113498 Florida 21:44
Main theme at 10:54.
First verse at 11:26.
Tiger at 19:33.
Goes into Eyes of the World.
There’s a pause after Weather Report Suite, and they quickly slide into Dark Star. It’s a pretty slow tempo at the start, which is not unusual for this era, but it feels pretty focused out of the gate. Things get a little strange already about a minute in, as Garcia visits some outside tones and Weir takes a cue from him there; pretty soon Lesh gets a feedback thing going on again. There’s a little peak near the two minute mark, and they keep the intensity high for about a minute, and then they begin to meander a bit more, thoughtfully.
Godchaux is starting to be audible on the electric piano, and when he switches to the acoustic piano he gets even louder. There are peaks and valleys as we’d expect, and the band seems in fine shape tonight. Garcia falls into repetitive patterns, and the others rally around him. With Keith up in the mix, this all sounds really good on the Miller transfer.
At 7:37 they pause and the theme could be imminent, but instead they seem to want to start another jam first. From around 7:55 Weir starts proposing an MLB jam, and Garcia pulls out the slide, but it’s something a little different here; not quite MLB, but in the neighborhood. It’s a little jauntier, and the pattern repeats quicker; when they get to the part where they hang on one chord (if it were MLB) there’s a little confusion. Weir and Garcia wind up on something a bit like Other One, and Lesh jumps on it at 9:40, even hinting at his intro roll at 10:01. This runs its course by 10:54, and they settle on the main theme; from there, they quickly head to the verse.
There seems to be something brewing after the post-verse lick. Lesh is again using the overdriven amp sound he employed to such effect on the 6th, and Garcia gets the volume knobs going as we seem to be dropping into a space jam. Phil gets louder and more dominant as it goes, exploring feedback sounds, and Weir and Garcia seem like his accompaniment here. There’s not much happening with Godchaux in this segment, and Kreutzmann is laying out. Jerry has something really eerie going that starts to come to the fore a bit more.
At 17:48 someone (perhaps Kreutzmann) yells “There’s a blown speaker in here somewhere!” a couple of times. It seemed to be contributing to the space jam, whatever it is! I assume it is one of Phil’s, and it sounds pretty cool. A bit after 19:00 Garcia has gone into wah-wah meltdown mode, and he plays some Tiger licks. He then starts some melodic stuff at 20:04, and Weir joins him while Phil splashes around in the blown speaker sounds a bit more. They eventually subside into a brief drum break, and then they play Eyes of the World.
The band has been on a hot streak with Dark Star since late summer. This is a really nice one, although it doesn’t seem particularly ambitious. The jamming is good, and the post-verse space stuff is intriguing. Not a world-beater, but a good version.
What was said:
JSegel:
Sort of a casual start, the guitar plays the first part of the intro lick and then bass comes in after sort of haphazardly, and they move into the Dark Star groove, a nice relaxed tempo allowing them to stretch it away and head upward and outward within a minute. It bogs a little there, and sort of regroups a bit, Bobby starts on some harmonics, Jerry is finding a melodic eddy, they sort of drone out a bit, it settles on a suspended chordal section for a bit before moving forward, but when it does, Bill reins it back a bit, Keith goes into low notes on the piano against Jerry’s high runs. Phil is bouncing back and forth between low areas and high areas. At about 4 minutes it gets going with some snare driving it, and everybody rolling around. Bobby finds some weird little runs and shakes against the eddies that form from bass and lead guitar. Little waves crest and recede.
Jerry settles into a roll on a specific note at 7 min and then it crests and comes back down, Bobby still on stretchy little chordal things, Jerry does quiet little fast runs and they go into a country-ish Mind-Left-Body descending progression. It doesn’t really coalesce though, moves onward to a riff from Phil where he tries out the roll into The Other One while sticking on a specific root. It doesn’t go there, of course, stays in DS world and Jerry brings in the theme at about 10:45.
Verse at 11:15, with intimate vocals, Phil moving on a descending line for the fermatas on line 2 and playing more with it on line 3, while Bobby runs around. The refrain is motley, rhythmically, but they pull it together for the outro and Bobby plays his TN intro lick once and then plays around with it while Phil goes for low notes and Jerry goes into small pinch harmonics. Bass pulls some high feedback wails, drums roll on cymbals.
As this moves into sparser territory, Jerry finds some resonant notes to feedback with his wah pedal, sounds like Phil is trying out some pinch harmonics before more bass feedback.
The harmonics continue over bass feedback for a while, moving to short melodic runs. Bobby starts tapping the strings, drumming on them. Jerry moves to ghostly background warbling notes. There’s some weird synth stuff going on at 17:30 as somebody is asking about finding something “in here somewhere.” Jerry starts string scratching, Bobby plays with a feedback-echo of some sort, building notes to regenerated echo feedback pulses. Feedbacks continue from bass, Jerry is making Tiger noises, they build it up into the scary section and Tiger starts in min 18, with synth buzzes. The Tiger cedes to bass feedback and the guitars start up some pretty arpeggios underneath, emerging against more feedback from the bass.
It all dies off to leave the drums, he enters a drum solo at 21:30 and continues solo for 2 minutes and then they enter Eyes of the World.
____
Sort of a letdown after the Dec. 6 version, not bad, of course, but not great. The first half has some nice grooving. No stellar playing, really, and then the space section has a lot of feedback and an abrupt Tiger freakout.
However, one more date and then end of tour and they’re home again.
adamos:
Dark Star starts nice and easy; perhaps they wanted to shift things up after the hard-charging WRS that preceded it. They glide along but there is also some punctuation to the playing that can be felt so the vibe is not delicate. A minute in Jerry gets a little stretchy and Bob works a series of plucky complimentary notes. They rise up in a swirl and explore a mini-peak with sparkling qualities.
After 2:30 Phil comes in more forcefully. They ease up and glide along but soon start building some momentum again. Jerry winds his lines high and low and you can feel the emphasis placed on individual notes. Phil actively lays it down underneath while Keith and Bob add complimentary textures. Billy is working the snare too and by 4:10 or so they are cruising along again. There is some oomph to their playing which comes through vividly on the recording.
Around 4:55 Phil gets into a repeating thing that Bob mirrors and then Jerry and it feels like something is spinning up. They ease up briefly but then Phil spins it up again and they ebb and flow through this passage which has a nice wandering yet punchy vibe.
They work in this vein for a spell and then as noted Bobby tries to get an MLB jam going but it morphs into its own twangy thing. It sounds good but doesn't fully come together in the end. As this runs it course they hover briefly and then end up in The Other One-ish territory which they work for a couple of minutes. At 10:50 they ease up and then shift into the theme and on to the verse.
After the verse Phil resets with some oomph and Bobby works his figure and they slowly drift into weirdness. There is string tapping and then squealy feedback and other atmospheric sounds. They take it down to a near quiet and then resume the spacey exploration with Jerry creating a freaky but lovely wandering feel and Phil bringing feedback that builds in strength. Bob adds complimentary textures as well and they take their time with it.
By 17:30 it's gotten quieter and more eerie and then after some chatter it starts to sound like someone trying to tune in a radio. This is apparently the blown speaker but it sounds kind of cool. The freakiness continues and then around 19:10 or so Jerry gets the wah going. The intensity rises and he plays some funky-ish Tiger sounds while the others add freaky feedback and then it becomes more of a growling, melty Tiger spin-up.
This crests by 20:00 and they ease back, still feedback-y, and Jerry and Bob start up a nice melodic duet. The speaker feedback sounds from Phil continue to come in intermittently kind of like shooting lasers. And then slowly they give way to a short drum break before heading into Eyes Of The World.
I agree that this is a good not great version, mainly because there was only so much they felt like doing with it on this particular night. But I like the punchy emphasis on the playing at times and there is some good collective interweaving. The passage with the semi-MLB and touch of TOO is nice too even if it doesn't fully come together. And there's a good amount of freaky weirdness in the second half.
Mr. Rain:
Dark Star follows a hot Weather Report Suite where they barely careen to a halt -- it seems like the jam could keep on steamin' for a few more minutes, but they suddenly pull the brakes for a sloppy ending. Rather than take a pause, Jerry immediately starts the Dark Star riff, and Phil & the others join him. (No tuning break!)
The mood is immediately relaxed & vibrant, Phil swelling up exuberantly. Dark Star unfurls calmly, getting into almost a Bob & Jerry duet after a minute. A drone rises on the right side at 1:30 -- could be Phil doing his multichannel thing, but I think some of it is also Keith! (Check out the tone at 1:30 & 2:50, that's a piano chord blending with the bass drone. Maybe Phil's bass was so loud it was making the piano keys reverberate?) The jam coalesces nicely around the drone, becoming more spirited.
Keith's on his regular piano tonight, no Rhodes in this Dark Star, and he starts playing more assertively around 4m. They seem to be having fun, the playing's very upbeat, with Phil then Jerry stabbing at notes around 5m then coasting into a semi-sputnik-style motif. Dark Stars have tended to be solemn lately, but this one sounds more like they're enjoying themselves. They're flying all over the place (Phil in particular), falling into little spirals (like around 7:30) then sailing on. At 8m Bob suggests the Mind Left Body theme (Jerry might hint at it first) - but instead Bob & Keith play a similar chord pattern, close but not the same, kind of Mind Left Body's more swingin' cousin. Jerry's unfazed, picking a sweet Mind Left Body-style lead in a pinched tone. This is very nice, although Phil sits out this whole episode after 7:30 until he comes back in at 9m. Then at 9:30, Bob turns to the Mind Left Body home chord, and everyone gets confused about what they're playing. Phil pulls them out of it by suggesting an Other One-type rhythm that they all get into. (He even delivers a little Other One intro at 10m.) But they don't switch to the Other One: the jam stays within the Dark Star tonality, til Jerry carefully walks up to the main theme & introduces it at 10:55. They settle in comfortably, and the verse soon follows at 11:25. The verse is a little sloppy, the playing a little too over-dramatic -- they sure sound in high spirits tonight.
Then the usual space entry: Jerry shimmers, Keith buzzes, Bob does his twirls, Phil drones heavily. After 13:30 Phil breaks out the howls of feedback over Jerry's plangent wah tones, to shouts of approval from the crowd. It becomes mainly a Phil/Jerry duet, Phil making loud flying-saucer-type notes while Jerry does volume swells and sad sounds. (Bob adds a few quiet notes to this, but Keith has dropped out for good.) By 16:30 Bob becomes more prominent with some string-tapping while Jerry does cat-like meows and Phil rumbles out low drones. His bass is crackling, then after 17:30 the bass breaks up with buzzing and electronic whines, and some shouting onstage & crowd cheers. This doesn't deter the others. After 18m Bob breaks out his eerie echo effect while Jerry scrapes his strings, setting up a Tiger which takes shape around 19m. Phil dives back in, as heavy & feedbacky as ever, and pounce! there's a quick fierce Tiger, booming & screeching, then fading out to Phil's discordant feedback at 20m. Then a quieter passage, with Jerry & Bob playing a pretty arpeggio -- at 20:50, Jerry echoes his melody from the middle of the 12/6/73 Star, but doesn't quite go there. Phil lets out a last buzzing drone, then returns to more normal playing in a short melodic transition. It sounds like Jerry's setting up the switch to Eyes of the World.
But instead, they just stop for a drum break, which isn't all that great. This strikes me as more of a "technical difficulties" drum solo than part of the musical flow! But it's just a couple minutes, then the band comes back with Eyes. (At the start, Phil's bass has moved position, so I suppose they were replacing his speaker.)
This was one of the happiest Dark Stars of fall '73. I don't know if the opening jam is all that focused, but the band's in a grinning good-time mood and the playing's more joyful than usual. The highlight is a great noisy space & meltdown in typical '73 fashion, but then equipment problems cut Dark Star short. (Or maybe not: I think they were about to start Eyes anyway, and Phil's bass problems sound intentional on tape!) I liked this one a lot.
There's also an excellent audience tape of this show, which has Bob loud in the mix & Keith very quiet. It's a great way to hear what Bob adds to Dark Star, more easily than on the board tape. The effect is very pretty -- just check out Bob's harmonics & arpeggios from 1-2 minutes in. And in general, despite missing Keith this Dark Star's a really magical experience on the audience tape. Strong guitar tones, a nearly silent audience & an entrancing space make this an essential listen.
Boy, some harsh graders here. Anything would be a letdown after 12-6! I think this version stands up well against its '73 brethren. The jaunty upbeat first half and the fearsome space freakout make for a potent brew. What it lacks in lengthy fusion jams, it makes up for with a rowdy communal spirit. (And as usual, it's better on the AUD.)
No comments:
Post a Comment