The Dark Star Oracle
So I went and saw the Dark Star Orchestra the other night on the riverfront. DSO is a phenomenal tribute to the Grateful Dead. Some DeadHeads would slap me, but these guys are actually tighter than the original band. They literally sound better. Again, if you are a DeadHead you will probably take issue with that statement.
The unique thing about DSO is that they don’t just cover the Grateful Dead, they actually perform a single show from the Dead’s massive catalog of live shows. Each member plays the appropriate role and sings on the appropriate songs. They have the two drummers, play all the same instrument parts, and they even have a Donna Jean gal who comes along for the 70’s shows and sings her parts. Every once in a while they’ll throw in an original setlist, but of the four times I’ve seen them they’ve played three full shows, encore and all.
During their shows, the true fans will start narrowing down the era and trying to guess what show they are covering based on their song selection. It’s kind of amazing to watch it happen, as these fans truly know their stuff. They know what songs were “leadoff” songs, what songs were set-enders, what songs are played in the middle of the first set (“Bobby cowboy songs), what type of song they play in the middle of the second set (“we still need a Jerry ballad”). They also know about when certain songs started appearing in the repertoire (“this song wasn’t played until ‘77”). At the end of the show the band will announce the date and venue they just covered. Like “that was from Dec 31, 1978 and Winterland.” People actually place bets on the year, month, venue, etc.
DSO always packs the riverfront, and you basically see the same people at every show. Last Saturday, my friend T-Bone and I decided to have a little fun while watching the show. He has never seen a Grateful Dead concert, nor does he know any of their songs other than probably Touch of Grey and Truckin’. This was his first DSO show, and on the way in I rolled out the plan: he was going to guess the exact show and be a Grateful Dead Oracle. The secret was that I would use my Blackberry and search archive.org, a website with over 2,000 shows. As the songs would roll out, I’d start narrowing down the shows so that by the time we got 4 or 5 songs in, I’d have it pegged.
My DeadHead friends know I’m more of a casual fan. I like the music, saw the Dead live in ’93 once, but I only know about half the songs in a given show. I also read a great biography of the Dead, but that’s another story. So, if I had guessed the show, they would have been on to me, as they know I’m more of a moderate fan. But T-Bone was an unknown entity, an enigma. He has never been to a show with these guys, so as far as they knew he was the biggest Dead fan in the world.
I told him to only make guesses and nod in agreement if they spouted some knowledge. It worked like a charm. In fact, I had never heard the first 2 songs they played, but by song three I had archive narrowed to 5 possible shows. By the fourth song I was almost positive, so I told Bone “say ‘if the next song is Cassidy, I think this is a show from July 1978’. These guys were convinced it was a show from ’73 or ’74, so when Cassidy rolled out we were giddy. From then on, I told him to say things like “I know they played Stella Blue in this set, but it might not be next” just to be less obvious. I also gave him lingo like instead of saying “Scarlet Begonias into Fire on the Mountain” you say “Scarlet >Fire”. You say “they come out of Drums into Not Fade Away” rather than “after Drums they play Not Fade Away”. Subtle nuances like that can give you away as a Dead novice!
He went along predicting song after song flawlessly. The kicker was when he actually called the encore, Werewolves of London. Near the end he finally said “this show is from July 3, 1978 in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was beautiful, and by that time everyone was convinced he was some kind of savant. People were literally stunned at his ability to predict every song in order.
I almost don’t want to see another Dark Star Orchestra show without my trusty Blackberry and my “GD Oracle”! Good times.
The unique thing about DSO is that they don’t just cover the Grateful Dead, they actually perform a single show from the Dead’s massive catalog of live shows. Each member plays the appropriate role and sings on the appropriate songs. They have the two drummers, play all the same instrument parts, and they even have a Donna Jean gal who comes along for the 70’s shows and sings her parts. Every once in a while they’ll throw in an original setlist, but of the four times I’ve seen them they’ve played three full shows, encore and all.
During their shows, the true fans will start narrowing down the era and trying to guess what show they are covering based on their song selection. It’s kind of amazing to watch it happen, as these fans truly know their stuff. They know what songs were “leadoff” songs, what songs were set-enders, what songs are played in the middle of the first set (“Bobby cowboy songs), what type of song they play in the middle of the second set (“we still need a Jerry ballad”). They also know about when certain songs started appearing in the repertoire (“this song wasn’t played until ‘77”). At the end of the show the band will announce the date and venue they just covered. Like “that was from Dec 31, 1978 and Winterland.” People actually place bets on the year, month, venue, etc.
DSO always packs the riverfront, and you basically see the same people at every show. Last Saturday, my friend T-Bone and I decided to have a little fun while watching the show. He has never seen a Grateful Dead concert, nor does he know any of their songs other than probably Touch of Grey and Truckin’. This was his first DSO show, and on the way in I rolled out the plan: he was going to guess the exact show and be a Grateful Dead Oracle. The secret was that I would use my Blackberry and search archive.org, a website with over 2,000 shows. As the songs would roll out, I’d start narrowing down the shows so that by the time we got 4 or 5 songs in, I’d have it pegged.
My DeadHead friends know I’m more of a casual fan. I like the music, saw the Dead live in ’93 once, but I only know about half the songs in a given show. I also read a great biography of the Dead, but that’s another story. So, if I had guessed the show, they would have been on to me, as they know I’m more of a moderate fan. But T-Bone was an unknown entity, an enigma. He has never been to a show with these guys, so as far as they knew he was the biggest Dead fan in the world.
I told him to only make guesses and nod in agreement if they spouted some knowledge. It worked like a charm. In fact, I had never heard the first 2 songs they played, but by song three I had archive narrowed to 5 possible shows. By the fourth song I was almost positive, so I told Bone “say ‘if the next song is Cassidy, I think this is a show from July 1978’. These guys were convinced it was a show from ’73 or ’74, so when Cassidy rolled out we were giddy. From then on, I told him to say things like “I know they played Stella Blue in this set, but it might not be next” just to be less obvious. I also gave him lingo like instead of saying “Scarlet Begonias into Fire on the Mountain” you say “Scarlet >Fire”. You say “they come out of Drums into Not Fade Away” rather than “after Drums they play Not Fade Away”. Subtle nuances like that can give you away as a Dead novice!
He went along predicting song after song flawlessly. The kicker was when he actually called the encore, Werewolves of London. Near the end he finally said “this show is from July 3, 1978 in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was beautiful, and by that time everyone was convinced he was some kind of savant. People were literally stunned at his ability to predict every song in order.
I almost don’t want to see another Dark Star Orchestra show without my trusty Blackberry and my “GD Oracle”! Good times.
posted by Sticks and Stones @ 4:12 PM
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