As the lime-infused canopy of spring morphs into the in bloom fullness of summer the Dark Star Orchestra finished a two-night run at Brooklyn Bowl with a bang. Selling out both mid-week shows, DSO showcased their new bass player Skip Vangelasa the Williamsburg venue.

[All Photos by Andrew Blackstein]

For Tuesday’s second night of the Brooklyn Bowl run, Dark Star Orchestra chose to play a Grateful Dead show from June 15th, 1976 that was originally performed about seven miles away at Manhattan’s Beacon Theatre. DSO weaved in and out of Dead classics like Let It Grow, St. Stephen, Stella Blue and a powerful Sugar Magnolia > Scarlet Begonias > Sunshine Daydream sequence.

This latest incarnation of DSO captures the Grateful Dead in the prime of their long career. By focusing on the details and closing your eyes, audience members are able to take a trip back in time and experience a little piece of rock and roll history.

Check out a full gallery of Andrew Blackstein’s Dark Star Orchestra photos…

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Dark Star Orchestra @ The Capitol Theatre – May 9

Words: Chad Berndtson

They’re a tribute group, yes, and there will always be fans that just can’t get past that as a fundamental flaw. But I’ll say it again knowing full well what I’m in for: Dark Star Orchestra is the band from which I get the most Grateful Dead nourishment out of any touring ensemble these days.

I know what you’re saying, and some days, you’re right. And, look, I like Furthur just fine. And if Phil stops through with just about any group of Friends, I’m in. And Bob will be back soon in fighting shape, I’m sure, and I can’t wait to see what comes out of TRI Studios and Weir Here next. And 7 Walkers has so many great reasons for being, one of which is keeping  Bill Kreutzmann out there and playing. And if you haven’t yet experienced the current, space-a-delic lineup of the Mickey Hart Band, you’re missing a group that’s become a must-see – an event – in a very short amount of time.

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Located in the heart of the “Forever Wild” Catskill Forest Preserve in Big Indian, New York; The Full Moon Resort continues to add events to its already formidable lineup of Music Masters Camps. Three HT faves will be throwing camps at Full Moon this summer as Umphrey’s McGee will present sUMmer School from June 17 – 21, Dweezil Zappa will host Dweezilla Music Boot Camp from July 1 – July 5, while Dark Star Orchestra will lead DSO High School on August 5 – 9.

All three events will feature workshops, performances, master classes, presentations, interactive jams and many other activities all at the comfortable Full Moon Resort. Each act will bring special guests with them to their camps as Umphrey’s will welcome Jeff Coffin (Dave Matthews Band / Flecktones) to sUMmer School, Dweezil has invited a number of “counselors” such as Oz Noy and Chris Buono to Dweezilla Boot Camp, while DSO has Grateful Dead Hour host David Gans, legendary Dead recording engineer Betty Cantor-Jackson and former Grateful Dead singer Donna Jean Godchaux signed up for DSO High School. Spots are currently available for all three camps.

As part of our Everybody Wins When We Plug Something And In Return They Offer Us Free Shit To Give Away program, we’ve got an autographed CD for each act for our readers. We’ll let sUMmer School hosts Umphrey’s McGee, Dweezilla Boot Camp host Dweezil Zappa and DSO High School hosts Dark Star Orchestra determine just what CD you’ll get, but they will be signed. Simply leave a comment below telling us which CD you’d like to win and you’ll be entered.

Here’s the fine print…

READ ON

Dark Star Orchestra bassist Kevin Rosen will be leaving the band, Hidden Track can confirm.

Rosen, who as DSO’s “Phil Lesh” is its longest-tenured current member, has held down bass duties for the beloved Grateful Dead spirit band for more than 2,000 shows. He will sit out the first five shows of DSO’s spring tour, which begins May 9 at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY. He will then return to finish out DSO’s string of May dates, including the Dark Star Jubilee May 24-26, with his last show with the band scheduled for June 1 at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom.

[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]

Bassist Skip Vangelas, who has played with DSO guitarist/vocalist Rob Eaton in the band Border Legion and was briefly in DSO himself in 2001, will fill in for Rosen during the first five shows of the May run, May 9-14 in the New York City area.

A representative from Dark Star Orchestra confirmed Rosen’s pending exit and the upcoming schedule to Hidden Track. In a note to Dark Star Orchestra fans and band mates scheduled for posting to DSO’s site Friday and viewed by Hidden Track, Rosen writes the following:

READ ON

There was once a time when Phil Lesh and Dark Star Orchestra weren’t on good terms. It was said Lesh didn’t appreciate DSO’s concept and that DSO wasn’t thrilled that Phil recruited John Kadlecik for Furthur. Those bad vibes have apparently dissipated as Uncle Phil sat in with Dark Star Orchestra last night for the second time in six months.

DSO performed at Lesh’s Terrapin Crossroads venue and were joined by the Grateful Dead / Furthur bassist for the majority of the second set. Phil emerged at the beginning of the second stanza, as DSO bassist Kevin Rosen sat out, for China > Rider and That’s It For The Other One sequences. While most of the show focused on material from the late ’60s, Dark Star offered an “original setlist” instead of performing a show from the Dead’s past.

Here’s the setlist from last night’s show…

Set One: Dancin’ In The Streets > Till The Morning Comes, High Time, Easy Wind > Not Fade Away > New Orleans > Not Fade Away > Death Don’t Have No Mercy > Viola Lee Blues

Set Two: China Cat Sunflower* > I Know You Rider*, Cryptical Envelopment > * The Other One > * Cryptical Envelopment*, Hard To Handle > Alligator > jam (mountain jam) > The Eleven > Going Down The Road

Encore: Brokedown Palace

* – w/ Phil Lesh

[Setlist via DeadHeadLand]

Dark Star Orchestra move on to a venue owned by a different member of the Grateful Dead this evening for a sold-out show at Bob Weir’s Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, Calif.

Following in the footsteps of Umphrey’s McGee with their sUMmer school sessions, Dweezil Zappa’s Camp Dweezilla and Butch Trucks of the Allman Brothers Band leading Roots Rock Revival Camp with members of North Mississippi Allstars, quintessential Grateful Dead tribute act the Dark Star Orchestra have just announced “DSO High School” which like the others will take place at The Full Moon Resort in Big Indian, New York. DSO High School is set for August 5 – 8.

At the four-day event, the members of Dark Star Orchestra will present an exclusive curriculum with workshops, activities, lessons in addition to three DSO performances.  The band will also bring along famed recording engineer Betty Cantor-Jackson, former GD member Donna-Jean Godchaux and Grateful Dead Hour host and musician David Gans to participate in their camp.

Here’s a look at the curriculum as announced today…

READ ON

Back in 2011 Baltimore’s The Bridge announced that they would be breaking up following a Thanksgiving Eve performance at hometown venue Ram’s Head Live. The band were together for ten years and were known for their fantastic live shows. At the time, The Bridge revealed they were victims of the bad economy and could “no long sustain ourselves as a band,” there was no talk of any personal issues. Since The Bridge’s “Last Waltz” on Thanksgiving Eve ’11, they’ve proven they can’t quit each other as they reformed for a slot at last summer’s All Good Festival, a free show to celebrate the Ravens’ recent Super Bowl win and now have a couple of shows booked for this summer.

We love the way they’ve described their inability to “cut the cord”…

Have any of you ever broken up with someone, and after the “relationship” was over, you realized that it was still fun to get together and have sex once in a while? Well, that’s sort of like us. We like sex. And music. And music education in schools. And Baltimore. And Grateful Dead music. So, therefore…….On August 10, 2013, The Bridge will be playing a show to benefit Believe in Music, the wonderful non-profit organization founded by our own Kenny Liner, that promotes music education in the classrooms of underprivileged schools. The show will be held at Pier Six Concert Pavillion, and will feature sets by The Bridge and our good friends Dark Star Orchestra!! This is first time we’ve ever had the chance to play at Pier Six, and we’re honored to be able to get together and play for our hometown friends and family at such an incredible venue for such a great cause. Tickets are now on sale for this event that is sure to be a special one!! Go here:

http://www.piersixpavilion.com/event/241837-believe-in-music-benefit-dark-baltimore

We promise it won’t be weird in the morning.

In addition to this August 10th performance with The Dark Star Orchestra, The Bridge will also perform at this summer’s All Good Music Festival – their 11th time playing All Good.

Yesterday, we posted the first part of our chat with keyboardist Rob Barraco, which focused on the past, present and future of the Phil Lesh Quintet. Today, we pick up where we left off as Barraco tells Chad Berndtson how he became a member of Dark Star Orchestra, why DSO is starting to play shows from the late ’60s, what will become of Dragonflys an more.

[Photo by Adam Kaufman]

Hidden Track: Switching gears, Rob, to Dark Star Orchestra, it’s been about seven years you’ve been playing with them now, correct?

Rob Barraco: I started playing with them in 2005, basically as a favor to them after Scott [Larned] had passed away and they needed to finish a tour. I just kind of really enjoyed it — I really, really enjoyed myself — and I asked them if we could do it again, never thinking I would become a permanent member of the band. They didn’t seem to have a plan in place, and I was going out to tour again with Phil.

At the end of 2006, Phil told me he had prostate cancer and had decided to get off the road, and when he told me that, I had to have this sit-down and say, what am I going to do now — what do I want to do now. I’m not a rich man. I’ve got kids in college and a mortgage to pay. In early 2007, they approached me, and asked if I’d be willing to make a commitment. They offered me an equal share of the business. It was a no-brainer: I enjoyed doing this, I liked these guys, and there was a financial commitment.

And as soon as I make that commitment, who calls? Phil! He was asking me about more shows in 2007. I basically had to say no, and it killed me at that time to say no to him. Those guys in [Phil's camp] are always forward thinking so as soon as I said no, they had moved on. That band [the 2007/2008 Jackie Greene/Larry Campbell lineup], I really haven’t listened to it and don’t know much about it because when I got involved with DSO at a commitment, I got really immersed in doing that.

HT: Take me back to when they first called you after Scott’s death. I asked Rob Koritz about that and he mentioned they’d had you in mind, but they weren’t even sure how to get the ball rolling. How did you and DSO come together?

• HT Interview: Rob Barraco Pt. 1 – Return and Future of The “Q”

RB: Well, I don’t think they didn’t know how to contact me. Cotter Michaels, their front-of-house sound engineer — he wasn’t with them at that time but had done stuff for them years earlier — knew me, I knew him well. He made the connection. I remember, it was a Sunday afternoon. I was hoisting a couch up over a railing at my girlfriend’s house. My cell phone rings, and it’s a Massachusetts number, and I’m thinking, who the hell is calling me from Massachusetts?

I answered the phone, and it was Norman [Gopin] — their manager at the time, and still a good friend of the band’s — and he said, we’ve got a month’s tour coming up, and if we don’t do this tour, financially, we’re going to be in deep shit. He says, you’re the only guy we can think of who could come in here and do this without rehearsing with the band. I looked at my schedule, and that month just happen to fit in between the Phil stuff I was doing and the stuff I was doing with my band the Dragonflys at that time. That’s how it happened.

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HT’s Chad Berndtson recently chatted with keyboardist Rob Barraco about last week’s Phil Lesh Quintet (The “Q”) performances as well as his main band – Dark Star Orchestra. We’ll be presenting Chad’s interview with Rob in two parts. Today’s post will focus on the past, present and future of The “Q,” while tomorrow will cover the same ground in regards to Dark Star Orchestra.

To answer a burning question right off the top: Yes, there appear to be more Phil Lesh Quintet reunion shows in the works.

So says Rob Barraco, who as a core member of what is arguably the greatest of the post-Garcia Dead bands, is in a good position to know. And for many, that’s a cause for celebration – including for Barraco, who agrees that the Q was a special band with the type of musical chemistry rarely found, even among consummate pros.

[Photo by Jeremy Gordon]

After a nine-year absence, the band revisited that chemistry in late April, with four barn-burning shows at Phil Lesh’s Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael. As reunions go, the nights were relatively rust-free – and based on the initial reception, it’s hard to imagine a fuller-blown Q return isn’t in the works in some form.

Hidden Track: Are there going to be more Phil Lesh Quintet performances?

Rob Barraco: Oh yeah. No doubt about it. It’s going to happen.

It was Barraco’s participation in the Q, and also the Dead and several other pre- and post-Q Phil Lesh bands, that helped broaden his reputation. What a resume: a decade-plus tenure in the beloved Zen Tricksters, a range of sit-ins, collaborations and ongoing work on solo material, including the short-lived Dragonflys band, and, most importantly, his role in the ever-more-potent Dark Star Orchestra, which Barraco helped rescue from a near-collapse in 2005 and to which he’s remained committed, seven years on.

Hidden Track caught up with the effusively passionate Barraco, to hear all about the Q, DSO and being a road warrior.

HIDDEN TRACK: I want to get into a lot of the stuff you’ve been doing with Dark Star Orchestra but I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask about the Phil Lesh Quintet reunion from last weekend. How were those shows?

ROB BARRACO: It was pretty magical, man. After nine years, it was like we didn’t miss a beat, not only musically, but just as friends, too. I hadn’t seen Jimmy, in particular, in a while, and as soon as I saw him, it was like yesterday. We all just got right back into character and it was really wonderful. One of the days, it was great, because it was my birthday and Warren and Jimmy took me out for lunch and that just turned into a laugh fest. It was like old times.

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Quintessential Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra are throwing their inaugural Dark Star Jubilee festival at Legend Valley in Thornville, Ohio on August 31 – September 2. In addition to a show a night from DSO, the band will welcome 7 Walkers, the Mickey Hart Band, Keller Williams, Jorma Kaukonen, Infamous Stringdusters, Dumpstaphunk, Donna The Buffalo, Perpetual Groove, Boombox, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, Cornmeal, the Donna Jean Godchaux Band and more to Dark Star Jubilee. All in all, that’s three former members of the Dead who will participate.

Tickets are on sale now for $89. There will be no overlapping sets.

Here’s six other stories of note this hump day…

• Hybebot profiles the fan-friendly, high-tech ways of Umphrey’s
• Sax wiz Bill Evans chats with Chad Berndtson for Glide Magazine
• Rush will finally release a new LP, Clockwork Angels, on June 12
• NMAS Duo and Bright Light Social Hour added to moe.down bill
• The set times for the first weekend of Coachella have been posted
• NY Times reviews last night’s Kraftwerk eight-show run opener

Finally, up-and-coming acts Big Mean Sound Machine, Beat The Grid, and JSAN will play the first-ever Ithaca Bowl event at Brooklyn Bowl in NYC on Tuesday, May 22. The event has been assembled by promoter Brad Tucker to bring together Ithaca College alums living in NYC and is free-of-charge to those who attend/join the show’s Facebook page or shows an Ithaca College ID at the door.

Another journal entry from European jam fan Josh Bogen in Amsterdam…

Jam In The Dam 2012: moe., Mike Gordon, Lotus, Keller Williams and Dark Star Orchestra

Thursday, March 15

Our omen for the day was served with at breakfast, in the form of a “LOTUS” inscribed biscuit to accompany coffee, or maybe it was just a coincidence. The weather had improved and I was finally able to take out my shades, for a perfect day to see more of the city.

[All Photos by Jon Derow]

One should realize that Jam In The Dam is not Phish at Merriweather with the band’s fans taking over the city. Amsterdam is a major city and the festival is small. Add to that the fact that Amsterdam has more than its share of resident bohemians and backpack slinging tourists, as well as lower temperatures which keep the tie-dyes covered up by jackets, and it’s hard to even notice that we are here. It’s also possible that with the shows ending around 2 am, people are just barely managing to get up in time for the next night’s festivities. However, when you do arrive at the Milky Way, you are met by an unmistakable jam band crowd, tie-dyes bared and more than few over the top outfits.

Entrance has been smooth into the venue, so it’s really just a lot of old and new friends hanging out in the vicinity. Today, however, the line stretched out into the street an hour before the start time, as cardboard tube-wielding fans waited to get their official posters signed by their favorite artists. This is one of the perks, I guess, of an intimate destination festival like Jam In The Dam (try that at Bonnaroo; the line would stretch to the next state). All of DSO and moe. were on hand, as well as Keller. Lotus was still busy with soundcheck, and Mike Gordon’s crew didn’t seem to have made it.(In their defense, they did have the latest start time of the night and I am sure most of the festival-goers can sympathize that getting anywhere on time here is a struggle after a late night out.)

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At quintessential Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra’s three-set New Year’s Eve performance at the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, New Jersey, the band offered a set a piece from different eras in Grateful Dead history.

For their first set, DSO tipped their proverbial hat towards the Live Dead era by playing a setlist based on the Dead’s February 21, 1969 performance at the Dream Bowl in Napa, Calif. The group’s second set was based on the Grateful Dead’s first set at Campus Stadium in Santa Barbara on June 4, 1978, while the third set was taken from the Dead’s July 18, 1989 performance at Alpine Valley. On December 30, Dark Star Orchestra came up with a setlist of their own, complete with an acoustic first set.

Here’s a look at the setlists from the DSO NYE Run…

Dark Star Orchestra New Year’s Eve Setlist:

Set One: 2/21/69 – Dream Bowl, Vallejo CA – Friday
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl ; Doin’ That Rag ; Dark Star > St. Stephen > The Eleven > Turn On Your Love Light ;

Set Two: 6/4/78 – Campus Stadium – University Of California, Santa Barbara CA – Sunday Set 1
Bertha > Good Lovin’ ; Dire Wolf ; Me And My Uncle > Big River ; Brown Eyed Women ; Looks Like Rain ; Tennessee Jed ; Jack Straw

Set Three: 7/18/89 – Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI – Tuesday Set 2
Sugar Magnolia > Scarlet Begonias ; Man Smart (Woman Smarter) ; Eyes Of The World > Drums > Space > China Doll ; Dear Mr. Fantasy > Hey Jude ; Throwing Stones ~ Sunshine Daydream
Encore: Quinn The Eskimo

Dark Star Orchestra 12/30 Setlist:

Set One [acoustic]: Oh Boy ; Rosa Lee McFall ; Wake Up Little Susie ; Black Muddy River ; Big iron ; Strange Man ; Yes She Do, No She Don’t ; Deep Elem Blues

Set Two: Hell In A Bucket ; West L.A. Fadeaway ; Greatest Story Ever Told ; Loser* ; Passenger ; Waiting For A Miracle ; Feel Like A Stranger

Set Three: Foolish Heart > Samson and Delilah ; Terrapin Station > Playing In The Band > drums > space > Wharf Rat > China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider

Encore: Around & Around

Notes: Set one acoustic
* – Power outage during ‘Loser’

2012 looks to be a busy year for DSO as they kick off the first of two cross-country tours already scheduled on Feb. 1 in Minneapolis. They’ll also head overseas for Jam in the Dam 2012 in March.

Comedian turned U.S. Senator Al Franken has never hid his love for the Grateful Dead. Franken helped get the band on Saturday Night Live, was featured in skits and interviews featured in the GD concert film Dead Ahead and used Terrapin Station as the theme for his Air America radio show. Last night at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C., Franken emerged at the start of the show to offer a hilarious introduction of Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra.

[Photo by Matt Reynolds (DSO Tour Manager)]

In working through a mention of each band member, the Senator utilized a line from his intro of the Grateful Dead at Radio City Music Hall in 1980 when he said, “if you don’t quiet down, I’m going to leave and the band will have to play.” He also made a poorly received crack about the Dead’s keyboard hot seat when he quipped, “I don’t want to give away what show this is, but [DSO keyboardist] Rob [Barraco] is going to die in three days.” After Franken left the stage, Dark Star Orchestra went on to play one of the famed Warlocks shows – October 8, 1989 at Hampton Coliseum. DSO returns to the 9:30 Club tonight. Check out Franken’s intro…

Al Franken Introduces Dark Star Orchestra

If you’ve been nose-to-grindstone in the music industry for decades, you hope to stay busy. And now, more than ever, it seems, Jeff Mattson’s cup runneth over.

Although long considered a musician’s musician with wicked guitar chops and a lived-in voice, and best known for the Zen Tricksters and a stint with Phil Lesh & Friends in the late 1990s, some of Mattson’s biggest breaks have come only in the past few years. First came a partnership with Donna Jean Godchaux-MacKay, with whom Mattson clicked instantly, going on to form what both musicians consider one of their most creative projects. And late last year, with John Kadlecik’s departure from Dark Star Orchestra imminent, Mattson stepped into the “Jerry” role in DSO so seamlessly that by the time he formally joined the band, in June 2010, it seemed just that: a formality. The role was his.

Hidden Track had a chance to visit with Mattson at his Long Island home a few weeks back, part of a rare break for the guitarist and singer between exhausting DSO tour legs. It was one of those conversations where 50 minutes flow by like five, with so much to touch upon, and Mattson was in a mood to expound.

HIDDEN TRACK: Watching you perform with DSO now, you’ve slipped into this role so easily. Obviously you’ve known these guys for a while but it’s a transition all the same. Going back, when did you first hook up with the DSO gang?

JEFF MATTSON: When did I first meet them?

HT: Right, you’ve known them for years and I can remember seeing the Zen Tricksters and DSO sharing bills some eight, nine years ago.

JM: Yeah, I think it was back about then, down south somewhere, where the Zen Tricksters opened for DSO. The first time we encountered each other there was, well, maybe a little gentle competition, but a good vibe between us, too. Then, in 2003, the Zen Tricksters went out as an acoustic trio, just Klyph (Black), Tommy (Circosta) and me, and did something like 10 shows opening for them. We got to know them better and there was mutual respect, and we both saw it as we’re on the same mission, instead of competing. And frankly, they’re a lot more successful than we ever were [laughs], and we weren’t much of a threat! But we had our niche.

READ ON for more of Chad’s chat with Jeff Mattson…

Dark Star Orchestra @ Wellmont Theatre, May 22

Dark Star Orchestra do what they do so well, and have done it for years, which is precisely why they’re still one of the biggest mysteries in the scene. How is it that a band with this type of built-in conceit and therefore, so much stacked against it before note one is played on a given night, sounds vital?

Dark Star Orchestra – The Wheel (Live in Montclair)

Credit the music, sure. The Grateful Dead catalog is an endlessly malleable and contiguous oeurve; it provides for all of Jerry’s children, with leftovers. But then that alone was never it. There are plenty of keepers of the flame, not least guys named Lesh, Weir, Kreutzmann and Hart. Hundreds of Dead cover bands can do a serviceable Uncle John’s Band and call it a night. There are more than a few who can stick the landing in the Help > Slip > Franklin’s progression and leave a Dead itch scratched. There are others who through technical prowess and verve can provide a fun approximation of Grateful Dead music from A to Z.

But the great Dead cover bands thin to their most distinguished ranks after that, and Dark Star Orchestra is somewhere at the end of that thinning-out: a category of its own for the reason that it so understands the idiom of Grateful Dead music – the songcraft, the improvisational style, the set narrative, the puzzle pieces – that on a good night, it transcends what’s generally expected of even the most technically brilliant, note-perfect tribute groups. READ ON for more from Chad on DSO in Montclair…