Greg from Chestertown

23 years since my first DSO show, also. Forums started with me posting about that show within the week.

We’re going to have to carpet that place. I just got back from the grocery store and talking to the crab cake kid. (I’ll learn his name later. It’s not important yet) his eyes were popping out of his head, still this morning, after the Philly show. He couldn’t thank me enough for turning him and his dad onto Dark Star. He said his dad gave it a 9.9 out of 10.(dad saw 42 shows from early eighties on.) One tenth of one point taken off because he had to stand on concrete for four hours. True story. Dad was also looking up tickets for his next Dark Star show before the encore. Love is real not fade away

Man, I needed a diaper change after that one. I missed an acoustic Dark Star show in Philly? I couldn’t believe my eyes.

They played Philly last night?

I couldn’t agree more. I had a feeling that it was going to be a special night because of Eaton being back. Rob on keys announcing beforehand that every note of tonight’s show was dedicated to Brian was just like telling us that the cake we smelled baking in the oven was going to get chocolate icing. I’m just going to assume that I knew him. I was up front all night. Surprisingly, plenty of room to dance. Such an enjoyable set list. The musicianship that I was fortunate enough to recognize was simply incredible. I pretty much stopped dancing and just watched. Operator was a showstopper for me. Lisa’s gentle harmonica playing, whispering in my other ear, towards the end of that one, was priceless. It’ll turn your head around. The singing on the race is on/birdsong, US blues buried in a set list, Pride of Cucamonga and it’s rubber stamp of an elective set list, Eaton’s playing on Hard to Handle, Dino on the snare drum at the beginning of his solo, Saint Stephen on, obviously , Woodstock indoors, all worth mentioning. Skip’s bass, somewhere in the home stretch, well, I could feel it in my feet. The set list coming back to me the way it did is the ultimate barometer for trying to put into words the experience that I had. Given a couple more days or weeks, I would have remembered Mama Tried. Clearly, with the energy and musicianship, there is no end in sight. So, I have been eating a lot of crab cakes lately. That got me knowing the young man serving me these in the grocery store. He asked me how my Thanksgiving was. Long Story short, he bought his Dad a ticket for the Philly show for Christmas. They were there. If you’re ever stuck behind a tall guy with a shaved head at a show in the future, it’s all my fault. Dad had never even heard of Dark Star before. At half time, he told me he gave the show an 8 1/2 out of ten. I told him, you’ll be ten out of ten by the time they’re done with you. I didn’t see them afterwards but I am certain that he had it done to him by the Dark Star Orchestra. I know I did.

The race is on

U S Bluz

Operator in the first set.

9/12/88, sat in the ninth row for an Eyes/drums/other one/ warf rat. Dancing is impossible in the ninth row so I just watched the finger work of the guitarists throughout that adventure. Quite memorable, you don’t miss a moment. Since the beginning, I have always thought of The Other one as “ not Dark Star” . Both songs as jumping off points in the show, time to wander off into the universe with our guitars, One with Jerry driving the bus and one with Bobby driving the bus. Fast forward to these days, The Other one works perfectly for me to spin myself in circles as Dark Star Orchestra delivers the goods. I use it as a jumping off point for me to wander off into the universe with my limbs flailing about. For me, the Other One is the one, it turns out. That’s all, thanks for letting me share.

Went to the venue website to get tix and got the same result. Bought a resale ticket because that’s all anyone offered.

So, when I click on tickets for Philly new years, it denies me access, I don’t fit their profile, but it lets me buy resale tickets for 136. Could we be sold out? Self serving software?

…Can’t stop the train, you gotta let it roll …. Monkeys got the locomotive under control ….

We got that one in Selbeyville a few years back. I love that lyric. More words to live by out of Jerry’s mouth. I do believe Jerry Band played it more than once.

I have a cassette of that show, Got it off of the Grateful Dead hour back in the day. That’s where I discovered Let It Rock

I don’t know who gets to be the meat and who gets to be the bread, and I do not fully comprehend the nuts and bolts of music but something tells me that we’re going to see future Dark Star set lists that read Shakedown >Falettinme>Shakedown

We’ll wait for you, Rob. Take all the time you need.

Always a hoot. Thank you for letting me be myself, again.

I’ll be there for my first night before Thanksgiving show. Perfect alignment of the stars has me catching some ZZZZ’s at the bottom of the hill then a short jaunt to my daughter’s for Thanksgiving with just her and her husband and me and my granddaughter.

I see a Bertha/Good Lovin’ sandwich stuffed with the holy grail minus the eyes. They never cease to amaze.

Those early pics are a trip but keep in mind, they’ve been looking out at us getting a touch of grey. 11/11/73 got checked out by me today. RIP Scott. Having a moment here. So many memories. I started on the Music Pier in Ocean City, New Jersey, had no idea what I was walking into, first heard about them a week earlier. They brought the Grateful Dead back to life for me. I’m thinking back to the acoustic shows they did to celebrate 1,000 shows, at the Birchmere in Arlington. They’ve always been hot as fuck. They played the electric factory until ten after two in the morning, back in the day. Yea, it’s been long and it’s been strange, but I’m still tripping.

I’m catching 11/26/71 today. Quite the funkadelic Tennessee Jed in that first set. That song has done a lot of evolving since that version. Fifth slot, Bobby and Jerry each had sung two songs, Time to rock. I always sing along with that song at the top of my lungs. I remember my roommate at college turning me on to that song for the first time and pointing at the album on the turntable when Jerry broke into the lyrics, “well, he blacked my eye and he kicked my dog. My dog he turned to me and he said, …” he made sure I caught that. Why would you not have talking dogs in the Grateful Dead universe? We have surfing eyeballs.

Till the morning comes, show opener, DSO at the Ram’s head in Baltimore the night before New Year’s Eve, somewhere around 2008. Also, with DSO at Red Rocks. I watched that one live stream. I feel bad for Lisa.

Is now, and always will be a member of the Grateful Dead.

What about Bertha/ Good Lovin’ versus stand alone Berthas. I’m guessing the pairing was early on then those two songs went their separate ways.

I called the radio station on the first anniversary of Jerry’s death because I was listening that day and they weren’t mentioning anything or playing any Dead music. Pierre answered the phone! How ‘bout some Grateful Dead? Who’s this? Greg. Where you from, Greg? Earleville, Maryland. That weekend, my neighbors friend comes down for the weekend. He says, hey they said your name on the radio. I was like, huh? He said Pierre said this is for Greg from Earleville and played Ripple from reckoning. Just exactly perfect