Dark Star Stories: October Gems

Deep in the second set, after a solid Playin’>UJB>Playin’, the first Dark Star in five years rang out. The cheer that meets the triad of notes is unlike anything else (listen to a good AUD or Matrix and let the goosebumps rise!). This is also the first “modern” Stars, featuring loads of MIDI effects, some of which sound dated now, but definitely shaped the Dead’s sound into the ’90s.

This Star smokes, it gets the first verse right out of the way and works into a constantly fluctuating jam before finding its way back to the second verse. A lot of the jam was used on the 1991 jam compilation Infra-Red Roses. The Hampton shows were a benchmark, especially for younger heads. You might have missed out on seeing the Dead in Egypt, at the Fillmore, or at Watkins Glen, but you might have been one of the lucky ones at Hampton.

10/26/89 Miami, FL

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Just a couple weeks after Hampton, the band fired up the cosmic engines for this one – one of the BEST post 1974 Stars. A lofty claim to be sure, but one listen (preferably on headphones) will take you on such a journey.

It starts out relatively tame, the band taking its time, finding their way into deep space. Brent’s playing is particularly lovely and on most SBDs of this show I’ve heard, I wish he was a little higher in the mix. But you see, it’s Brent that sets the tone for the early part of the Star. Stately, mellow, a nice meditative groove for the well-tanned Miami crowd. This is a Dark Start that plays well with others. Verse two and then, it happens, ten minutes of some of the most aggressively tripped-out playing in the band’s history.

You keep thinking that the band is heading into the “drums”, but it’s actually Bobby playing weird percussive noises on his guitar, or Phil playing what sounds like robots working on a railroad, something. All the while, Brent is playing pretty little glissando piano runs. It gets into some strange and utterly chaotic dimensions. At times beautiful, and other times, absolutely terrifying. This is one of the all time “modern” greats.

According to legend and lore – some particularly potent LSD made the rounds before the show. Many people partook, including some of the local “curiosity-seekers”. The second set scared the living daylights out of them. My friend recalls an older gentleman approaching him during “space”. The man was wearing a white linen suit with a brightly colored tropical-themed shirt and a white hat. He handed my friend his Rolex watch and said in all seriousness, “My watch is too loud. The aliens will be able to find me. Please, take my watch and tell the aliens that you haven’t seen me here.”

10/18/74 Winterland, SF (unavailable on Archive – commercially released)

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Speaking of aliens – the otherworldly second set on October 18th:  Seastones > Jam > Dark Star > Morning Dew is one of my all-time favorite Grateful Dead performances. The “Seastones” and the subsequent jam are positively alien. Weird insectoid buzzing, deep space ambiance, all setting the controls for the heart of a deep, Dark Star. This Star is dark, but there are some freewheeling and funky passages. Some of it reminds me of Mahavishnu Orchestra’s Visions of the Emerald Beyond record. Keith rocks out on the keys and Ned Lagin provides some subtle textural and tactile synths.

In the context, during the Dead’s “Farewell” shows at Winterland in that chilly October, Dark Star, culminating with the fragile melancholy of Morning Dew must have felt like nothing short of benediction. The “Dew” is the climax of the Grateful Dead Movie and the Farewell concerts have been compressed and compromised into the the official Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack box. Both are well worth seeking out and enjoying (on headphones. stoned. stoned out of your mind.)

10/28/72 Public Hall, Cleveland, OH

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[Photo by Rosina Rubin]

This Dark Star is a monster. An absolute behemoth. It begins all sweet and pretty, calm and serene-like, but it soon erupts into a phantasmagoria of screaming galactic chaos.

It’s a laid back and exploratory groove, after the first verse, the band swings and cracks, everyone in the pocket. Phil takes over with one of those great 1972 “Philo Stomps” – making that bass absolutely sing. The rest of the band follows Phil’s lead and work on the funky funky Philo jam. Then, Garcia breaks loose with the distortion pedal and the wah-wah pedal, making his guitar scream like a banshee in an electric storm. The rest of the band follow his lead into a drippy and trippy haunted house of screaming feedback and absolute rhythmic chaos. They stay in this house of horrors until the dawn – when the golden sunshine of Sugar Magnolia arises from the fiery embers and bring the show home.

10/28/72 is a must-have. Seek and find. Seek and find.

That’s all for this month kiddies. Have a great Halloween. I’ll meet you back here next month.

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