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This is another show I attended. There are several little Dark Star teases throughout. I’ve heard some people complain about this but, maybe because my crew and I had just been at RFK, we enjoyed this aspect of the show, although we wouldn’t have complained if they’d broken down and played it.
The first relevant segment is in the first set after Brown Eyed Women. Weir starts strumming Dark Star, and Lesh joins him after a few seconds. It never really comes together; Garcia plays the chorus a little, and then they swell to the point where you could almost think they were just about playing Dark Star, at which point they go into When I Paint my Masterpiece. Hornsby even gets some Dark Star licks in during the song.
In the second set, after Ship of Fools they again start fiddling around with Dark Star. It’s not completely clear at first, but then Garcia starts playing the verse melody, and again they render the chorus instrumentally. Lesh almost plays the intro lick coming off the back of the chorus, but as if he knows that this would indeed cross the Rubicon, Garcia quickly kicks off Truckin’.
Post-Space, there is a random Playin’ in the Band reprise, and there is a few seconds of futzing around after that which might hint at Dark Star again; Charlie Miller seems to think so, anyway.
This was the show they opened with Eyes of the World, so there was a sense of possibility that night which was quickened by the Dark Star jams that followed. Perhaps some of us even harbored a hope that the shackles of the ordinary show format would be entirely rent asunder; although nothing quite that dramatic happened, it was a very good show.
What was said:
JSegel:
First tease is Bobby starting the chords to the groove section. He abandons it after a short time and they fizzle out and bring it up to a short eddy and then move off to When I Paint My Masterpiece. Second tease is after Might as Well and is just messing about. Hard to say it’s Dark Star, or if it is it’s coming in from far away and weakly. They hold an extended segment up for a minute or two and cede to Saint of Circumstance. The last tease is almost a melodic bit of the verse after Ship of Fools, but again it never goes full on but gives way to the outro in slow motion, which leads to Truckin’.
Yeah... I don’t know if this all counts as a real Dark Star.
adamos:
A series of Dark Star teases in a well-known show from this era, particularly because of the Eyes Of The World opener. The teases have come to be somewhat divisive but at the time it seemed kind of cool and exciting that they were mixing things up a little.
After Brown-Eyed Women Bob starts strumming the Dark Star notes in semi-casual fashion. Phil joins in a bit and there's a cymbal wash and Jerry comes in a plays with it a little. Bob keeps going and Bruce adds some cascading piano notes. Then they start to wind up and it feels like it's becoming a launch pad. It ebbs a bit followed by a brief, final surge but instead they pivot right into Masterpiece.
In the second set the "Tuning" track is an extended build up into Saint of Circumstance. Perhaps some of its grandeur could be distantly Dark Star influenced but if so it's more about attitude and atmosphere.
Then after Ship Of Fools they start working up Truckin' but take a brief detour into another mini Dark Star jam. Bruce keeps asserting the notes and Jerry, Bob and Phil gently work around it. Jerry then latches on to the verse melody and they work it up a bit more and it feels like it might fully coalesce but instead they slip right into Truckin'. Bruce blends in some piano at the beginning that sort of has its feet in both songs.
Finally after the PITB reprise there's the slightest hint of a tease as they pause before starting up Sugar Magnolia.
In the first set after Brown Eyed Women, Bob starts futzing around with the Dark Star chords, which Phil picks up, then Jerry & Bruce. Jerry half-heartedly plays bits of the verse melody. Once Vince comes in, it sounds like they're about to start it for real, it's got that pre-Dark Star warming-up feel....and then suddenly they're playing Masterpiece instead. Like yanking the rug out from under ya.
In the second set after Ship of Fools, they're signaling Truckin', when Bruce starts suggesting Dark Star instead, and Jerry plays the full verse melody. (Maybe this was meant to be the missing ending for 6/14?) It's sloppy, and right after it finishes they dive into Truckin'.
You guys missed Dark Star's third appearance!
Some label the jam after Uncle John's Band a Dark Star Jam -- and it's there, just shorter than advertised! (Check here, for instance.) The jam goes through some interesting stages, settling into a swaying rhythm about 14-15 minutes into Uncle John. At 2:40 in the jam track, aha! Jerry's playing the Dark Star melody again! (Kind of a second verse, if you will.) It's quite distinctive on top of this tumbling rhythm. Jerry then goes into a flurry of notes at 3:20, moving to the next phase, including an Other One tease.
A lot of copies of this show call the whole post-Uncle John's jam Dark Star, but the Dark Star theme itself lasts only about 40 seconds, so I'd consider it just a short tease within the jam.
(A so-called "Dark Star jam" after the Playing reprise (on Miller's copy) is no such thing; they just noodle around for a few seconds before deciding on Sugar Magnolia.)
Along with the unrelated big "tuning jam" that starts the second set, this is certainly a show full of out-of-the-way teases & possibilities....which always end up getting denied for business as usual. (There's also a wacky Space where Phil goes wild with spectral MIDI.) As far as Dark Star, there are two whole verse melodies, so you could almost count it as an instrumental version split into pieces. (The timings of the Dark Star spots are 1:30, 1:15 & :40.)
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