Dark Star Orchestra To Re-Create Five May 1977 Grateful Dead Shows This Month

Grateful Dead tribute act Dark Star Orchestra will play 10 shows this month on the 40th anniversary of Dead shows from the famed month of May 1977. DSO has announced they will re-create five historic show setlists from the Grateful Dead’s Spring Tour 1977 on the exact 40th anniversary of the respective concerts’ dates.

While Dark Star Orchestra recently announced in advance they would re-create the Dead’s April 27, 1977 performance on its four-decades-to-the-day anniversary, they are not spilling the beans about which exact dates the five upcoming re-creations will fall on. Instead, the group is letting fans guess the dates as the tour progresses.

Rhythm guitarist/vocalist Rob Eaton said, “The Spring 1977 GD is special because it’s when I truly ‘got it.’ Not that I wasn’t a Deadhead already, but what I witnessed in May of ‘77 changed my life forever.”

“For the first time in DSO’s history the dates and times have collided and it’s given us an opportunity to honor the great GD Spring 77′ tour. We plan on playing five of the Dead’s setlists on the exact dates 40 years to the day and quite frankly to the hour. Ten days on our spring tour fall on dates The Dead played in May, of those ten we chose five dates where we will honor those sets. We are calling them The 40th Anniversary Shows. We aren’t announcing which dates those will be just that we will be doing some. I’m really looking forward to this special tour!”

Keyboardist Rob Barraco, who attended “more than a handful” of May 1977 Grateful Dead shows, added, “Spring ‘77 is considered by many the highwater mark for the Grateful Dead. Having attended a huge portion of these shows, I concur! We are pleased to play these shows on their 40th anniversary.” Ticketing information including VIP package details are available via the band’s website.