TLEO tells me all i need to know about the rest of the show. It always amazes me now how in retrospect, it's only an extra 30 seconds top a minute on some of the songs, but it's that one more time around to play the leads just a little bit more extreme.

Been a wharf rat back on my feet for 22 years now. Still love the music. Still makes me smile. No need to change that.

Ive listened to a lot of Dark Stars this one here as for the time over 30 minutes thats a tripped out Dark Star if i ever heard one this one compares to one i heard cant remember where or when but it was over 40 minutes i cant get enough of DS,

the release of the complete europe '72 has roused me from my slumber. please allow me to ramble on here since this is my first posting and i'm filled with deep memories. and please feel free to correct me if i misremember. if you were there ratings are silly. hopefully you live long enough to realize how fortunate you are/were. this was my 21st birthday, nice of the dead to play in my comfort zone that night (i was going to providence college at the time), karmic reinforcement. remember hanging around the spfld civic center all afternoon on a beautiful early spring day. remember going on a beer run, perhaps my first experience with bass ale. general admission in those days, i remember being carried through the front doors with my feet off the ground - scary, and always linked in my mind with the who crush in cinci '79. also remember rushing into general admission boston garden during wall of sound days trying to get close. as far as set list/music is concerned, i must admit to a foggy memory. the EVENT was the thing! by the time the music started , the memory banks were compromised by outside agents. do remember this was my first dark star i believe( my 1st show being providence arena 4/21/71), and i remember being surprised that they would play it, at the time we believed it to be a song we would only hear on live dead. other than that i will only say how great it felt to be a part of the tribe that night. 5 stars for every show i saw until the 90's. so much for my critical credibility. i'd be more than happy to engage in a dialogue about my experiences with the boys at this site, rather than limit us all to solitary erudition. help me remember or just tell me to shut up. thanks y'all.

I've only listened to the Cumberland Blues & DS>Eyes>PITB, but I'll go ahead & say from the strength of the performances of these 4 songs---eventhough CB starts during the last part of the jam--that this is yet another great '73 show. Were there REALLY any bad ones??? Anyway, the DS is over 31min of bliss. Jerry doesn't break into the lyrics until about 17min have passed, and the rest of the "song" is spacey & spectacular. The EOTW seems a little on the short side @ 12min, which goes into PITB that is as typically hot as the orest of them in '73.

The sound quality isn't great, but I've had worse tapes that I listened to until they couldn't be played anymore. You can hear every band member pretty clearly on this recording, and a little audience noise in places, but this is well worth your time.

One complaint though---there is someone in the audience that won't stop blowing their fuckin' whistle in places, which is annoying.

....soundboards are great. Free music is great. Getting a blowjob everyday in the morning is great. Please do no lose sight of the fact that the Grateful Dead, the music, the scene and the collective mindframe that they tried to achieve is not about a constant state of perfection. It is in enjoying the moment, appreciating the flaws and the glory together. Throughout the years of tape trading, even up until a few years ago, almost everyone I know who was a Dead fan would be thrilled at a new show being available to them. Each cassette was a treasure, some better than others, but each and every one was a joy to have and experience. We are spoiled and with each complaint we lodge against the site, the band or the taper, we become the exact opposite of what led the Grateful Dead to allow taping and free trading. We become "in-Grates". I am thrilled and appreciative that this awesome show is available here, in this exact form. The sound to me is fantastic, the playing inspired and the memories of shows past, truly a blessing. As for better Dark Stars, I would say the 9/19/70 and 4/8/72 are certainly in elite company.
Thanks for reading and enjoy a glorious concert!!

4 overall, closer to 5 on the strength of the Dark Star. I don't understand what people's standards are to rag on the sound quality here, to say it hurts??? I listened to the whole Dark Star, and this is one of the best audience recordings I've ever heard. It beats many soundboards out there. Sure the pitch is just a tiny bit high (the text says it goes up a bit in Box of Rain), but the instruments are clear, and I don't hear any hissing or (worse) scratching. The pre-verse jam on the Dark Star is all killer. They do get a little lost in the space, and does anybody else get the impression that Jerry is resorting to arpeggio exercises in the last 3 minutes or so. Still, that's a minor quibble.

Disks 1 and 2 don't have much in the way of setlist, although The H.C. Sunshine is gorgeous. I'm still giving it 5 on the strength of the Dark Star.

in case there's any confusion, the sbd section of this show (disc 3 - WRS Prelude through JB Goode) is not available in this seed - it's in the previously seeded version (which apparently is of lesser quality in the audience sections - discs 1 and 2). Regardless, the sound quality of both audience seeds is iffy, but the show is stellar. This is a great dark star, but 11/11/73 takes the cake (imho) for 1973.

obviously a 73' aud is not going to be top notch, and while this is a great performance by the dead fresh out of the gates in march, this recording leaves a bitter taste in one's mouth, because the music deserves a much better listen in terms of quality---

i wish the archive had 2 seperate ratings, 1 for sound and 1 for the show itself...in that case, a 2 for sound and a 4 for performance make this show a 3 in my book...a tolerable listen but hurts the ears....

gotta love that character adding some color commentary. This recording is pretty weak at times, but still gets the music across. would love to see this as a DP if it aint already. performance is worth 5 stars, but recording is a 3 at best.

I've got to agree as usual with the DR. on this one. Won't repeat what he has stated, but I will add in about one of my favs. I'm a huge fan of upbeat, and vibrant TLEO's. This one isnt the peppiest, nor the best, but cruises along at a nice tempo, with some nice licks thrown between verse.
A fantastic show I havnt heard in a while, and is making my day at work, go by that much easier!
I give it a five for the overall performance, list, and sound.

I got the circulating SBD copy of WRS>Dark Star, etc. some time ago and was immediately blown away.
Even though amazing jazz fusion-ish jams are plentiful in 1973,this one is in a catagory by itself. It's as if the cosmic mind opened up the gates and allowed Jerry and the band to channel the spirits of Miles, Coletrane, Hendrix and Mozart all together. When you seriously think of the all-time greatest Dead jams (the Ithaca 77 St. Stephen>NFA,or the 5/11/72 Dark Star, or the 45 minute Playin from 5/21/74) this one belongs in the club. One of the most spectacular 60 minutes in Dead history. If you're into long innovative and magical jams, get this show! If I could hear a good SBD copy of the whole show, it would likely make my top ten. But as is, I can definitely give this selection 5 stars. BTW - I usually don't take sound quality into consideration in reviewing. As long as it's a SBD, I assume all boots will have some hiss, etc. especially 60's-70's shows. My ratings are mostly based on the music itself. The last portion is so good, you almost don't need the rest of the show (AUD). And yes, this is probably the best Dark Star of 1973. How many places can they take you in 31 minutes? Find out! Hey Phil - how about leaking the rest of this show out of the vault? Enjoy the jams,friends.
Dr. Flashback ;-)

this is either better or comparable. I've only streamed the opening Cumberland but it was fine compared tro the other offering. I give it three stars so far, based on the sound. Will review in detail later.

can somebody please find me a better dark star?

this is the ultimate in jazz dark stars, my life is that much more complete with this on my hard drive. a topper to this would make my day. see also 9.11.73. this archive.org can become a great venue for critique as we finally have access to EVERY version of EVERY song. and what song is more like a good wine than a great dark star?

i rate this a 5 for the dark star alone. forget the audience/quality aspect, go for the gold!

thank you archive.org for bringing this show back into my life after missing the tape for 10 years.