I have to agree with Hamburger Trainwreck on this one. I was not at this show, but man oh man... they were on fire!!! St. Stephen into Stronger Than Dirt?? Come on VTSPeedy... Total Sickness, and worth the price of admission just for those two songs. Then, of course there is the Attics, which just melts!!! This show was a smoker!!!

Im so glad this got put up! Totaly disagree with VT on this one. The magic carpet flew in northhampton. I really think that these original setlists are a great proggression. Songs that never even got close to each other when jerry played them are now side by side. There is no way this feels like a greatest hits collection! I think its quite refreshing to see these guys stop reliving the past and try to take their shows to places the dead never had time to get to. Why would you want the CT show when you can listen to the dead play that show. Im very greatful that DSO posts these unique shows, the time period mixes create an awesome experience you cant get anywhere else.

I gotta say, for me, this show just didn't happen. But I'm quick to say it could be me - Jerry was quick to say that he couldn't ever really tell whether a show was happening or not while he was playing. And I'm quick to say that there's many a show that doesn't sound on tape like the show I heard. So with that .... this show was the worst DSO show I've ever been to. Something about it ... sounded like a best hits compilation, not a show. Bouncy boy Barraco was all over the stage, too much alcohol happening in the audience and not enough green. Now the next weekend in Hartford - OH that was a show - restored my faith entirely! Maybe we could get an upload of that?

... out of three, and, as of tomorrow, out of four, though who knows! I'm excited, to say the least - every time I've seen D.S.O., they seem to be better than last time!!

first off...
Thanks for this, Mike and WebEd!!

So, this peculiar thing happens to me with music and concerts, and that is thats whenever I go to a show and experience a performance of a song I know, have heard a few times, and never really heard anything special in - I suddenly hear that something special, I suddenly experience the depth, meaning, and potential emotion of that song, and I finally experience the performers' ideas and interpretations of that song.

Unfortunately, post-1995, and pre-my-concert-going-career, I lost th'ability to have that kind of introductory experience to songs written by a certain band.

So I thank the Dark Star Orchestra for showing me what was so special about When I Paint My Masterpiece, Feel Like A Stranger, Shakedown Street, and Box of Rain!!

As for the show... the first set was a *little* slow, but opening with The Mighty Quinn - wow! The only real *JAM* was in Feel Like A Stranger, and it just served as an appetizer, to whet the pallette, if you will, for what would unfold in the second set...

Shakedown was awesome, and so much fun, but for me, the magic kicked in on Dancin' In The Streets, which got to funk-space quicker than you can say "the time is right," and even quicker (too quickly?) into St. Stephen, one of the songs that got me into The Grateful Dead (my dad loves this song!), then Stronger Than Dirt, then DARK STAR.

Dark Star. Lemme take another moment here. Dark Star opens "Live/Dead," my favorite Dead album. My dad saw The Grateful Dead in the late '60's at The Fillmore East, and he has regaled me with stories of how, for Dark Star, all the house lights were turned off, and the light show chilled/dimmed out, and th'only lights you could see were the red status LEDs on the Dead's amps. I never thought I would witness a live Dark Star of the kind and quality that... that a live Dark Star should be. And the Dark Star Orchestra come through, and fulfilled one of the greatest musical dreams I've ever had.

Oops, then they made weird noises and finished up St. Stephen!

Ahhh... I feel the love. Download this show. You'll thank... well, you'll thank Dark Star Orchestra!