Home

Grateful Dead Hour no.994

By David Gans

Week of October 8, 2007

By request, the complete show of 6/27/84 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia MD over four weeks, with other treats along the way.

We begin this week with the first half of set 6/27/84 1, plus a taste of America's most successful GD tribute band, Dark Star Orchestra.

DSO started out in Chicago but soon hit the national circuit, most often choosing a Grateful Dead setlist from DeadBase and playing it - not note for note, as some hecklers have suggested, but very much in the spirit of the era they're evoking. All the musicians are quite skilled and diligent in their preparations, and they do a very good job of evoking the sound and feel of the era they're addressing. Rhythm guitarist Rob Eaton, for example, carries two rigs on the road, mirroring Bob Weir's configurations in the pre- (up to October 1974) and post-"retirement" eras. For set lists from 1971 through 1974, they use only one drummer, and vocalist Lisa Mackey covers the Donna Jean parts. For set lists dating from April 1979 on, keyboardist Rob Barraco covers the Brent Mydland vocals - and Barraco uses the appropriate keyboard configurations for the period, and so on.

Ithaca, 30 Years Later was recorded on May 8, 2007 in the same city but not the same hall as the GD's legendary 5/8/77 performance at Barton Hall. The city of Ithaca, New York recognized both the Grateful Dead and DSO on that day, and the band was sufficiently pleased with their re-creation of the 5/8/77 vibe that they released it on DVD and CD.

Enjoy!

Grateful Dead 6/27/84 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia MD
JACK STRAW
FRIEND OF THE DEVIL
LITTLE RED ROOSTER

Interview: Rob Koritz of Dark Star Orchestra
Dark Star Orchestra, Ithaca, 30 Years Later
LAZY LIGHTNING->
SUPPLICATION

Grateful Dead 6/27/84 Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia MD
CUMBERLAND BLUES
MY BROTHER ESAU

Every Wednesday, we post a program from the Grateful Dead Hour archives for your enjoyment and enlightenment. You can browse or search the playlists at gdhour.com or on the GD Hour Search page, and let me know what program(s) you'd like to hear by emailing me at gdhour@dead.net.

Thank you for listening!
- David Gans

Listen Now

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Offline

Locations

825 Dexter Street
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
United States
38° 27' 26.586" N, 122° 42' 45.8856" W
Joined: Jun 14 2007
Fresno 1974 Eyes of the world or Barcelona,Spain 1981

Larry E.Smith I heard it was a pretty rippen show from that year 2nd show I also heard was some tasty stuff

Offline

Location

Joined: Jun 13 2007
My Opinion

Yes he programs the show, and no I wont listen to it, Ide much rather just listen to the original,
I too enjoy when he puts other bands in the show, bands that do original music not clone bands playing a show that there is fine recording's of the actual band that performed that show orginally.
Peace

Offline

Locations

Calgary T2v0l7
Canada
Joined: Jun 6 2007
Brother Easu

Thansk so much for your selection of DSO compositions. Brother Easu is one of my favorites and the DSO do it with such feeling and spirit as it was written . Great show

Offline

Locations

United States
Joined: Jun 29 2007
Grand music

What a sonorous,cool breeze of a song, "Friend...." is in this recording. This is frakkin art. What I've always admired about The Dead is how their lyrics mirror the notes and chords, or v v. Thanks, DaG

Tommo's picture
Offline

Locations

N. Hollywood, CA
United States
Joined: Mar 31 2008
I've been listening

ever since the show was called "The Dead Head Hour", and I've always enjoyed David's coverage of the overall scene, including original versions of songs our guys covered, cover versions of GD tunes by other artists, like the Indigo Girls and many others, and music by people in and near the GD family like David Crosby, etc. I certainly think the DSO fits in that picture, so thanks David for another great show !
-Tommo

Offline

Locations

Oakland, CA
United States
37° 46' 20.3628" N, 122° 12' 53.6292" W
Joined: May 26 2007
Correction!

DSO's Ithaca was recorded 5/8/07, yes. I have corrected the text.

Gans/GD Hour blog
GD Hour station list

hippie_pat's picture
Offline

Locations

United States
Joined: Aug 24 2007
I mean 5/8/77

That's what I mean!

hippie_pat's picture
Offline

Locations

United States
Joined: Aug 24 2007
The show is not that great!

It's good, especially the Scarlet>Fire, but other than that the show is SLOW, especially the St. Stephen's>NFA>St. Stephen's, the Morning Dew was great but most of the show was a slacker show. Sorry you don't agree with me, but that's just the way I feel! Ain't no time to hate!

Offline

Locations

United Kingdom
Joined: Jul 2 2007
May 8th 1977

As a relatively new convert to the GD scene I am aware of the legendary status of May 8th 1977 and have a recording of it, but is there an official release of this show ??. Always enjoy GD hour and like the variety of music played so DSO is interesting.

cactuswax's picture
Offline

Locations

MI
United States
Joined: Jun 7 2007
May 8th....

So, you meant the DSO bit was recorded 5/8/2007, right?

And I, for one, appreciate the willingness to switch it up a bit and show some other aspects of the community besides the band itself by covering cover bands, etc.

Thanks again DG!

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.