Damn it, I did the whole thing on Youtube because I thought it was the Dave 30 version--it says something about "licensed to youtube on behalf of Rhino," and the sound quality is amazing. But it cuts at the end of the 2nd verse, I don't think there's a cut on the release? 92. 1970-01-02 youtube Fillmore East 29:57 (starts at 1:51:00 at link) (cuts at end of second verse) Main theme at 1:57:34 (6:34). First verse at 1:57:55 (6:55). Feelin’ Groovy at 2:10:16 (19:16). Sugar Magnolia jam at 2:12:00 (21:00). Soulful Strut at 2:13:42 (22:42). Main theme at 2:19:30 (28:30). Falling Star at 2:19:47 (28:47). Main theme at 2:20:04 (29:04). Second verse at 2:20:33 (29:33). Goes into St. Stephen. Weir introduces this with “We’ll give you some easy listening music.” TS is still playing his new riff at the beginning, and he seems to have extra tremolo in his sound tonight. All the instrumentalists sound very clear and distinct on this recording. After hovering around the edge of the main theme for a while, at 1:54:14 (3:14) Lesh and Weir weave together, producing a spellbinding section of music which is regrettably brief. At 1:55:58 (4:58) Weir mirrors Garcia’s line and gives us another thrilling moment. Throughout there are hints of the theme and, at times, Sputnik. The band starts easing into the theme at 1:56:43 (5:43), although Garcia doesn’t play the main line, instead taking off again; he gestures toward Bright Star at 1:57:28 (6:28), and then finally swoops into the theme. The band takes it down to almost nothing after the verse this time, with the wind chimes sounding alone at times. There is a little tolling from Garcia, a few swells from Lesh, TC noodles a little…but silence mostly reigns for a while; the band shows a lot of restraint and lets the space develop out of nothingness. More intense weirdness eventually bubbles out of this pool of silence, but it subsides again. This is a strange and awesome space. At 2:04:31 (13:31) Garcia starts quietly playing Sputnik licks; this has become the standard way to end this space segment lately, but he heads off in another direction with it this time, playing Sputnik-like rolls around a drone. It ends a lot like Sputnik, with a little crescendo, but this was not really a Sputnik. At 2:07:35 (16:35) the band seems like they’re on their way back to mundane territory, but they’re still playing gently and with a lot of mutual sensitivity. By about 2:08:20 (17:20) they’ve gone back down to almost nothing. Garcia starts riffing as Weir quietly drones, and they start to come together. At 2:09:10 (18:10) the music is almost gone again; this time Lesh enters the breach, and they start hinting at the two-chord song pattern. At 2:09:42 (18:42) Lesh starts different two-chord pattern (IV-I) which seems designed to take us to Feelin’ Groovy, and the band responds. Feelin’ Groovy pops out at 2:10:16 (19:16), and as the band leans into it the contrast with what came before is striking. At times Weir seems ready to launch into a lead again, although he doesn’t quite get the chance. Feelin’ Groovy seems to launch into a proto-Sugar Magnolia jam at 2:12:00 (21:00) (at times this almost sounds like Run for the Roses!). This winds down and at 2:13:42 (22:42) Weir strums a major 7th chord, signaling the start of Soulful Strut. This works itself into something quite glorious. By about 2:16:45 (25:45) or so it’s clear Garcia is going to cede the lead role to Weir again (see 1969-12-26), and the latter takes off; as he reaches the climax, Garcia joins him for a double lead. This is a section that has to be heard! At about 2:18:50 (27:50) they down shift back into Dark Star territory proper. There is a nice little jam that hints at Bright Star, visits the main theme, culminates in the rare Falling Star, and then drops into the main theme again before heading to the verse. This is a great version, there is no doubt. At times the band seems to founder a little, but there are so many thrilling moments that it has to be ranked very highly. And, once again, Bob Weir steps out on lead guitar!
@Mr. Rain -- forget about catching up, just get back in it! You can always backfill if/when you get the chance if you still want to catch up.
I'll be back! I'm on the fence about whether to try reviewing the last half-dozen Stars. Probably won't have time for all those anyway. Maybe I'll just add comments on your blog. Anyway, sitting out a few weeks has given me a new understanding of why hardly any new reviewers ever jump in this thread....
Great review. I always loved that "Soulful Strut" section playing from Bobby and Jerry. The A Major runs and harmony are a subtle but effective contrast to the main theme in Mixolydian. What a difference changing one note (G #-G) can make. Bright sunshine to some darkness.
#92 1970-01-02 (I listened to Dave's Picks 30 since you mentioned the cut. The times are quite different so I won't reference those). Nice vibe as things get going and everyone is clear in the mix. The audience is excited and claps along initially. Playing around the theme they collectively conjure up a rhythmic, floating on a cloud feeling. Jerry heads out with a spidery line; the textures from Bob are really nice. The playing is gentle but it's a different kind of gentle than the delicate, more spacey opening from the previous version. Phil and Bob weave together as bzfgt pointed out which sounds really nice. They continue to work around the theme; things start to build but then ease up again. In the quieter space Jerry starts a high line that kind of skips along and then they shift back towards the theme again. Things slow down and then they bring it up again, fully returning the theme and on to the second verse. After the verse Phil and Bob do their thing but very quickly take it down. It gets very quiet, just some subtle jingly chimes. A few guitar notes; TC very faint in the background; some gentle bell tolls enter. You can feel some spacey weirdness wanting to break through but it's still very quiet. They really take their time with it. Eventually the freakiness steps forth more prominently with insect-y alien guitar sounds and some TC. This passage also has that large spaceship slowly moving through the void kind of feel. Things get louder and there are some deep sounds like a fog horn and they take it back down again. In comes string scraping and assorted weirdness and then slowly Sputnik starts to emerge. However it's not quite Sputnik and it has kind of a harpsichord feel and then it's almost like Spanish guitar. It builds and gets more Sputnik-y and then as it runs its course they continue on very gently, almost hovering but not quite stopping. Eventually it slows further and does almost come to a stop. Out of this quietness a jam starts to slowly emerge but they ease up before it fully coalesces. And then Phil comes in with a bass line and you can hear that Feelin' Groovy is impending and just like that they fully jump into it. It feels joyous and triumphant like they've come out of the void better for having gone through the journey. And it makes the listener want to bop! Things transform into the proto-Sugar Magnolia jam that bzfgt noted which has a really nice vibe too. As this runs its course they hover for just a beat or two and then Soulful Strut steps in which conjures up a beautiful feeling. They build it up and we're cruising through the sky and it's wonderful. It starts to ease a bit and Weir steps forward (perhaps a little tentatively, but go Bobby) and they take it up again and Jerry comes in as well for the uplifting swoop. After it peaks they continue to play around it and take their time bringing it down. Eventually they make a clear pivot back into Dark Star and work in that space, gently at first and then building just a bit, playing around the theme and then fully returning to it, followed by a Falling Star (hello there!) and then back to the theme and on to the second verse. I really enjoyed this version. Nice feel to the opening segment, a patient trip into the void and some really nice melodic, thematic jams. In the thematic jams section I had to stop typing a few times to just move along with the music.
One aspect of this Dark Star I love (besides the real long quiet section which speaks of massive restraint which might be *the* hallmark of great improvisation) is that the thematic improvisations are neither exactly “feeling groovy” nor “soulful strut”. This sort of melodic improvising becomes even more commonplace starting in with the great March 1972 Academy Star. Maybe the high point for this sort of invented thematic material happens on either 4/8 or 9/21/72. But alas I haven’t heard them and/or have not listened as carefully as the scholars on this thread/blog.
Yeah they are at times but in this era there's a lot of playing that's part in/part out of a thematic jam....it seems like they got more rigid with them later.
Comparing Dave's to that YouTube source, Dave's has a patch from a different show starting at "glass hand dissolving" and ending just before "ladyfinger" in St. Stephen. This other show has the vocals mixed to the center (in 1/2/70 they are at the right) and is without T.C. The Youtube source has the "glass hand dissolving" line from 1/2/70 but the tape runs out at the end of that line, and has the "wishing bell" verse of Stephen that was also replaced by the verse from the other show on Dave's.
I keep trying to, but if I start writing a thing and pull up the thread and there are 3 play-by-plays already, what am I going to add? I did listen to this one and make notes about 2 months ago, but now I can't find that notebook, maybe its somewhere in my garage.
I like doing some non-technical play-by-play because it helps me to focus my listening and get a better sense of what’s going on. And if I’m doing that for my own learning and enjoyment I might as well share it here. And then I also like reading everyone else’s takes to pick up additional things, especially more musician-oriented analysis that is beyond my capabilities. So I think there is value in the overlap but it’s also great to have some broader discussion and comparisons with recent versions, etc.
I think the patch is from the early show of 2/14/70 (the next, and last, version of the Live/Dead suite at Fillmore East).
1970-01-02. The first Dark Star of the new year! And not so different from the December '69 versions, but the Fillmore East setting seems to add an extra sensitivity to the playing. For those who don't have the Dave's Picks, the Archive copies are fine (this is the latest one) -- only the last verse gets trimmed by the cut; not nearly as bad as that 12/30/69 cut. Jerry gives the band a lot of space to open, playing just a few notes at the start...so the opening's mostly just Bob, Phil, Mickey on the inevitable guiro, and TC doing his thing. Once Jerry warms up he gets into some keening notes -- they briefly land on the theme at 2:20 but as usual, there's more jamming to do, a quietly hypnotic stretch -- then they head back to the theme at 3:40 -- then move out again with some choppy chords from Bob. Billy adds some cymbal splashes! Then they sort of circle round the theme, teasing at it, pushing it away, but you know it's coming since Mickey's rustling on his gong now, and TC's adding some extra organ whine. Jerry pauses and lets the others build up the theme, then swoops in. Verse at 6:55. They can't wait to get into space after the verse -- they stop playing within seconds. Then, the silent emptiness of space...little noises from everyone. The chimes are a nice touch! Bits of creepy feedback, moans & groans, strange clatters, a Halloween feel that gets steadily noisier and wilder....then they retreat back to silence again. (They've done this in spaces before too: a volume rush & peak in the middle -- they don't go straight from the loud part to the jamming; space has its own dynamic map.) They're luxuriating in this long space, coaxing out all kinds of weird noises. After a few more feedback bursts Jerry slips in his softly played Sputnik at 13:15, which slowly gets louder. Bob & TC add their parts but Phil stays out for some reason, so it's kind of a partial Sputnik....perhaps you could call it a Sputnik variation. Jerry's doing some intense arpeggiating here. It peaks noisily with some feedback and sputters out by 15:30. Then they just float for a while...it's like we're back in space again but the cymbals are tapping, guitars are coming to life, something's burbling under the surface. Wooden taps, foreboding notes, an atmosphere like a creepy spaghetti western. Jerry & the percussion start up kind of a neat flamenco-sounding jam but it doesn't go anywhere and ends quickly. So Phil takes charge with a bass line around 18:00 -- and with just a hint from him, immediately they're playing some familiar-sounding tune with a developed chord pattern, like they've played it before. A total change in mood: after some ten minutes of quiet weirdness it's like a light has been flipped on. Whatever this tune is (and it could be totally spontaneous) it's great. It shades close to Feelin' Groovy, Phil's pushing it that way....then Jerry teases China Cat at 19:45! He spins off in some cool riffing while the others pump out Feelin' Groovy around 20:20. You can almost hear the melody line of the song....but Jerry takes it in a different direction and it's almost Sugar Magnolia now. But then after 21:00, is that the melody of Cosmic Charlie Jerry's playing? They're playing three songs at the same time! Whoa. But the spark fades quickly and they drift for a moment, til Bob introduces the Soulful Strut chords at 22:20 and they jump aboard. Bill & Mickey both pounding on the drums now; TC backing up with the chords; Jerry's really biting into it. A classic rendition. Then around 25:00 Jerry says (in effect) 'Hey Bob, your turn,' and Bob makes his attempt at a solo. Bob's effort doesn't really go anywhere, so at 26:15 Jerry swoops in with an exciting twin lead. Soulful Strut dissipates in a flurry of chords...what next? They decide to head for the finish and downshift to the Dark Star theme at 27:45, kind of awkward but sweetly done. Jerry briefly considers Bright Star at 28:40, but instead he brings back our old friend the Falling Star! Haven't heard this since spring '69 at least. It's kind of a quiet finish to such a driving jam. And in the end, the verse. (And a sigh of relief that the tape ended here and not 10 minutes earlier.) This was a majestic version -- quite a shift from the subdued start and the loooong weird space to the rock & roll explosion. As far as Dark Star's development, they're not only getting deeper into space but going wild with the theme jams. If you can't decide which theme to do, just play two at once!
The Soulful Strut is in its regular form, I think -- you could almost take this one as a template -- but the Feelin' Groovy is very fluid. It's only really Feelin' Groovy for a brief time as they kind of blend themes together, merging one into another; it's more like Mystery Theme>Feelin' Groovy>Proto-Sugar Mag/Quasi-Charlie, or sometimes all at once depending how you hear it.
Good investigation! Another of those hidden secret patches on the releases.... Personally I find it easier to let bzfgt go first and let him break new ground! It helps to organize thoughts if other people have already commented....and the overlap between different reviews can reveal different things. We're not usually adding the same observations over & over, I don't think. If anything the more voices chime in the better....although now I can see there's a pretty high barrier to adding reviews in this thread. But like we mentioned earlier, it's not like we all set out to write detailed play-by-plays, it just turns out to be hard not to write them that way. On the other hand, more brief impressionistic summaries of these Dark Stars would be fine too, if anyone wanted to write those.
#92 1970/01/02 Fillmore East, NY (“We’ll give you some easy listening music.” -Bob, in the tuning beforehand. Exactly, Bob.) Nice clean start with medium tempo, TC’s intro lick is warbling with vibrato. Lots of shaker and guiro all together. Takes a bit before Jerry gets into this world, he enters with short licks, developing slowly, getting caught up on a few string bends. Up over the wave and back down to the groove again, staying in the Dark Star world with a new cresting wave at 3:30 and back to the verse feint, but they take it to a rhythmic jam of the chords and build it up again. Some cymbals accenting. More theme hints, more chord play Jerry doing some harmonics and casual tuning. TC comes in with a brighter tone for a little side lead as they build it back up to a theme area and into the verse at 6:55. A delicate vocal reading, very intimate sounding. Nice version of the verse and chorus and the counterpoint. A few chords to introduce the new section, but it’s quickly faded into bells and small sounds. “Negative Space” one reviewer called it. Lots of odd arhythmic percussion sounds, a few guitar sounds. Sparse organ. Very internal headspace. Scrapes and controlled feedbacks. Cymbal swells and crying sounds. A volume breakout at 11 minutes with low organ rolls and louder guitar swells, organ moves through stops, guitar using on-off switch for beeps, many long low feedback tones over the organ sweeps, leaving spectral stops on the organ. Tiny sounds from the guitar string scraping, a few loud spots in the sea of stillness. A trill starts quietly, semi-Sputnik, developing towards that arpeggio. Very banjo-roll, (harpsochord-like, someone said!) persistent but mostly quiet, it comes up in volume and TC hits his arpeggios. Bob starts a different set underneath, but it fades out. Drums are hinting at coming in at 16:30. Some guitar notes hint from the theme notes, but isolated, and as more are played they take on other more minor modal “Spanish Jam” characteristics. Sidestick rhythm comes in a minute later, JG has some flourishes. When Phil comes in the drumset and claves are at tempo, and they are heading into a chordal jam of A and D, then G to A, D A. A Mixolydian, the “Feeling Groovy/UJB” is in there somewhere (D A GGG A) but not explicit quite until Phil actually plays a descending line in the 21 min area. Jerry seems to have some other song idea in his head about this, complete with a melody, one that ends with a I-V-I (A-E-A). So it goes. Pleasant enough to switch to the A Major, and at 22:45 they go for the Maj7 chords, the Soulful Strut (or Tighten Up?) Jerry develops this into a nice and very bright lead that goes wandering up and over the clouds. I imagine seaweed dancing is happening. TC is comping chords this whole time. Some thematic melody statement at 26:30, continuing the major key jam. By 27:3o they’re all just on the maj 7 chords and suggesting switching back to the Dark Star chords, which has happened by 28 minutes, brought back in tempo a bit, but still grooving. Theme at 28:30, even going to a crying star after a bit, then that gliss to the A, verse intro theme and…verse 2 at 29:30, poppy organ accompaniment, we get two lines and the cassette runs out. Nice version, very structural in the transitions, space->minor key->mixolydian/FG jam->Soulful Strut->Dark Star.
93. 28. 1970-01-17 19283 Oregon 20:00 Main theme at :20 and 3:06 First verse at 3:41. Sputnik at 9:35. Feelin’ Groovy at 12:55. Bright Star at 16:35. Main theme at 17:50. Second verse at 18:25. Goes into St. Stephen. After some brief preliminaries Garcia mentions the main theme very early here, at :20. The jamming sort of circles this for a while, in what will be a common strategy in the early part of Dark Star. Garcia’s lines seem especially classical in this introduction, and the band seems particularly mindful of the structure of the song; they take advantage of this strategy and build to a little peak at 1:59, with Garcia touching on Bright Star. From about 2:40 they depart from the structure, but this is brief and they come back to the main theme by 3:06. Surprisingly, they go right to the verse here after a relatively brief intro. The post-verse descent into space is quite the expected thing at this point. Again tonight they take it down to almost nothing, and then weirdness starts to poke through. They fluctuate dynamically between intense swells and quieter sections. It strikes me that they are getting very good at this, and the post-verse space is often one of the most engaging parts of the performance. The egress from space again begins when Garcia starts playing Sputnik at 9:35. Like last time, this again departs from Sputnik as we’ve known it, but it holds its structure long enough that I’ve counted it this time. It is relatively brief, however, as Garcia starts playing an insistent line that leads them into the middle jam proper. By 12:45 this seems to be angling toward Feelin’ Groovy and it gets there a few seconds later, but it doesn’t stay there long, as the band soon varies the pattern again, never fully committing to the jam this time. Instead Lesh plays a figure that at times seems more related to the Dark Star theme but also kind of seems like it’s own thing. They leave it behind and circle back to it a few times, and Garcia also occasionally alludes to the theme in the course of this section and then, at 15:42, bursts into a kind of modified Bright Star. At about 16:10 the band hits a nice peak, and they sustain it for a while, taking it even higher when Garcia finally commits to Bright Star at 16:35. They come down the other side into the main theme, and soon they are wrapping it up with the second verse. This feels pretty succinct; 20 minutes isn’t that short by historical or even contemporary standards, but it all seems to go by in a flash. The jamming here is excellent—there are no weak points or moments of confusion; rather, the band seems confident and in command from beginning to end. The jam after space is particularly good here; they dip their toe into Feelin’ Groovy, but for the most part this isn’t organized around a modular section, but improvised on the spot. This is also the most fully realized part of the rendition, as they explore the possibilities of this particular jam at some length. In some ways this reminds me of a version from late Spring of 1969—confident and at times aggressive playing coupled with a willingness to move on quickly to the next idea. But when the dust has settled this one has not ranged that widely, since they hunker down into the last jam and let it play out. In summation, this is perhaps not an all-timer, but it is a truly excellent version nonetheless.
#93 1970/01/17 OSU, Corvallis, OR (I really wanted it to be the 21:12 version just cuz 2112, but that one was a half step flat, so I’m going with the 20:00 version) Following Mason’s Children and High Time (and an announcement for everybody to take off their shoes so as not to ruin the floor of the gym…), a classic start into a medium tempo groove with hand drums and shaker, TC on his new riff, theme statements and leads taking off from there. I like this groove and feeling this evening, nice playing from everybody together right off the bat, and very “classic” Dark Star sounding. Nice ups and downs in the mode, very small eddies in the flow which is constantly moving forward with riffy bits and melodic lines. A static area shows up by almost 3 minutes and it comes out right into the Dark Star riff again. Beautiful. Into pre-verse territory, the verse at about 3:45. Verse strongly sung, with intensity contrasted with delicacy, interesting rhythmic play on line two from Phil while TC maintains the offbeat accent, the wandering on line three is exploratory. Chorus is perfectly played with the cymbal and drum accents, off to the counterpoint outro and into the Transitive Nightfall. Some full drumset statements, the band seems to start to play as if it was going normally and then it all peels away. To near silence with spectral organ trills, small guitar sounds and cymbals, some hand drums still. Bass notes poke in with a feedback coming from guitar, and some guitar string strikes. Feedback play with whammy bar! (Very Hendrix, guys.) Also with cymbals and organ chords. String scraping, the organ starts going a little wilder, lots of cymbal splashing, waves come and go. A super distorted bass note/chord enters and Jerry plays a few soft notes. Continuing toward trills and feedback, the Sputnik is entering quietly toward the end of the 9th minute. Drums and organ comping with it. He changes chord and it goes more a minor for a bit, but it left a groove in the drums and Jerry comes back in after the wave with lead playing in the normal Dark Star mode, but quicker, this is a cool jam, Phil is working the D and E over the A, at 12:30 it’s a very plugging Dark Star but Bobby takes it to the Feeling Groovy chords and Phil joins with the descending bass line (which still says “Uncle John’s Band” to me). Sounds like Bill is grooving with toms more than ride cymbal here, Mickey on claves still. It dips a minute later and comes back up with Dark Star theme like bass lines, but more with the major key feel still. They play up a rocking Dark Star theme area at 15:30, into the endless lead playing we used to have with this sort of jam here a year previous. It is slowly heading to a Bright Star a minute later, in a super strong, very forward-moving jam. At 17:20 or so, Jerry signals that it’s gonna reign in a bit, and they start an interesting break down that isn’t exactly. like slowing the wheel like they’d been doing, but comes down to the theme and slows down into the pre-verse tempo, verse 2 at 18:30. Nice delivery on the verse, where it grooves normally on line one, with some trills from TC then line two opens up to the offbeat rhythm with a wide chord and cymbals on the downbeat and strong statements on the offbeat chords, on line three, Phil plays sparsely and lets the wandering happen in a small way from TC. Nice madrigal vocals from everybody on the outro. Counterpoint followed by a long set of the chords with little tinkly percussion that lead to St Stephen, which elicits applause, everybody knows this one. Excellent version, in my opinion, lots of the endless whole-band improv on the Dark Star groove, Jerry rarely steps aside like he had been on several versions previously and continues moving forward with his lead lines. Even the “Feelin’ Groovy” section felt more “Dark Star” than some random major chords shoved into the space. In many ways this one reminded me of the versions from the winter 1968-69-area versions (more than spring 69, as above.)
94. 1970-01-23 youtube Honolulu 18:43 Main theme at 1:02 and 3:31. First verse at 4:31. Sputnik at 9:27. Bright Star at 15:20. Main theme at 16:14. Second verse at 17:06. Goes into St. Stephen. This sounds good, save that TC is rather low in the mix. Garcia again visits the main theme very early here, after about a minute, and once again the introductory jam seems to be organized around the theme. After around 2:30 there’s an interesting bit where the band plays the theme while Jerry hovers around with the volume knob; he then plays a few lines before joining in. This gets us to the verse. There is a minute or two of sort of intense brooding after the verse, but by 6:29 the band brings it down to almost nothing, as is their wont of late. After a minute or so a surf of cymbals approaches high tide and then recedes. The band seems to pull some new spacey sounds out of their toolbox this time, and space gets wonderfully bizarre. At 9:27 you can hear Garcia firing up Sputnik, as is to be expected at this point. This sort of organically transforms into a jam in such a way that the boundaries of Sputnik are not entirely clear—the band winds up in a two chord pattern that is a little bit like what would become Fire on the Mountain (or see the Watkins Glen “soundcheck”). There seems to be a small cut somewhere in here, but it doesn’t seem that much is missing. A little after the 13 minute point it seems like they might be pushing toward Feelin’ Groovy, but instead we wind up with a pretty structured jam that remains its own thing. Toward the 15 minute mark it’s turning back into something that sounds like Dark Star, and the band is driving toward a peak as Garcia breaks into Bright Star. This plays out for a while and Garcia goes right into a very emphatic iteration of the theme. They slow it down appreciably before going to the verse, complete with off-key harmonies from Weir. Once again Dark Star feels quite brief at 20 minutes. This is a nice version; it is probably not that noteworthy in the grand scheme of things, but there are far worse ways to spend 20 minutes of your life.
#93 1970-01-17 The opening does have a classic Dark Star feel except for the newer TC riff. Everyone sounds pretty clear in the mix with TC a bit fainter in the background. Jerry’s guitar line wanders out complimented by Phil and Bob. He picks up the intensity and takes it a little sharper and higher. Eventually things dissolve into a slightly spacey or less structured yet still melodic zone and then suddenly they burst back into the theme and hit the first verse early. After an emphatic verse they quickly head into space as expected and things get quiet and jingly with just the odd sound cropping up from various instruments. There’s also some distortion on the recording that adds a bit of a feedback feel. There are some freaky alien sounds rather soft in the background and eventually a sustained feedback sound steps forth and things get stranger. It really has an otherworldly feel on this night with some scary movie sounds mixed in as well. In come the scraping strings and there’s a swell with keyboard and gong washes. A loud bass note rings out and there’s some quiet guitar that gives way to more feedback. Around 9:35 Sputnik quietly starts to emerge, building up with the layered patterns and again turning into something a bit different and not going as high as it sometimes does. After a minute or so this gives way to a deeper guitar line and they start to work up a jam with some prominent Phil. It revs up and gets going and by 12:50 it’s turning into Feelin’ Groovy. This version is not as fully fleshed or uplifting but it’s a good groove. Before long it fades back into a different jam with Jerry working some different lines that sound pretty cool. You can hear Dark Star poking through at various points especially from Phil but they keep the groove going. Eventually it starts getting more collectively Dark Starry although still not quite and the momentum builds and they’re ascending to a peak and by 16:30 it bursts forth into a triumphant Bright Star. They stay up there for a good bit and it sounds a little like bagpipes. Eventually they start bringing it down, taking their time, and end up in a revving downshift before pivoting to the main theme and second verse. I liked this one quite a bit. Classic feel to the opening. Space wasn’t the freakiest but it was a good one and they have it down to an art form. There weren’t as many thematic jams and FG wasn’t fully developed but it was its own thing and this section was perhaps more cohesive with fewer separate parts. And then it was nice to get a big Bright Star at the end.
1970-01-17. A brisk start...Jerry doesn't do his usual pause at the beginning, he's ready to go. Some conga pattering is very noticeable, haven't heard that in a while. TC's way off in the back, quiet enough to be subliminal, but sometimes he turns up the volume. Really elegant opening jam, I can sense the "classical" feel you guys mentioned; it's got a confident & purposeful motion. It's also disappointingly brief, Jerry gets to the verse really quickly. Zipping right along! Maybe they had a time limit at this show; I wanted this to be more drawn-out. Then it's time for space -- around this time Bob & Phil are introducing it with some hanging chords that taper off into silence. They get into spooky noises & feedback, nicely done -- after a while it's like a tapestry of weirdness between all the instruments, a Halloween soundtrack of unseen menaces. Big bass notes and some preliminary musical tones lead to a Sputnik that starts out quiet and gradually gets loud & wild. But it's only a minute long, heading immediately to the jam. Sputnik's been demoted; now it always ends the journey through space but it's no longer the focus for weirdness. The jam's lively....Bill & the guitars soon build up a happy groove. They gather speed and tumble into Feelin' Groovy, but this seems to end as soon as it begins. They pause and go on more in a Dark Star mode; Mickey's clackin' away on his claves. Jerry plays a nice melody statement from about 13:10-14:10...it sounds familiar but I'm not sure if he's played it in a Dark Star before. Phil brings in the main bassline on top of this, but they're feeling restless, the jam moves on looking for a place to land, circling round the theme. This is an invitation to Jerry, and he takes it by tackling Bright Star. This ramps up in stages, phase one around 15:00, hitting the next step at 15:30, an energy surge after 16:00, then a climb up to the Bright Star peak at 16:30, the band getting more agitated & distorted, then Mickey piles on his drumset too. Jerry finishes it off with a big biting bass riff, but he's still flying too fast to go back to the theme just yet, so they take an unexpected step sideways in an odd little bouncy-chord diversion, and then the theme slowly reconstructs itself in pieces, one instrument at a time. And soon, the verse. Very cool version that feels too short....the solution is to listen to it repeatedly! Each part's done well; great final stretch that blasts off to the stars.
