Dark Star Orchestra Loads Rare Acoustic Show With Rarities & Matt Reynolds Tribute

Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra played a rare acoustic show on Wednesday night at The Hamilton in Washington, D.C. The band filled the evening’s setlist with obscurities from the Dead’s repertoire and beyond as well as a tribute to DSO’s recently passed tour manager.

DSO opened with “Deep Elem Blues,” a song the Dead would play during acoustic sets that was last performed by Jerry Garcia & Co. in 1983. “Jack Straw” came next along with “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.” The latter was played by the Dead a handful of times in 1970, while the same applies to “Silver Threads & Golden Needles” which was also performed by the Dead a few times in the ’60s. A run of “Box Of Rain,” “You Win Again” and “Big Boy Pete” followed. “You Win Again” found its way into GD setlists in the early ’70s, while “Big Boy Pete” was played in the group’s early days and then once in 1985.

The first set rolled on with “Dire Wolf,” “Hobo Song” and “Frozen Logger.” Though the Dead never played “Hobo Song,” it was recorded by Old & The In The Way featuring Jerry Garcia. “‘The Frozen Logger’ was performed eight times by the Grateful Dead. The majority of these were in 1970 with subsequently just single performances in 1971, 1972 and 1985,” as per DeadDisc. Next up was “The Thrill Is Gone,” a Darnell/Hawkins co-write recorded by Garcia/Grisman for their 1991 eponymous album.

Dark Star Orchestra opened the closing stanza with “Good Outlaw’s Wife,” a song written by Matt Reynolds. Matt was DSO’s longtime tour manager who died unexpectedly in June. “Jack-A-Roe” came next along with “Green Green Grass Of Home,” a tune the Dead worked into a number of 1969 and 1970 performances. The Jerry Garcia Band staple “Gomorrah” followed along with “Big Iron.” The latter is a cowboy song penned by Marty Robbins played by Bob Weir with his Kingfish and RatDog projects. GD obscurity “California Earthquake,” a Rodney Crowell song covered twice in 1989, continued the set before DSO dusted off “Wake Up Little Susie” – a tune played by the Dead during some 1970 acoustic sets.

A run of “Dark Star” > “The Stranger (Two Souls In Communion)” > “Throwing Stones” > “Ripple” brought the second set to a close. Dark Star Orchestra concluded the evening with a cover of Jesse Fuller’s “Monkey & The Engineer” in the encore slot. All told, last night DSO only performed eight tunes played regularly by the Grateful Dead for at least one era of the band’s existence. Some of those songs (“Box Of Rain,” “Dark Star” and “Ripple”) disappeared for long stretches of the Dead’s touring career.

Setlist

Set One: Deep Elem Blues, Jack Straw, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Silver Threads & Golden Needles, Box Of Rain, You Win Again, Big Boy Pete, Dire Wolf, Hobo Song, Frozen Logger, The Thrill Is Gone, Cassidy

Set Two: Good Outlaw’s Wife*, Jack-A-Roe, Green Green Grass Of Home, Gomorrah, Big Iron, California Earthquake, Wake Up Little Susie, Dark Star > The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion) > Throwing Stones > Ripple

Encore: Monkey And The Engineer

* – Song by Matt Reynolds, debut