Listen To Grateful Dead’s 1st Known Live Performance Of ‘Dark Star’

On January 17, 1968, the Grateful Dead held their first public concert of the year when they played a concert in their hometown of San Francisco. The band’s first show of 1968 was notable for several other “firsts,” which included the live debut of what became one of their signature songs, “Dark Star.”

The concert that took place 57 years ago today was the first time the Grateful Dead played the Carousel Ballroom. The venue was for a time operated by the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Quicksilver Messenger Service, the latter joining the Dead on the lineup of the January 17 show. After a few months, the bands relinquished control of the Carousel to local promotor Bill Graham, who maintained operations of the newly renamed Fillmore West until its closure in 1971.

The first show at the Carousel coincided with what would have been Benjamin Franklin’s birthday. Posters promoting the gig noted Franklin’s birthday and used his image from the $100 bill.

The first set that night began with keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan fronting the band on a typically fiery performance of “Turn On Your Lovelight.” Guitarist Jerry Garcia filled time by welcoming the audience to the show and noting how glad the band was to be back in San Francisco.

After the opening with the cover, the Grateful Dead then presented a successive trio of new original songs. First to be introduced was “Dark Star,” which was not yet fully formed and clocked in at under five minutes.

“Dark Star” went on to become one of the Grateful Dead’s centerpiece songs, often serving as the launching point for long, psychedelic improvisational jams. Performed over 240 times during the Dead’s 30-year career, “Dark Star” was played regularly through the band’s touring hiatus that began in late 1974. The song appeared at one show in 1978 and twice more in 1979, and once again in 1981 and 1984.

The second show of the “Formerly The Warlocks” Hampton Coliseum two-night stand on October 9, 1989 featured “Dark Star” for what would be the first of several more regular performances. “Dark Star” was played by the Grateful Dead a final time at The Omni in Atlanta on March 30, 1994.

The “Dark Star” debut was followed by “China Cat Sunflower” and another Garcia/Hunter co-write, “The Eleven.”

The “Dark Star” lyrics sung by Garcia were also notably a “first.” The author of the lyrics, Robert Hunter, mentioned the significance of the “Dark Star” lyrics in a footnote for the song’s entry in his book of lyrics, Box Of Rain.

“Though they arranged ‘Alligator,’ ‘China Cat Sunflower’ and ‘Saint Stephen’ to lyrics I mailed Garcia from New Mexico,” Hunter wrote. “[Dark Star] is the first lyric I wrote with the Grateful Dead.”

A noisy “Feedback” segment followed the first three debuts of the night and was followed by bassist Phil Lesh’s “New Potato Caboose.” Another debut came next in the form of guitarist Bob Weir’s “Born Cross-Eyed,” which was paired as the B-side to the studio single version of “Dark Star” that was issued later in 1968. The band continued the first set as more “Feedback” ensued and encapsulated the first known expression of what’s known as the “Spanish Jam.”

The second half of the concert included performances of “Beat It On Down The Line” and “Morning Dew,” a “Cryptical Envelopment” into “The Other One” back into “Cryptical” sequence with Weir offering altered “Other One” verses and Pig Pen leading the way on “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl.”

Listen to the Grateful Dead’s night of firsts from this date in 1968 below:

Setlist (via JerryBase)

Set One: Turn On Your Lovelight, Dark Star [1] > China Cat Sunflower [1] > The Eleven [1] > Feedback, New Potato Caboose > Born Cross-Eyed [1] > Feedback > Spanish Jam [1] > Feedback

Set Two: Beat It On Down The Line, Morning Dew, Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One [2] > Cryptical Envelopment > Good Morning Little Schoolgirl

Notes:

• [1] First known performance
• [2] with alternate lyrics

[Originally Published January 17, 2024]