Dark Star
Dec. 15, 1972
Long Beach Arena
Truly one of my favorite jams. As the users above stated, an inverted Dark Star that explores dark and mysterious dimensions. Really the meat and potatoes of this is the Jam between, which features some of the most intriguing and transcendent lines from Jerry. A spiritual epiphany, jams like this couldn’t be replicated outside of 1972, His playing guides you towards something greater than ourselves and leads to some jazzy, psychically interlocked musical conversations. Whimsical and full of life. This one takes you on a real journey, check out Billy and Keith feeding rhythmic ideas to each other, adventurous and a virtuosic performance. Start from Truckin’ to really get the full experience. Such a phenomenal sequence of music and which eventually transforms into Morning Dew. Beautiful and brilliant subtle use of feedback on this, the meltdown after the first verse is cathartic and raw. Keith dissects and rips open a worm hole which the band gets swallowed into, and spirals. Cannot recommend this enough. Why the dead are the best.