DARK STAR (modified & posted 4/24/08)

This document consists of two parts. The first catalogs all known Dark Star performances and gives timings for all circulating tapes. It is comprised of four lists:

· Circulating Tapes Of Dark Star

· Dark Stars Still Missing From Circulation

· AUD Dark Stars (Dark Stars available only on AUD tape)

· Fragmentary Dark Stars

The second part is a note on the evolution of Dark Star.

CIRCULATING TAPES OF DARK STAR (4/24/08)

The following is a list of the 226 live performances of Dark Star plus four studio versions for which tape currently circulates, including three tapes, one from spring '68, one from May '68 and another from Fall '68, whose venues and exact dates are unknown. It gives the timing of each, an indication of what is missing if the tape is fragmentary, and the best tape source for each; the existence of AUD tapes is usually not indicated if SBD circulates.

American Studios, LA 11/14/67: 2 studio versions 2:48 & 2:41 SBD

LA Studio, late 67: 2:38 SBD Warner Bros Single 7186

Carousel Ballroom 1/17/68: beginning clipped #4:48 SBD

Eureka 1/20/68: breaks off after 3:17 FM-SBD

Seattle 1/22/68: 5:49 SBD

Kings Beach Bowl, Lake Tahoe 1/24/68: 6:49 Dick's Picks 22

Portland 2/3/68: 5:26 SBD

Carousel Ballroom 2/14/68: 5:54 SBD

Carousel Ballroom 3/16/68: 7:20 SBD

Carousel Ballroom 3/26/68: 7:14 SBD

Carousel Ballroom 3/30/68: 8:45 SBD

Alembic Studios, SF early or mid 68: studio rehearsal 11:49 SBD -- formerly dated 11/ or 12/68

UV spring '68: #4:04 SBD only the end of the jam with several minutes missing before it

Unknown Venue 5/68: 16:06 SBD

Fillmore West 8/21/68: beginning missing 14:14 SBD

Fillmore West 8/22/68: 11:19 SBD

Shrine, LA 8/23/68: 15:30 SBD

Shrine, LA 8/24/68: 11:21 SBD Two From The Vault

Avalon 8/28/68: 10:40 SBD

Sky River Festival, Sultan, WA 9/2/68: 13:51 SBD

Unknown Venue Fall '68: 12:12. Probably the Matrix, probably October.

Matrix 10/8/68: 11:40 SBD

Matrix 10/9/68: 13:05 SBD

Avalon 10/12/68: 15:30 SBD Widely circulated mislabeled "10/13/68."

Avalon 10/13/68: beginning missing 13:35 SBD. The actual show for this date.

Greek, Berkeley 10/20/68: 10:05 SBD

Matrix 10/30/68: two Dark Stars on this date, the 2nd with Jack Casady 17:30 & 19:24 SBD

Chico 11/1/68: 11:30 SBD

Columbus 11/22/68 beginning missing 12:47 AUD

Bellarmine College, Louisville 12/7/68: beginning missing 13:24 SBD

Gulfstream Raceway, Hallendale, FL 12/29/68: 10:26 SBD

Santa Barbara 1/17/69: 13:18 SBD

Avalon 1/24/69: 18:59 SBD

Avalon 1/25/69: beginning missing #14:08 SBD

Avalon 1/26/69: 9:#45 with cut in middle SBD

St. Paul 2/2/69: 15:33 SBD

Omaha 2/4/69: 13:15 SBD

Kansas City 2/5/69: beginning missing 11:43 SBD

St. Louis 2/6/69: 13:54 cut in the middle SBD

Pittsburgh 2/7/69: 14:09

Fillmore East 2/11/69: 12:29 SBD Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (Arista)

Fillmore East 2/12/69 Late Show only the final 4:58 SBD

Philadelphia 2/14/69: first bar clipped 19:23 SBD

Philadelphia 2/15/69: 22:42 SBD

Dream Bowl, Vallejo 2/21/69: 22:22. SBD

Vallejo 2/22/69: 22:17 SBD

*Fillmore West 2/27/69: 23:05 SBD Live Dead; Fillmore West Complete Recordings

Fillmore West 2/28/69: 19:50 SBD Fillmore West Complete Recordings

Fillmore West 3/1/69: 22:48 SBD Fillmore West Complete Recordings

Fillmore West 3/2/69: 20:37 SBD Fillmore West Complete Recordings

SF Hilton 3/15/69: 19:07 SBD

Pasadena 3/22/69: 15:25 SBD

Modesto 3/28/69: 22:45 SBD. Formerly mislabeled "Merced 3/27/69".

Las Vegas 3/29/69: 21:15 SBD

Avalon 4/4/69: 20:18 SBD

Avalon 4/5/69: 18:39 SBD

Tucson 4/11/69: 20:20 SBD

Salt Lake City 4/12/69: #22:21 SBD

*Boulder 4/13/69: 24:01 SBD

Omaha 4/15/69 20:20 excellent AUD

St. Louis 4/17/69 21:36 SBD

Worcester 4/20/69: 21:12 SBD

The Ark, Boston 4/21/69: 22:51 SBD

*The Ark, Boston 4/22/69: 30:42 SBD

The Ark, Boston 4/23/69: 21:02 SBD

Chicago 4/26/69: 1:25 SBD

*Minneapolis 4/27/69: 26:37 SBD Dick's Picks

Polo Field, Golden Gate Park, SF 5/7/69: 22:19 SBD

Rose Palace, Pasadena 5/10/69: 20:59 SBD

Hollywood, FL 5/23/69: 18:47 SBD

Springer's Inn, Portland, OR 5/30/69: 17:02 SBD

McArthur Court, Eugene 5/31/69: 23:58 SBD

Fillmore West 6/5/69: 21:11 SBD

Fillmore West 6/7/69: 20:46 SBD

Monterey 6/14/69: 15:10 SBD

Fillmore East 6/21/69 Late Show: nearly all of central jam missing 7:#43 SBD

Central Park, NYC 6/22/69: beginning missing and with cut in middle 12:01 B+ AUD

Santa Rosa 6/27/69: 25:49 SBD

Electric Theater, Chicago 7/5/69: 18:11 SBD

*Piedmont Park, Atlanta 7/7/69: 26:58 SBD

Queens 7/12/69: 9:40 mildly degraded SBD

Family Dog At The Great Highway 8/3/69 23:07 SBD

Woodstock 8/16/69: 17:50 SBD

Seattle 8/20/69: 6:38 SBD

St. Helens, OR 8/23/69: 1st vocals missing 26:#44 SBD.

*Family Dog 8/28/69: 63:#51 SBD (Dark Star 31:16 # 16:03 > Eleven jam 9:49 > Dark Star 6:43) [*w/ Howard Wales & w/o Weir, McKernan, or > Constanten]

*Family Dog 8/30/69: 28:56 SBD

New Orleans 9/1/69: 17:47 mildly degraded SBD

Fillmore East 9/26/69: beginning missing 17:24 B AUD

Winterland 10/25/69: 21:42 SBD

*Family Dog 11/2/69: 30:06 SBD

Fillmore 11/7/69: 26:00 with a cut in the middle SBD

*Fillmore 11/8/69: DS 14:05 > Other 11:52 > DS 1:55 > UJB's jam 2:23 > DS 3:01 SBD Dick's Picks

Fillmore West 12/4/69: 30:55 mildly degraded SBD

Thelma Theater 12/11/69: 19:53 SBD

Dallas 12/26/69: 26:00 SBD

Boston Tea Party 12/30/69: 19:06 with end missing SBD

Fillmore East 1/2/70: 30:10 with the end missing SBD

Corvalis 1/17/70: 20:51 SBD

Honolulu 1/23/70: 18:14 SBD

St. Louis 2/2/70: 21:54 SBD

*Fillmore West 2/8/70: 26:43 excellent AUD

Fillmore East 2/11/70: 17:02 > Spanish Jam 9:40 composite of excellent AUD and SBD

*Fillmore East 2/13/70: 29:46 SBD Dick's Picks

Fillmore East 2/14/70: 23:36 SBD Dick's Picks

Pirate's World, Dania FL 3/24/70: 4:54 + 8:54 = 13:48 SBD with cut as noted

*Denver 4/24/70: 24:39 A minus AUD

Delhi, NY 5/8/70 18:05 with beginning missing, B minus AUD

Fillmore East 5/15/70: 19:24 SBD

Newcastle 5/24/70: 21:21 SBD

Port Chester 6/24/70: 10:20 ... 7:48 ... 3:01 near excellent AUD

*Fillmore East 9/17/70: 27:10 near excellent AUD

Fillmore East 9/19/70: 24:58 SBD

Paterson 10/11/70: beginning missing 20:19 near excellent AUD

Port Chester 11/5/70: 21:00 near excellent AUD

Port Chester 11/8/70: 24:48 excellent AUD

Port Chester 2/18/71: DS 7:11 > Wharf Rat 9:59 > 7:55 SBD

Boston 4/8/71: 14:25 SBD

Fillmore East 4/26/71: 13:45 SBD

Fillmore East 4/28/71: 14:26 SBD

Yale Bowl 7/31/71: 21:20 B+ AUD

Chicago 10/21/71: DS 14:53 > Sittin 3:14 > DS 2:16 somewhat degraded FM

Detroit 10/24/71: 20:59 SBD

Columbus 10/31/71: 23:14 SBD. Dicks Picks

Harding Theater, SF 11/7/71: 13:15 SBD

Austin 11/15/71: DS 12:35 > El Paso 4:35 > DS 7:40 SBD

Felt Forum, NYC 12/5/71: DS 8:30 > My Uncle 2:30 > DS 12:56 SBD

Ann Arbor 12/15/71: 20:30 SBD

Academy of Music 3/23/72: 22:43 SBD Dick's Picks

*London 4/8/72: 31:30 SBD Steppin' Out

*Copenhagen 4/14/72: 29:14 SBD, FM & AUD

Copenhagen 4/17/72 30:54 SBD

**Dusseldorf 4/24/72: DS 25:15 > My Uncle 2:59 > 15:06 SBD

Hamburg 4/29/72: 29:26 SBD also excellent AUD

Paris 5/4/72: 40:03 SBD

Manchester 5/7/72: 19:27 SBD

*Rotterdam 5/11/72: 47:20 SBD

Munich 5/18/72: 27:20 SBD

London 5/23/72: 31:16 SBD

*London 5/25/72: 35:08 SBD

*Jersey City 7/18/72: 28:57 SBD

Portland 7/26/72: 30:49 SBD

*BCT 8/21/72: 27:34 SBD

BCT 8/24/72 27:10 SBD

*Veneta, Oregon 8/27/72: 31:44 SBD

Hollywood 9/10/72: 34:59 SBD w/ Crosby

Boston 9/16/72: 26:56 SBD with conclusion patched with excellent AUD

**Philadelphia 9/21/72: 37:22 SBD Dick's Picks

*Waterbury 9/24/72: 34:13 SBD

Jersey City 9/27/72: 31:14 SBD Dick's Picks

*St. Louis 10/18/72: 28:02 FM-AUD Bear's AUD master, FM-broadcast; SBD

Milwaukee 10/23/72: 27:03 near excellent AUD

Cincinnati 10/26/72: 21:10 SBD

Cleveland 10/28/72: 27:43 Bear's AUD master

*Kansas City 11/13/72: 33:36 Bear's AUD master patched @ 11:17 w/ 1:35 of 2nd AUD master

*Houston 11/19/72: 31:22 SBD

San Antonio 11/26/72: 24:52 SBD

Winterland 12/11/72: 33:26 SBD

Long Beach 12/15/72: 23:03 SBD

Madison 2/15/73: 19:17 SBD

Champaign 2/22/73: 13:49 SBD

*Lincoln 2/26/73: 25:18 SBD

Nassau 3/16/73: 26:46 SBD

Utica 3/21/73: 21:41 SBD

Philadelphia 3/24/73: 25:36 SBD

*Springfield 3/28/73: 32:14 SBD (de-hummed), also excellent AUD

*Washington, D.C. 6/10/73: 26:08 SBD

*Portland 6/24/73: 26:35 SBD

Universal Amphitheater. 6/30/73: 16:15 SBD

Jersey City 8/1/73: 24:52 SBD

William & Mary 9/11/73: 21:42 excellent AUD, also SBD

*Oklahoma City 10/19/73: 27:12 SBD Dick's Picks

Madison 10/25/73: 23:14 SBD

St. Louis 10/30/73: 26:59 SBD

**Winterland 11/11/73: 36:08. SBD

Denver 11/21/73: 3:25 SBD

Boston 11/30/73: 9:08 SBD Dick's Picks 14.

**Cleveland 12/6/73: 43:28 SBD

Tampa 12/18/73: 20:56 SBD

*Winterland 2/24/74: 28:54 SBD

Missoula 5/14/74: 26:41 SBD

Miami 6/23/74: 21:52 great AUD, also SBD

Chicago 7/25/74: 23:59 SBD

*London 9/10/74: 31:03 SBD Dick's Picks

Winterland 10/18/74: 31:34 SBD

Winterland 12/31/78: 12:30 & 1:11 SBD

Nassau 1/10/79: 18:28 mildly degraded SBD

Buffalo 1/20/79: 9:16 A minus AUD

Oakland Auditorium 12/31/81: 14:50 SBD

Greek Theater, Berkeley 7/13/84: 16:09 SBD

Hampton 10/9/89: 18:30 SBD

Brendan Byrne 10/16/89: 11:36. 5:23 SBD

**Miami 10/26/89: 29:06 SBD

Oakland 12/31/89: 14:48 SBD

Nassau 3/29/90: 18.18 & 2:51 SBD w/ Branford Marsalis.

*Washington, D.C. 7/12/90: 25:18 SBD with missing end patched with excellent AUD

*NYC 9/20/90: DS 12:01 > Playin 5:00 > DS 14:37 SBD

Berlin 10/20/90: 13:07, 4:07 SBD

London 11/1/90: 10:00 ... 10:48 SBD

Denver 12/12/90: 13:46 SBD

Denver 12/14/90: 7:10 SBD

*Oakland 12/31/90: 20:39 SBD w/ Branford Marsalis.

Greensboro 4/1/91: 23:31 & 1:16 SBD

RFK, Washington, D.C. 6/14/91: 10:45 SBD

Giants 6/17/91: 1:28 ... 1:22 ... 1:00 ... 9:48 ... 0:34 SBD

Chicago 6/22/91: 7:03 SBD

Denver 6/28/91: 1:28 SBD

Shoreline 8/16/91: 10:17 SBD

Shoreline 8/17/91: 1:18 SBD

Richfield 9/6/91: 3:18 SBD

MSG, NYC 9/8/91: 10:30 SBD

MSG, NYC 9/10/91: 12:29 & 12:40 SBD w/ Branford Marsalis

Boston Garden 9/24/91: 14:18 SBD

Boston Garden 9/26/91: 15:50 & 6:46 SBD

Oakland 10/31/91: 11:16 & 3:18 SBD w/ Ken Kesey.

Landover 3/9/92: 11:30 near excellent AUD, also SBD

Hamilton, Ontario 3/20/92: 14:27 near excellent AUD, also SBD

Richfield 6/8/92: 8:52 near excellent AUD, also reportedly degraded SBD

Charlotte 6/18/92: 6:00 SBD

Pittsburgh 6/22/92: 4:05 SBD

Oakland 12/12/92: 12:14 & 5:44 SBD

Oakland 12/16/92: 7:09 SBD

Landover 3/17/93: 10:26 SBD

Deer Creek 6/23/93: 6:14 SBD

Philadelphia 9/13/93: 5:36 SBD

MSG, NYC 9/22/93: 7:31 SBD w/ David Murray

Rosemont 3/16/94: 11:14. B+ AUD, also FM-SBD

Atlanta 3/30/94: 10:21 SBD

Remarkable Dark Stars: * & ** = Top 40. ** = Top Five.

DARK STARS STILL MISSING FROM CIRCULATION

There are 14 dates on which reportedly Dark Star was played, but for which no tape yet circulates. These dates, and the sources of the claims, are:

Shrine Aud, LA 12/13/67 -- DeadBase

King's Beach Bowl, Lake Tahoe 2/22/68 -- David Lemieux (defective vault SBD)

Carousel Ballroom 3/17/68 -- DeadBase

[National Guard Armory, St. Louis MO 5/24/68 -- Latvala, probably a mislabel of 2/6/69]

Carousel 6/7/68 -- DeadBase

Fillmore West 8/20/68 -- DeadBase

Hyde Park Teen Center, Cincinnati 11/24/68 -- DeadBase

Winterland 12/31/68 -- DeadBase

Fillmore West 2/19/69 -- DeadLists

Winterland, 5/3/69 -- DeadBase

Fillmore 12/20/69 -- DeadBase

Buffalo 3/17/70 w/ symphony orchestra -- DeadBase

Fillmore West 4/11/70 -- DeadBase

[Mammoth Gardens, Denver 4/25/70 -- DeadBase is probably mistaken]

York Farm, Poynette, Wisconsin 4/26/70 -- audience member Ron Ramsey

46th St. Rock Palace, Brooklyn, NYC 11/13/70 -- audience member

[Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 4/14/71 -- DeadBase's list is probably wrong]

*

Kokomo (Billy & Brent's band from the mid-80s) played Dark Star at least

twice:

Unknown Venue 8/19/84 12:35 AUD

Casino Club, Hampton Beach 85-86: 10:16# AUD breaks off before conclusion

Identification of the unknown venue & unknown date would be much appreciated

AUD DARK STARS

Of the 219 live Dark Stars currently circulating on tape, 16 circulate only or primarily on AUD tape. These tapes are:

Columbus 11/22/68: beginning missing 12:47 B+ AUD

Omaha 4/15/69 20:20 excellent AUD

Central Park, NYC 6/22/69: beginning missing & cut in middle 12:01 B AUD

Fillmore East 9/26/69: beginning missing 17:24 B AUD

Fillmore West 2/8/70: 26:43 A AUD

Denver 4/24/70: 24:39 A- AUD

Delhi, NY 5/8/70 18:05 with beginning missing, B minus AUD

Port Chester 6/24/70: 10:20 ... 7:48 ... 3:01 A- AUD

Fillmore East 9/17/70: 27:10 near excellent AUD

Paterson 10/11/70: beginning missing 20:19 B+ AUD

Port Chester 11/5/70: 21:00 A- AUD

Port Chester 11/8/70: 24:48 A AUD

Yale Bowl 7/31/71: 21:39 B+ AUD

Milwaukee 10/23/72: 27:03 B+/A- AUD

Cleveland 10/28/72: 27:43 A AUD Bear's AUD master, FM-broadcast

Kansas City 11/13/72: 32:16 A AUD Bear's AUD master, w/ 1:42 gap patched w/ B+ AUD

Buffalo 1/20/79: 9:16 A- AUD

Richfield 6/8/92: 8:52 A- AUD

FRAGMENTARY DARK STARS

Of the 224 live Dark Stars currently circulating on tape, at least 25 are fragmentary.

Carousel Ballroom 1/17/68: cuts in near the beginning 4:48.

Eureka 1/20/68: cuts after 3:17 on the master SBD

Columbus 11/22/68: beginning missing 12:47 AUD

UV spring '68: #4:04 SBD only the end of the jam with several minutes missing before it

Fillmore West 8/21/68: 2-5 minutes are missing from the begining of this 14:14 fragment of SBD

Avalon 10/13/68: This 13:35 fragment is missing its beginning (unlike the Avalon 10/12/68, which circulated for years mislabeled "10/13/68" -- so if you think you have a "complete" 10/13/68 Dark Star, what you have is in fact the 12th)

Bellarmine College, Louisville, KY 12/7/68: The first minute or two of this 13:24 SBD fragment is missing.

Avalon 1/25/69: beginning missing #14:08 SBD

Avalon Ballroom, San Francisco 1/26/69: There is a piece missing in the middle of this 9:45 fragment of SBD.

Soldiers & Sailors, Kansas City 2/5/69: The opening of this 11:43 SBD fragment is missing.

St. Louis 2/6/69: There is something missing from the middle of this 13:54 SBD fragment.

Philadelphia 2/14/69: first bar clipped 19:23 SBD

Salt Lake City 4/12/69: something missing at the start #22:21 SBD

Fillmore East 6/21/69 Late Show: nearly all of central jam missing 7:#43 SBD

Central Park, NYC 6/22/69: The first minute or so of this Dark Star is missing on the AUD tape, which also has a cut around 10 minutes in before breaking off after 12:01.

St. Helens, OR 8/23/69: 1st vocals missing 26:#44 SBD.

Family Dog 8/28/69: 47:#19 (31:16 + 16:03) > The Eleven jam 9:49 > Dark Star 6:43 + 63:#51 SBD w/ Howard Wales

Fillmore East 9/26/69: beginning missing 17:24 B AUD

Fillmore 11/7/69: The circulating SBD has a cut at 20:12, 1:45 after the beginning of the Uncle John's jam, followed by another almost 6 minutes to make up this 26:00 fragment.

Boston Tea Party 12/30/69: This Dark Star cuts off after 18:53 on the SBD. Probably 2-3 minutes more are missing here on the master.

Fillmore East 1/2/70: 30:10 with the end missing SBD

Pirate's World, Dania FL 3/24/70: 4:54 + 8:54 = 13:48 SBD with cut as noted

Delhi, NY 5/8/70 18:05 with beginning missing, B minus AUD

Paterson 10/11/70: beginning missing 20:19 near excellent AUD

Waterbury 9/24/72 34:13 there is a cut at 0:53

Some of these Dark Stars may be intact on the masters -- possibilities include 1/25/69, 1/26/69, 2/5/69, 2/6/69, 4/12/69, 9/24/72, and especially:

6/21/69 Late Show: Rob Eaton lists 101 minutes of cassette SBD for this show, but only 91 circulates. One would guess that at least 10 minutes are missing from the circulating Dark Star.

11/7/69: Eaton lists 122 minutes of reel SBD but only about 103 minutes circulate. There is room to hope that the complete tape contains the complete Dark Star.

The rest of these Dark Stars are almost certainly fragmentary on the masters of the circulating tapes.

*****

DARK STAR: THE EVOLUTION

Dark Star 'matured' -- and doubled in length -- during the October '68 Matrix shows. The first full-grown ripe Dark Stars are the Live Dead Dark Stars of the first half of '69. There are more than 30 versions circulating on tape. The structure of this Dark Star (a "Live Dead", or "First Stage"

Dark Star) is as follows

DS theme & jam > 1st vocals > jam > DS theme jam & 2nd vocals > transition > another tune (e.g. St. Stephen)

The Second Stage Dark Star evolved during the summer of '69 -- primarily by the moderate expansion of the jamming before 1st vocals and the addition of "space" after the 1st vocals. Its structure is as follows

DS theme & jams > 1st vocals > space > additional jam > DS theme jam & 2nd vocals (or Tiger) > transition >

Family Dog 8/30/69 28:56 and Winterland 10/25/69 22:05 are fine examples of '69 Second Stage Dark Stars.

The Third Stage Dark Star does not emerge full-blown until '72 but several performances in '69 and '70 anticipate it, notably; Family Dog 11/2/69 30:06, Fillmore West 2/8/70 26:43 AUD, Fillmore East 2/13/70 29:46, and Fillmore East 9/17/70 27:10 AUD.

After 11/8/70 they dropped the second vocals. They revive them at the Academy of Music 3/23/72 23:34 and once more at Portland 7/26/72 30:49, and then not again until the Dark Stars of '89 - '94.

The climactic Third Stage Dark Star only appears full-formed in Europe '72.

It's structure is:

DS theme & jam > additional jams > return to DS theme jam & 1st vocals > space > additional jams > Tiger > more jamming > transition >

After the appearance of the Second Stage Dark Star, nearly all Dark Stars take this form, but after the appearance of the prototypical Third Stage Dark Star there are still many Second Stage Dark Stars -- 'Second Stage' because they lack the additional jams (plural) both before and after the 1st vocals. For instance, the Tiger appears in many Second Stage Dark Stars as the climax of the post-space jamming. What distinguishes Third Stage Tigers is that The Tiger is just one episode in a series of jams following space -- sometimes it forms the climax & leads to transitional jamming into the next song; other times further episodes of jamming follow it (Sputnik, Feelin Groovy Jam, Mind Left Body Jam, ...)

Third Stage Dark Stars tend to be more than 30 minutes long. Obvious examples are

Wembley London 4/8/72 31:30

Dusseldorf 4/24/72 42:58 (including 3:10 of Me & My Uncle)

London 5/25/72 35:13

Hollywood Palladium 9/10/72 34:59

Philadelphia 9/21/72 37:22

Waterbury 9/24/72 34:13

Kansas City 11/13/72 32:16

Houston 11/19/72 31:22

Winterland 12/11/72 32:43

Springfield 3/28/73 32:14

Oklahoma City 10/19/73 28:49

Winterland 11/11/73 35:12

Cleveland 12/6/73 42:27

Rotterdam 5/11/72 48:38 is the longest Dark Star known besides Family Dog 8/28/69 63:#51

Winterland 10/18/74 31:34 represent the tune's dissolution into space.

Cleveland 12/6/73 42:27 is remarkable not only for its scale but for its structure, which turns the customary Third Stage structure inside-out, working in toward the Dark Star theme, rather than starting from it, and moving out into space after the 1st vocals rather than back from it.

Besides the Dark Star Gigantea, or Third Stage Dark Star, another remarkable species of Dark Star is the Dark Star Ferox. These don't have quite the 30-minute plus dimensions of the Third Stage Dark Stars but they have a characteristic fierceness of attack & intensity that makes them stand out.

Obvious examples are:

Austin 11/15/71: 26:04 (including 4:46 of El Paso)

Hamburg 4/29/72 29:26

Madison 10/25/72 24:04

ice petal

flower

revolving

Shall we go

you and I

while we can?

--

Jim Powell

Chimpowl @ rawbw.com