Skip to main content

Dark Star Orchestra: 1.26.11


Words & Photos By Greg Molitor (ReMIND Photography)

The Majestic Theater - Detroit, MI

What is Dark Star Orchestra? At face value, the band performs The Grateful Dead songs along with a few original tunes. Some call Dark Star Orchestra a cover band; others see the group as a ‘tribute’ band. Definitions aside, one cannot rely on labels to gauge the true power behind Dark Star Orchestra’s mission. On January 26, 2011, I made a trek to Detroit in order to do my own measuring of worthiness...I needed to see firsthand if Dark Star Orchestra was merely a group of performers playing cover songs or if the band represented something beyond a collection of notes and lyrics written by others.

I arrived to The Majestic Theater in Detroit with a few friends around 8:30 P.M. After some general hobnobbing in the parking lot, I met with my crew and entered the building. The Majestic Theater is a decently-sized single-level venue that is attached to a smaller venue and a bowling alley. The shows I’d seen their previously had been rather enjoyable, and I was looking forward to having plenty of dancin’ space to work my boogie! At first glance, their were plenty of folks young and old ready to experience some vintage Dead music. Their spirits raised my own, and the excitement continued to build until the Dark Star Orchestra took the stage a few minutes after 9:00 P.M.

The band kicked off their first set with an always welcomed version of “Bertha”. Unfortunately, the song was somewhat lacking as the band didn’t perform with the amount of energy I had expected it to bring. The first set had a tremendous song list, but the music wasn’t up to standards during several moments throughout. There were a few gems buried within the dragging first set including a passionate “Tennessee Jed” and the set closer “Deal” that was hopefully to be an indication of more fire and grit from the group in the following set.

I had only seen Dark Star Orchestra once prior to this performance, but I knew the band was capable of more than what it had showed during its first set. From the opening notes of the “Samson and Delilah” that opened the second set, it was noticeable that the show was about to pick up. The second set was indeed much better than the first, containing several moments of unbridled exuberance coupled with some tasty improvisational freak-outs. As the set carried itself towards its finish, each song, like in true Grateful Dead fashion, built upon the former and took the crowd on a unique journey towards something distant yet entirely familiar.


“Fire on the Mountain” was worth the price of admission in itself. Well over ten minutes in length, Dark Star Orchestra’s improvisational prowess crushed “FOTM” into fantastic oblivion and rebuild the work into satisfying completion. I wondered at this point where this energy had been the whole first set! The remaining part of the second set, “Truckin > Drums > The Other One > Wharf Rat > Around and Around”, featured dynamic changes throughout and had my skin crawling with joyous amazement. Dark Star Orchestra encored with a short but rockin’ version of “US Blues” that had everyone singing along. Thankfully, the ‘chicken shack’ lyric reminded me that I hadn’t eaten all day, and after “US Blues”, my friends and decided it was time to call it a night and slipped away into the cold Detroit evening.

So again, What is Dark Star Orchestra? Like the wonderfully penned lyrics of Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, it is entirely up to personal interpretation. Don’t expect an exact representation of Grateful Dead music from Dark Star Orchestra. Although the band mimics the sounds of the Dead, a Dark Star Orchestra show takes on a life of its own for better and sometimes for worse. However, the essence of what the band truly does should not be lost as it provides an opportunity for individuals like myself to enjoy some of the greatest songs ever written for the live setting. Having the chance to see Dead tunes performed by capable musicians is certainly a strong enough draw for Dark Star Orchestra’s many fans, and I can’t blame them...if one attends a Dark Star Show with the proper amount of expectations, he or she will have those expectations met and possibly many more.

SHOW PLAYED - 2.5.78 - UniDome - University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls IA - Sunday

Set One: Bertha > Good Lovin' ; Brown Eyed Women ; El Paso; Tennessee Jed ; Sunrise ; New Minglewood Blues ; Friend Of The Devil ; Passenger ; Deal

Set Two: Samson And Delilah ; Scarlet Begonias > Fire On The Mountain ; Truckin' > Drums > The Other One > Wharf Rat > Around And Around

Encore: U.S. Blues

Filler: Cats Under The Stars ; I Second That Emotion


Greg's Photo Gallery From The Show

www.darkstarorchestra.net

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Livetronica Sampler 3.22.11

Words by Greg Molitor ( ReMIND Photography ) Ozric Tentacles This British group has proven innovative throughout the years offering a space-rock meets psytrance sound that remains alive to this day. Though never having a major record label, Ozric Tentacles has produced 28 albums of diverse psychedelia throughout its career. The band met at the Stonehenge Free Festival in 1983 and truly fathered livetronica music with its use of sequencers and synthesizers. Simply put, there would be no livetronica without Ozric Tentacles. www.ozrics.com Octopus Nebula Colorado’s Octopus Nebula has certainly hit its stride as of late with its constant touring and increased festival interest. The group expands on the deep sounds of highly regarded acts such as STS9 and Shpongle but also carves a path of its own with its fresh takes on synthesizer tones and sampling in the live setting. Octopus Nebula Live at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom on March 26, 2010. <--- Direct Archive Link www.octopus

Buckethead: Gimmick or Guitar God?

Words & Photos By Nicholas Stock ( phatphlogblog.blogspot.com ) At what point does the gimmick overshadow the performance? The obvious answer is Buckethead. The man is an amazing guitarist but something is not right in this world. The idea a performer who dons a KFC chicken bucket on his head for a concert has always intrigued me, and some of his side projects such as Colonel Claypool’s Bernie Bucket of Brains have been huge successes. However his performance last weekend in Fort Collins simply left me perplexed. From his robotic dancing, to his nunchuck display, to the fact the he performed with an iPod rather than a band all added to my confusion. Going into the show I was ready to be blown away, despite rumblings of disgruntled fans from the previous night’s show at The Gothic. Buckethead had had some sound issues and some missed cues in Denver but I was still trying to be positive for the show in Fort Collins. It did go off without a hitch technically but that was the least

The Origin of MusicMarauders

Words By J-man "What should I name this fucking thing?" I asked myself in the midst of a joint in my Upstate, NY apartment. "It's got to be something with just 'Music'in the title. Nothing more specific than that, as we'll be covering a wide variety of genres." One more drag on the joint yielded the memory of driving down Woodward Ave. in Detroit, listening to Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders. "MusicMarauders! That's it... It completely encompasses what we do in the sense the we are 'maraudering' or 'pillaging' for music," I thought as I stared out of the window at about three and a half feet of fresh Upstate snow. First things first, the domain had to be registered. "Do I have ten dollars in my account?" I thought to myself from a position of just scraping by. Pulling out my shiny, rarely used debit card, I put it to the test and was able to secure MusicMarauders.com. "What's next?" I