Dark Star Orchestra – Next best thing to the Dead?

I never much liked the idea of tribute bands. Even as a kid I went to see Beatlemania and, though the music was great, I still felt gypped that it wasn’t, well, the Beatles! Seeing Dark Star Orchestra -a Grateful Dead tribute band- was a very similar experience. I had a great time. And it made me miss the hell out of the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia. I’ve been into the Dead most of my life; for many years before I ever got to see them play live, I was following their every move, listening to live tapes, buying their albums, tuning in to radio broadcasts of local shows… But then I saw them live in New York in 1979 and it was all over; the love affair had begun in earnest and I’m happy to say I’m still in the throws of that affair with no desire to escape. Sadly, with the passing of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia, the band was never quite the same. They regrouped and toured under different monikers: The Other Ones, The Dead… but the Grateful Dead was truly gone forever. At least as a live event. The remaining members are supreme musicians and it was fun (and still is, at times) to see them up on stage performing those magical songs, but without Jerry’s expressive guitar leading us to those intensely emotional places, I had to come to terms with the reality that the thing that made the Dead such a phenomenon, such a one-of-a-kind experience, had forever passed on.

Here’s where we return to the subject at hand: Dark Star Orchestra. These very talented musicians recreate actual Grateful Dead shows from the great ol’ days of yesteryear: from the set lists to the staging, equipment, musical style, etc. It’s a unique and highly effective approach to the tribute band concept. And it works wonderfully. The energy the night I saw them was scorching. These kids recreated an amazing show from Boston Garden May 7, 1977. A powerhouse show from what is widely considered one of the best tours -if not THE best tour- in Grateful Dead history!

My girlfriend, Sidse, had never seen the Grateful Dead and had only recently been introduced to them and what it is they did. She connected immediately to the music and we both mourned the loss of never being able to share that particular concert-going experience with each other. While that remains true, Dark Star Orchestra allowed us to have something very close. At the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles, we danced together, surrounded by Deadheads of all ages, to Grateful Dead songs played better than I’ve ever heard them played by anyone other than the Grateful Dead themselves. Sure, no matter how high the music went, no matter how intense the peaks were, they still couldn’t capture the level of pure joy, the inexplicable energy and extraordinary presence of the Dead and of Jerry Garcia’s lyrical, emotional leads, but the music was nonetheless powerful and engaging, and we were dancing and smiling and celebrating. It’s as close as I ever expect to get to recreating my Grateful Dead experience and, unless Jerry turns up alive and well and ready to play, I’ll see DSO again when they come back my way, and be thankful for what it is they do, and try not to think too much about what it is they simply can’t. By no fault of their own. And certainly not for lack of trying.