cruising along again; it sounds lovely. The groove ebbs and flows nicely, bubbling along. Around 10:45 Jerry starts climbing and they collectively rise up and then ease back again. Jerry plays some descending notes that start to lead them back towards Dark Star territory. The theme takes greater shape at 11:45 and they weave around it nicely before fully launching in at 12:35. They play it just briefly though; by 13:00 Jerry is already starting the verse.
After the verse they reset, there's a loud wah-ish sound, cheers from the crowd and then Phil steps forward with some soloing. It's a bit staggered at first then slowly builds into more riff-y territory. We also get a taste of the multichannel experience as his sound comes from multiple directions and distances. Jerry rejoins at 18:20 and they get a nice duet going with maybe a bit of Allman-esque feel. It's very brief though and before long they shift into Eyes Of The World.
A good version overall. Pre-verse is excellent and compelling. They seem reinvigorated and more engaged after not playing Dark Star for a couple months. I agree though that not much happens after the verse and the bass solo is more of a novelty. The duet at the end is cool albeit brief.
Mr. Rain:
Landing in 1973, there's a marked recording difference from late '72 -- it sounds brighter, more warm and spacious; it's a lot easier to sink into the tape now.
They kick off Dark Star at a sprightly pace; the jam's happy and lively. Bill keeps the drums & cymbal active in a stereo spread. Phil & Jerry are to the fore with their exuberant ruminations; Bob & Keith are more muted to start with, kind of a restrained rhythm duo. Phil has a lot to say, and starts hinting at his Marbles line at 3:40 though it doesn't sink in. The jam gets quieter, calmer in a subtle fashion. Jerry dives into his volume swells at 4:30 and stays in that mode for a while as the music gets melty & liquid. They've entered space! They sink deep beneath the waves, Jerry pinging out some harmonics and volume-knob cries like some deep-sea creature searching in the vast darkness. After 7:50 Jerry switches to wah for a ripply underwater effect. Phil keeps teasing his Marbles line again, as if to perk things up; Bill responds by striking up a beat, and around 9m the jam starts to get a firm footing and an easy groove emerges. It's a nice jazzy jam, Jerry starting on wah then returning to his normal tone. Keith's in his element now.
After 11:10 Phil plays a familiar groovy bass lick -- yes, it's his riff from 2-24-73! (Heard after 4:15 here.) But it's not the focal point this time, just a passing point in the happy, easygoing jam. Jerry drifts closer to Dark Star territory, especially noticeable by 11:50, but he finds it hard to bring the others to the theme. They want to keep going with this jam while he wants to pull them back into Dark Star, so the clashing effect is kind of a funky Dark Star jam. It's almost funny to hear. (It sounds like Bob turns on some effect switch on his guitar, making a sudden squawk after 12:20.) When Jerry finally does pull everybody down with a descending line and yanks them all to the theme after 12:30, it feels a little forced and awkward, with a jarring tempo slowdown, almost like a different performance has been edited on! Not the most natural-sounding transition, but they manage it with grace, and the audience applauds. Jerry doesn't care to linger on the theme, and starts singing the verse quickly. (Keith belatedly turns on his wah for the verse.) The playing in the verse is a little unusual, kind of busy, it feels like they're winging it after not playing it for two months.
On the audience tape you can hear wild cheers after the verse. Jerry makes a lovely wah swirl coming out of the verse at 14:20, after which he drops out. In fact everyone steps back to make room for a bass solo, only some quiet strums from Bob to start with, so it's possible Phil's big solo was planned ahead. Finally you can hear a bit of the quad effect on Phil's bass, different strings coming out of different speakers, some near and some far, with whoops from the audience. Phil's dropped the Philo Stomp theme; the solo gets more melodic, even catchy as it goes, and the crowd keeps getting more excited and even claps along. Jerry's dramatic re-entry at 18:16 really rouses the crowd, and there's a lovely little duet. With just a few notes, Jerry somehow suggests the rays of dawn. Jerry concludes with some harmonics, and it would seem time for the Dead to start jamming on Dark Star again. But no! Phil is eager to start Eyes of the World instead, and off they go into Eyes. The crowd is psyched (they've never heard it before and probably think it's a new Dark Star jam at first).
In a sense, this Dark Star is a little disappointing since there's no band jamming after the verse at all, just a bass solo. Fortunately they covered some delicious deep space before the verse! But I can't complain -- the minute of Jerry & Phil that concludes this Dark Star comes from a higher realm in which, just for a moment, we glimpse flights of angels before returning to this mortal clay.
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