Dark Star Orchestra Goes Acoustic To Start New Year’s Eve Concert At The Cap

Dark Star Orchestra switched things up on New Year’s Eve and went acoustic for the first set of the three-set show. The Grateful Dead tribute act followed the “unplugged” opening segment with an additional two electric sets at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.

New Year’s is especially special for DSO as December 31 is vocalist Lisa Mackey’s birthday and guitarist Rob Eaton celebrates his birthday on New Year’s Day. Dark Star Orchestra often performs song-for-song recreations of Grateful Dead concerts, but at other times – such as on NYE – the band constructs an entirely new setlist.

Eaton and drummer Dino “Vortex” English did not participate in the acoustic first set. “Shady Grove,” a favorite of Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, opened the acoustic portion of the evening. Dark Star Orchestra then covered “Empty Trainload of Sky” from Gillian Welch & David Rawlings’ outstanding 2024 album, Woodland, with Mackey sharing vocals with keyboardist Rob Barraco.

Guitarist Jeff Mattson warned the audience they might not recognize the forthcoming version of the next song, which turned out to be a slowed-down, bluesy arrangement of “Viola Lee Blues.” Next was a performance of “Midnight Town,” a song written by Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter and Garcia collaborator John Kahn for Garcia’s 1974 solo album, Compliments.

DSO then dug into The Kinks catalog and covered their classic “Apeman” with bassist Skip Vangelas taking lead vocals. They followed with the Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty popularized “You’re The Reason Our Kids Are Ugly.” The acoustic set concluded with the traditional “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and the Grateful Dead favorite “Ripple.”

The music of the Grateful Dead’s live repertoire was the focus of the ensuing two full-band electric sets. The third set’s “Drums/Space” sequence was elected as the lead-up to the countdown to midnight and balloon drop ringing in 2025.

“Scarlet Begonias” soon rattled around The Cap ushering in the New Year. Dark Star Orchestra ended the New Year’s Eve celebration by encoring with Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock.”

Official on-demand video replay of Dark Star Orchestra’s New Year’s Eve concert at The Cap is available to nugs.net subscribers. Watch a preview of the acoustic first set below:

Audio Taped by Cam Keough